*[press release] Nuke Whistleblower Speaks in South Florida

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Climate Change is a Real Threat; Is Nuclear Power a Safe Alternative?
A Journey into FPL's Proposed Energy Future

Stuart, Sept. 29th- From 11-1pm, at the

At Vince Bocchino Community Center (2369 NE Dixie Hwy., Stuart), will be a free forum concerning the future of energy consumption in South Florida, hosted by Everglades Earth First! and Project Awareness. Points of focus will be over-development in the Everglades and FPL's proposals to expand fossil fuel and nuclear power in South Florida.

Guest speakers include:

Ann Pickel Harris from Tennessee, a nationally-renowned nuclear safety advocate and whistle blower who worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority for 15 years. Ann is also the national executive director of We The People, a nuclear employee safety advocacy group, and will present on the dangers that nuclear power plants pose to local communities and
their water supplies.

(Ann will also be coming to speak in Lake Worth, the same evening, 7pm at the Soma Center, 609 Lake Ave, as part of the weekly 'Saturday Solidarity' the event is open to the public and the media, but will have a more casual tone.)

Panagioti Tsolkas, co-chair of the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition, will be speaking about the West County Energy Center, a natural gas plant that FPL has proposed building in the Everglades, less than 1,000 feet from the Arthur R. Marshall National Wildlife Refuge and the existing Barley Barber power plant in western Martin County.

"In light of Governor Crist's commitment to fight climate change, we are requesting that he revisit the previous administration's decision to certify the West County Energy Center," Panagioti says. "This plant is a potential environmental catastrophe that will emit 12
million tons of CO2 each year, during a time of global climate crisis."

Following the presentations will be a group discussion concerning energy conservation, renewable resources, and the proper direction to take if we want to ensure a healthy and sustainable environment for the future.

"The direction we're taking in response to global warming needs to be sustainable and safe," according to a statement by the recently-formed Everglades Earth First! group, "Too much of the focus has been on nuclear as a way out. People need to realize that we can't go on living the way we have been."

Contact: Hope Freid (Everglades Earth First!), (772) 342-8564; www.RiverOfGas.info
Rachel Kijewski (Project Awareness), (772) 201-7848; www.myspace.com/projectawareness

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