Apparently all that a Utah Legislator needs to do to avoid ethics violations at that the capitol is to simply announce that legislation might be a conflict of interest -- and then they can *nudge-nudge* *wink-wink* and get back to sponsoring and passing bills that they will personally profit from.

When that legislation that our "representatives" can profit from is dangerous to the environment and future generations in Utah, it's definitely time they be reeled in by their constituents -- and in fact all the citizens of Utah. There's money to be made--no wonder nuke power is on the fast track at the legislature.

From an email I got from HEAL Utah:

The ethics bar at the Utah Legislature is set so low on conflicts of interest that a legislator is simply supposed to declare that he or she may have a conflict with a piece of legislation—that’s all.

Yet, that was too much to ask of Rep. Mike Noel (R-Kanab) and Rep. Aaron Tilton (R-Springville) today as they continued to deny any conflict of interest with the nuclear power legislation their committee has been looking into and literally laughed off any suggestion to the contrary.

The situation would be funny were it not so egregious.  Apparently, if you are the CEO of a company with plans in motion to build a nuclear reactor in Utah and, as a legislator, you are a driving force behind efforts to make it easier to bring nuclear power to Utah—as is the case for Rep. Tilton—that does not present a conflict of interest.  Nor is it a conflict of interest—as in Rep. Noel’s case—if you are the chair of the committee tasked with drafting nuclear power legislation and your employer stands to make millions should your colleague Rep. Tilton succeed in his plans to build a nuclear reactor.

If you are at all upset by this situation, please take a minute to email this story to your state senator and representative.  Let them know you are concerned when legislators are allowed to act as lobbyists for their own personal interests (or those of their employer).  Any legislation that comes out of such a process is tainted, and all legislators need to know that.

I've personally found that on the local level, we have a lot more power with our letters and phone calls than at the national level, so writing or calling your reps is definitely worth the effort. The email continues:

To look up your legislators, go to: http://le.state.ut.us/maps/amap.html

Here are the links to yesterday’s Deseret News story: http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695219044,00.html

and today’s story in the Salt Lake Tribune: http://www.sltrib.com//ci_7200144

While the discussion on nuclear power at today’s legislative hearing was a predictable cheer fest (a representative from EnergySolutions was even invited to testify), it was alarming when Rep. Tilton rose to talk about his company’s plans with his new business partner, Nils Diaz.  Mr. Diaz is the former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission who gave final approval to Private Fuel Storage to dump the nation’s high-level nuclear waste in Skull Valley, and so it’s hard to believe he has Utah’s best interests in mind.

Today’s meeting also gave Rocky Mountain Power an opportunity to unveil what looks like their attempt to derail true renewable energy development in this state, while at the same time provide a market for Rep. Tilton’s nuclear power.

I'll be writing to Rocky Mountain Power as well and threaten to cancel my Blue Sky blocks if they continue to pursue Nuclear power in Utah.