Politifact: Sanders "Actively Ushered" Bill to Dump Nuclear Waste Near Poor West Texas Town

[MADem]

121. And absolve the congressman who told the TX activists to

pound sand? The activists covered all the bases--and Sanders not only ignored them, he threatened to not show up if they were on the platform with him--is that childish, or what? When the people of VT have to apologize for the behavior of their OWN officials, there's something awry here.

Did you even pretend to read the article? Sanders was the ONLY Congressmen representing all of VT, he held extraordinary influence greater than the average politician in that state.

It is, deservedly, coming back to bite him all these years later. The perception is that he told the Hispanic people of a small town from the far-away TX state to stuff it, too-bad/so-sad, and he could not give even a crap about their concerns. He comes off as imperious, rude, condescending, and not really living up to his charge or his "persona" -- he comes across as someone who only cares about his own voters, not "the people."

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=144212115605882&story_fbid=1181624378531312

To speak for West Texas, these three were driving 2,000 miles to Montpelier, the Vermont capital, to address the Senate Natural Resources Committee chair, and to make the case against a plan to ship low-level nuclear waste from the Vermont Yankee plant in Vernon to Sierra Blanca, hard by the Rio Grande, in Hudspeth County, Texas. Maine's nuclear waste is also part of the deal. ..... So badly do environmentally sensitive Vermonters feel that about forty of them listened for two hours while Oliver, Flanders, and Curry delivered their message in no uncertain terms: Sierra Blanca, which was chosen for purely political reasons, is environmentally no better suited than Vermont for burying nuclear waste. And after the West Texans got through lambasting federal, state, and local politicians from all three Compact states, as well as the nuclear utility lobbyists whom they hold responsible for arranging things this way, several of the Vermonters in the audience stood up and apologized.

....The marchers from Vermont were careful to restrain the West Texans from protesting aloud on any platform occupied by Bernie Sanders, Vermont's independent Socialist candidate for re-election to the U.S. House. Sanders' campaign committee had warned march planners that Bernie wouldn't show if the West Texans were on the platform. ....Before the rally Sanders invited the three West Texans to meet with him privately, and the Texans eagerly agreed. The meeting was no longer than Sanders' attention span - when it comes to Sierra Blanca. "He didn't listen," Curry said. "He had his mind made up." Afterward, Bernie was giving his pro forma campaign speech, never mentioning nuclear power or nuclear waste. Sierra Blanca activist Bill Addington, who'd arrived just that morning to join the march, along with his neighbor María Méndez, had had enough, and he yelled from the crowd, "What about my home, Bernie? What about Sierra Blanca?"
Several others joined in. "What about Sierra Blanca, Bernie?"
Sanders left the stage, which surprised no one in the small Texas delegation. Earlier, he had told them, "My position is unchanged, and you're not gonna like it." When they asked if he would visit the site in Sierra Blanca, he said, "Absolutely not. I'm gonna be running for re-election in the state of Vermont."....