Tell EPA: TAKE NUCLEAR SUPPORT OUT OF PROPOSED CARBON RULE! ... DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS: October 16, 2014. Sample Letter here: EPA Clean Power Plan Email:[email protected] Subject: Comments on EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0602; remove nuclear power support from Clean Power Plan In order to live up to its name, the Clean Power Plan must not include support for nuclear energy. Nuclear is not “clean”, and it is one of our most uneconomical energy sources. Despite these facts, the proposed rule includes subsidies and incentives for new and old nuclear reactors alike. It pressures states to complete building five new reactors, despite their being billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule. The rule also includes subsidies to prop up existing reactors that have become too uneconomical to compete. Forcing ratepayers to pay even more for to keep these reactors going would just be throwing good money after bad, and will only impede progress on carbon emissions by diverting resources from our most effective climate solutions. Even worse, the plan opens the door to including nuclear in renewable energy standards and cap-and-trade programs. Such measures would be counterproductive, preventing the growth of renewables and making it possible for coal plants to buy emissions credits from nuclear. Nuclear is in no way “clean,” regardless of how much carbon dioxide it emits. It is alarming that the plan ignores and dismisses nuclear energy’s destructive impact on water resources and the enormous amounts of toxic and radioactive waste it creates from uranium mining to radioactive discharges during routine operations to decommissioning and nuclear waste. The rule does not even consider the impact of severe accidents like Fukushima, just one of which could wipe out decades of alleged benefits from the entire industry. I therefore urge you to take all support for nuclear energy out of the Clean Power Plan. No new nuclear plants were built for over 30 years because they are simply too expensive and too risky, and they are only becoming more so. The opposite is true of renewable energy, efficiency, and other sustainable solutions, which are growing rapidly while their costs are plunging. Replacing uncompetitive reactors with sustainable energy solutions is more cost-effective and keeps our priorities straight, driving innovation and accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy. org2.salsalabs/o/5502/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=18179
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 21:38:46 +0000