Ex-DOE Head Joins Anti-Nuke Trustees

["Jim Hardeman" <Jim_Hardeman@MAIL.DNR.STATE.GA.US>]

Colleagues —



Below is an interesting news article that I ran across on the DOEWatch mailing list this morning.



Jim Hardeman

Jim_Hardeman@mail.dnr.state.ga.us 



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Source:

<A HREF="http://www.abqjournal.com/news/357628news06-12-01.htm">

http://www.abqjournal.com/news/357628news06-12-01.htm</A>

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June 12, 2001 



Ex-DOE Head Joins Anti-Nuke Trustees 



By Jennifer McKee

Journal Staff Writer

    Bill Richardson, who has served as a New Mexico congressman, ambassador 

to the United Nations and U.S. Energy secretary, has been elected to the 

trustees of an environmental group that has repeatedly sued the Energy 

Department.

    Richardson was unanimously elected to the board of trustees on Thursday 

of the National Resource Defense Council, a 31-year-old environmental and 

public health organization with 450,000 members nationwide.

    The group opposes nuclear weapons and works to halt global warming, among 

other things.

    As head of U.S. Energy Department, Richardson was charged with overseeing 

the nation's weapons labs — including Los Alamos National Laboratory — which 

invented, perfected and maintains America's nuclear-weapons arsenal.

    Since retiring with the end of the Clinton administration, Richardson has 

also joined the boards of two Texas-based oil companies.

    Allan Metrick, communications director for the Defense Council, said 

those things were not strikes against Richardson.

    "He brings the respect of many world leaders who are concerned about 

climate change and global warming," Metrick said. "His access to a large 

portion of the global community will be really beneficial to our 

organization."

    Richardson joins 41 other trustees, among them actor Robert Redford, 

Chief Operating Officer of Warner Bros. Alan Horn, and George Woodwell, the 

man who first sounded an alarm over global warming.

    Richardson is the first and only trustee to ever head a cabinet-level 

government agency, Metrick said.

    "We thought he was an excellent administrator," he said of Richardson's 

stint as Energy secretary. "He brings to the board geographic diversity, 

ethnic diversity and a great intellect and drive."

    Metrick said it would be "inappropriate" to disqualify Richardson from 

the board of the defense council because Richardson's former duties as top 

caretaker of several thousand nuclear bombs and warheads.

    Trustees, who are not paid, meet four times a year to set the 

organization's policy, Metrick said. Trustees serve two-year terms and can 

only be re-elected by a vote of the entire organization.

    They also must agree to the group's principles, said Christopher Paine, a 

senior analyst with NRDC who often works on projects in New Mexico, which 

includes pledging to support a variety of environmental and health concerns 

such as nuclear proliferation and global warming.

    Paine and Greg Mello of the Santa Fe-based Los Alamos Study Group, which 

has been a watchdog of the Los Alamos lab for years, said Richardson's new 

role as a trustee bodes well for New Mexico, especially since Richardson 

seems to be headed for a race for governor.

    "His decision to put his counter down on the side of the environment and 

go with that is great," Mello said. "If this means he's attaching more 

importance to the environment and recognizing how threatened it is, both in 

New Mexico and worldwide, I can only say it's a good thing."

    Richardson was traveling Monday and could not be reached for comment. 

Karen Golembeski, Richardson's spokesperson, said Richardson joined "the 

superb international organization primarily for its work on global climate 

change."



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