WASHINGTON, DC (Thursday, May 17, 2001) - Greenpeace activists dumped five tons of coal and five faux oil and nuclear waste drums outside the Vice President Cheney’s residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington today to protest the Bush/Cheney Energy Plan. Activists held a banner reading "Stop the Bush/Cheney Energy Scam: America Needs Clean Power Now." The drums were labeled with the logos of Exxon/Mobil, Chevron, Texaco, BP and Enron.

"Mr. Bush and Cheney have released less of a plan and more of a scam because it enriches the oil, coal and nuclear industries while failing to solve our energy problems," said Andrea Durbin, Greenpeace Campaigns Director. "If they are so enamored with dirty power, they can have it, because the American people don’t want it."

The protest condemned the plan’s reliance on dirty, outdated sources of energy such as coal, oil, and nuclear power, and its lack of emphasis on global warming, conservation and renewable energy sources. Analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics (CPR) showed oil, gas, utilities and mining interests contributed $44 million to Republicans in the last election cycle, $2.8 million of which went to the Bush/Cheney campaign.

These are the very industries that have bankrolled lobbying campaigns to block action on global warming both domestically and abroad. Not surprisingly, the Bush proposal fails to put a premium on reducing the carbon pollution that causes global warming. Since taking office, Mr. Bush has backed off a campaign promise to control carbon emissions and has withdrawn U.S. support of the Kyoto Protocol, the international global warming treaty.

"Global warming is the byproduct of decades of irresponsible coal and oil use," said Kert Davies, Greenpeace Global Warming and Energy Campaign Coordinator. "Mr. Bush’s energy scam marks the third strike against him on convincing the world he takes global warming seriously."

While Mr. Cheney has endorsed nuclear power as a solution to global warming, it is the costliest, dirtiest and most dangerous source of power on the planet. The U.S. continues to struggle with storing 42,000 tons of existing spent nuclear fuel and has no plans on how to deal with future waste. Construction estimates alone for permanent radioactive waste storage at Yucca Mountain are more than $50 billion.

Additionally, Cheney’s proposal to "streamline" the re-licensing of old reactors would increase the risk of a nuclear disaster significantly. "Old reactors with aging equipment become bigger nuclear time bombs with each passing day," said Tobias Muenchmeyer, nuclear expert of Greenpeace International.

Greenpeace contends that America must be weaned off its dependence on oil and coal through conservation and more energy efficient technologies. A November 2000 Department of Energy study found that a government-led program to promote energy efficiency could reduce growth in electricity demand in the U.S. by 20 to 47 percent.