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NEARLY 300 GROUPS REJECT NUCLEAR ENERGY AS A GLOBAL WARMING SOLUTION
GROUPS URGE CONGRESS TO CHOOSE CLEAN ENERGY PATH,
NOT EMBRACE DANGEROUS AND DIRTY NUCLEAR POWER
Common Dreams
June 16, 2005

http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0616-29.htm

WASHINGTON, D.C. ­ In response to an industry campaign touting new nuclear
reactors as a solution to global warming, nearly 300 international,
national, regional and local environmental, consumer, and safe energy groups
reiterated their substantial concerns today over nuclear energy and rejected
the argument that nuclear power can solve global warming. Rather, the groups
urged a focus on clean and renewable sources of energy and energy efficiency
and conservation.

With votes on global warming amendments anticipated in the next week during
Senate consideration of the energy bill, representatives of several of the
groups called on Congress to reject legislation that subsidized nuclear
power plants as part of reducing global warming pollution.

³Global warming is the most serious environmental problem facing us today
and we should aggressively increase energy efficiency and renewable energy
to reduce carbon dioxide pollution,² said Anna Aurilio, Legislative Director
for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. ³Weıre now one of nearly 300
public interest groups that say nuclear power is too dangerous and expensive
and should not be part of a global warming solution,² she added.

Nuclear power has long been viewed as uneconomical and unsafe, especially
after the Chernobyl disaster abroad and the Three Mile Island accident in
Pennsylvania. As a result no new reactors have been ordered in the United
States for 30 years.

In an environmental statement on nuclear energy and global warming, the
groups outlined five key reasons why nuclear energy should not be part of a
solution to global warming stating that nuclear energy is unnecessary, too
expensive, too dangerous, too polluting and that using nuclear power to
address global warming would exacerbate the problems posed by the
technology. ³We can meet our future electricity needs and reduce global
warming pollution without increasing our reliance on nuclear energy,² the
groups wrote. The groups noted that 19 states have passed renewable
electricity standards requiring an increasing percentage of energy to be
generated by renewable energy sources, and that several studies have shown
that clean energy solutions can dramatically reduce global warming
pollution.

Recently, nuclear energy proponents have championed nuclear power as a means
to tempering climate change. But the groups today dispelled the argument
that nuclear power could be used as a solution to reduce global warming. In
fact, a recent MIT study noted that using nuclear power to have any
significant effect on climate change would require building at least 1,000
new reactors worldwide.

³Addressing climate change is too important to leave to the failed nuclear
industry,² said Michael Mariotte, Executive Director of Nuclear Information
and Resource Service. ³Throwing a few billion dollars of taxpayer money at
the nuclear industry might make some utility executives happy, but would do
virtually nothing to reduce carbon emissions. In fact, by diverting limited
resources that should be used for sustainable technologies, subsidizing
nuclear power would be counterproductive.²

³This would exacerbate all of the problems of the technology: more terrorist
targets, more cost (potentially trillions of dollars), less safety, need for
a new Yucca Mountain-sized waste site every 4 or 5 years, more proliferation
of nuclear materials and technologies, dozens of new uranium enrichment
plants, and even then, a severe shortage of uranium even within this
century--while displacing the resources needed to ensure a real solution to
the climate change issue,² the groups said.

So far, Congress has been leaning toward supporting a revived nuclear
future. The pending Senate energy bill is likely to include many
nuclear-friendly provisions designed to encourage energy companies to build
new reactors. Already, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version
of energy legislation in April, including $6.1 billion in taxpayer subsidies
and tax breaks, as well as other incentives. The Senate version of the
energy bill includes $4.3 billion in subsidies; the tax provisions, which
are likely to include billions in tax breaks for the nuclear industry, have
not been completed yet.

³Instead of relapsing back into our failed nuclear experiment, letıs embrace
a trend towards actual clean and safe energy,² said Wenonah Hauter, Director
of Public Citizenıs energy program. ³Nuclear power is fatally flawed and we
cannot overcome all of its obstacles. Itıs time to support renewable energy
technologies because they already exist and have great potential and provide
a real opportunity to keep our planet healthy for future generations.²

For more information on the downsides and dangers of nuclear power, visit
<http://www.citizen.org/cmep/fatalflaws>. For more on the energy bill, visit
<http://www.stopenergybill.org>. To read the letter to Congress, go to
<http://www.citizen.org/documents/GroupNuclearStmt.pdf> or
<http://www.nirs.org/climate/background/nuclearglobalwarmingstatement6162005
.pdf>.

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Published by David Sunfellow
NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE)
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