Famous musicians, members of Congress and major environmental groups delivered to Congress yesterday a petition signed by more than 120,000 Americans claiming that nuclear power is not the solution to global warming.
Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and Graham Nash made the delivery in hopes of persuading Congress to remove a provision from the pending Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007 that could provide taxpayer-funded loan guarantees for new nuclear power plants.
“Thirty years ago, we felt that this monster was dead,” Mr. Nash said. “Now it’s trying to raise its ugly head.”
In the late 1970s, the three members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame organized “No Nukes” concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York that roused public opposition to nuclear power.
The activists said they are concerned about the radioactive pollution from the nuclear power plants, terrorism possibilities, the potential for catastrophic accidents, the incurable creation of radioactive waste and the “virtually blank check from taxpayers” to fund new nuclear plants.
“We’re going to encourage our lawmakers to know that the American people are paying attention,” Mr. Browne said.
After disasters such as the Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown in the former Soviet Union and Three Mile Island, a partial core meltdown of a nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, Pa., the activists fear a repeat if more nuclear plants are built in the U.S.
“I don’t want to jump out of the global warming frying pan into the nuclear fire,” said Rep. John Hall, New York Democrat, who with Rep. Edward J. Markey, Massachusetts Democrat, is helping the musicians in their presentation before Congress.
Mr. Hall, who co-founded the 1970s band Orleans, helped organize the 1979 “No Nukes” concerts.
President Bush has long pushed for nuclear energy as part of his national energy plan.
“We need to expand our nation’s use of nuclear power,” he said at the 16th annual Energy Efficiency Forum in 2005. “So I’ve directed the Department of Energy to work with Congress to help pass legislation that will reduce uncertainty in the nuclear plant licensing process. … To build a secure energy future for America, we need to expand production of safe, clean nuclear power.”
The U.S. is trailing significantly behind other countries in the production of electrical energy from nuclear reactors.
As of last year, France produced 80 percent of its electrical energy from nuclear reactors while nuclear power is only providing 20 percent of the electricity in the U.S.
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