Friday, February 5, 2010 10:00 AM
Green Groups Boxed In On Nuclear Issue
By Margaret Kriz Hobson, NationalJournal.com
Major environmental groups are still wrestling with how to respond to President Obama's sudden interest in reviving the nation's nuclear power industry.
The greens have historically opposed nuclear power, arguing that the technology is unsafe; is too expensive; draws funding away from renewable sources of energy; and produces tons of radioactive waste, which has been piling up for decades in "temporary" storage facilities at the power plants that produced it. But only a handful of environmentalists have been willing to criticize Obama for advocating "a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country" in his State of the Union address.
"The president has always said that he wanted to keep nuclear on the table as an option," said Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "This is a new statement of being more flexible than he was before. What was surprising to some people was how explicit the president was in his statement about that."
Subscribers to National Journal magazine can continue reading this story here.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Columnists
Energy Experts Blog
Our panel of insiders discusses key issues
- What's Driving Energy Production?
- Obama's State of the Union: What Does It Mean for the Energy Agenda?
- Sizing Up Obama's Keystone Pipeline Denial
Resources
Guide to researching the energy & climate change debate
- 07/15/10--CBO: Using Biofuel Tax Credits to Achieve Energy and Environmental Policy Goals | related story
- 07/07/10--Letter to Energy Secretary Chu to stop moving forward on shuttering the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository site | see related story
- 07/06/10--Proposed EPA emissions "transport rule"
- 06/24/10--Rahall draft plan (PDF) | related story
- 06/10/10--Lugar Proposal
Energy Promise Audit
Tracking Obama's progress on campaign promises
- Increase Number Of Plug-In Hybrid Cars
Updated: August 09, 2010 - End American Dependence On Foreign Oil In Ten Years
Updated: August 09, 2010 - Double Fuel Economy Standards
Updated: May 24, 2010
Copenhagen Insider
Visit Copenhagen Insider for National Journal's coverage of the recent U.N. summit including reporting from Darren Goode and analysis from stakeholders in the climate change discussion.
