March 30, 2011
®*t* JJortlanh Obstruer HOUSING special edition
Page 15
Japan’s Chaos is a Wake Up Call
Call a timeout
on nuclear
energy
construction
by
A lice S later
Sometimes chaos
com es along as a
wake-up call to hu­
manity.
Jap an 's d o u b le­
w ham m y
e a r th ­
q u a k e-tsu n a m i is
overwhelmingly tragic. Being at the
mercy of the total chaotic effect of
the elements—able to be wiped out
by a wave of water from the se a-is
an insult to the arrogance of modem
humanity that thinks it can insulate
and protect itself with technologi­
cal know-how from the calamities
visited upon our earth by Mother
Nature.
It's ironic this catastrophe took
place in earthquake-plagued Japan,
where scientists and engineers took
strong precautions against this sev­
enth largest earthquake in recorded
history.
Japan spent billions on new in­
frastructure-building homes, of­
fices, and factories on rubber shock
absorbers and reinforced pillars that
didn't collapse. This was despite
the enormous force from the rent­
ing of the earth—a force so power­
ful it moved Japan 17 feet east­
ward and caused the axis of the
earth to shift. Yet even the careful,
methodical Japanese couldn't an­
ticipate the power of the tsunami
that followed.
The ocean's surge overcame their
best efforts to protect Japanese
nuclear power plants from disasters
like this. They couldn't maintain the
electricity essential to keep a con­
stant stream of cool water flowing to
cover the radioactive fuel in the
reactors and spent-fuel storage
pools. They couldn't prevent this
foolhardy technology from "melt­
ing down" and spewing its lethal
radiation across the land-and even­
tually perhaps across the planet.
Tens of thousands of people near
nuclear reactors in Fukushima were
evacuated. Many people have been
contaminated with radioactivity on
their skin and clothing that escaped
from the damaged reactors.
The government is distributing
potassium iodide tablets to prevent
these people from getting thyroid
cancer. But those tablets won't stave
off other forms of cancer and leuke­
mia that may exponentially increase.
We now know that U.S. sailors
aboard the aircraft carrier USS
Ronald Reagan, sent from our mili­
tary base in Okinawa to the vicinity
of the accident, have been contami­
nated by airborne radioactivity.
M eanw hile, nuclear industry
spokespeople assure us that Ameri­
can reactors are much safer. Grimly,
they comfort us that Chernobyl only
had 50 immediate deaths. But Rus­
sian scientists recently reported that
close to 1 million people have died
from cancer since the dreadful acci-
dent in 1986 spewed lethal radiation with emergency workers coming
over a broad swath of Ukraine, from all over the world to help res­
Belarus, and Russia. Radioactive cue and recover the tens of thou­
dust later traveled to many other sands of people trapped in their
countries in the Northern Hemi­ villages, let us make a massive glo­
sphere.
bal effort to put a solar pane, on
Let this chaos be a wake-up call every roof, a geothermal pump in
for a time-out on new nuclear en­ every building, windmills on every
ergy construction projects. This windswept plain, and tidal energy
includes the 62 reactors around the pumps in our rivers and seas to
world now under construction and harness the clean safe energy of our
the additional 158 slated to go for­ Mother Earth.
ward.
Alice Slater is the New York Di­
And like the massive mobiliza­ rector o f the Nuclear Age Peace
tion gathering strength in Japan, Foundation.
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Black Entrepreneurship by Necessity
by
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M arc M oriai .
cent years because of high un­ p e rio d ,"
sa id
T hom as
There's a silver
employment in our communities. M e s e n b o u rg ,
th e
C e n su s
lining in the dark
The fact is, black unemployment Bureau’s deputy director.
cloud o f the Great
never got back down to where it
Despite this surge in African-
Recession. A new
was before the 2001 recession. American entrepreneurship, black
Census Bureau re­
So in effect, we're seeing entre­ businesses still m ake up only 7
p o rt rev e als that
preneurship by necessity.
percent o f all com panies, and they
from 2002 to 2007,
There's also an econom ic in­ tend to be sm aller than other busi­
the num ber of black-ow ned busi­ dependent streak, p a rticu la rly nesses. Black-owned businesses
nesses in the United States in­ among new generations. Building are also often ham pered in their
creased by 60.5 percent to 1.9 m il­ a business gives great satisfac­ revenue growth by a lack o f cap i­
lio n -m o re than triple the national tion and cushions entrepreneurs tal, connections, and contracts.
rate.
from the shock of losing jobs be­
On behalf o f the National U r­
The reasons for this are many, cause o f econom ic down cycles. ban League, I recently called on
beginning with the long history
New York State leads the coun­ federal, state, and local govern­
o f A frican-A m erican en trep re­ try with more than 204,000 black- ments to develop a "hyper-focus"
neurship in response to poverty, owned businesses, follow ed by on black- and m inority-ow ned
high unemployment, and discrim i­ Georgia and Florida. From 2002 to b u sin esses.
nation.
2007, nearly 4 in 10 of these busi­
Every city, county, and state
Consider the case of Madam nesses operated in the health care needs to have a plan that focuses
C.J. W alker. The daughter of and social assistance industries, on small and m inority business.
slaves, in the early 1900s she as well as the repair, m aintenance, There's a spirit o f entrepreneur-
turned her dream o f financial in­ and personal and laundry services ship out there that needs to be
dependence into a hair care and sectors. The retail trade and health nurtured and energized.
cosm etics business that revolu­ care and social assistance sec­
I hope these new findings by
tionized the beauty products in­ tors accounted for 27.4 percent of the Census say loudly and clearly
dustry, created w ell-paying jobs, black-ow ned business revenue.
to the investm ent com m unity that
and made her a wealthy woman
The Census also found that in it's missing an em erging market in
and philanthropist.
addition to an increase in the num ­ the United States. If minority busi­
"I had to make my own living ber of black-ow ned businesses, nesses are growing at a faster clip
and my own opportunity, but I annual sales at these businesses than overall businesses, im agine
made it!" the trailblazing African- increased by 55 percent to $ 137.5 what the growth rate would be if
Am erican businessw om an said. billion.
those barriers were elim inated or
"Don't sit down and wait for the
"Black-owned businesses con­ lowered. We need investors to
opportunities to come. Get up and tinued to be one o f the fastest recognize that they're m issing an
make them."
g ro w in g s e g m e n ts o f o u r incredible opportunity.
Like Madam C.J. Walker, many econom y, showing rapid growth
Marc H. Moriai is the president
A frican A m ericans m ay have in both the num ber of businesses and chief executive officer o f the
turned to entrepreneurship in re­ and total sales during this time National Urban League.
1505 N.E. Killingsworth St.
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