nuclear-news

Nuclear industry front groups exposed

Nuclear Industry Front Groups – Nuclear Matters And Center For Climate And Energy Solutions – Urged To Come Clean On Funding CNBC, WASHINGTON, April 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Two organizations that inexplicably are getting a pass from most news media outlets in the United States – Nuclear Matters and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) – are, in fact, de facto nuclear industry front groups that have failed entirely to be transparent about their financing, according to the independent watchdog group the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS).

NIRS, which relies on donations for its operations and has a total budget smaller than the salary paid to the CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute, is objecting to the fact that in a recent barrage of news releases, op-eds, full-page New York Times ads, and its Web site, the group “Nuclear Matters” nowhere reveals that its primary or currently sole source of funding is Exelon, which maintains the largest U.S. nuclear fleet: 23 reactors at locations in Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

Nuclear Matters is represented by Sloane & Company PR, the same firm that works for Exelon itself. Sloane PR has indicated that Exelon is not just “among the funders” of Nuclear Matters. It is currently the primary funder of the front group and funds from other interests are now being sought, according to Sloane. Nowhere is this information being disclosed by Exelon or Nuclear Matters to the public … and there is little evidence that is being demanded and then reported on by the news media. Additionally, no information has been provided to date about the fees and/or other considerations being paid by Exelon’s front group to a growing list of former public officials, including Carol M. Browner, Bill Daley, Spencer Abraham, Evan Bayh, and Judd Gregg.

Also failing to be transparent about its funding is The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, which is holding a National Press Club briefing today on nuclear power and “climate solutions.” However, the news advisory for the C2ES event (featuring Nuclear Matter’s Carol M. Browner) nowhere discloses that the organization is bankrolled in large part by utilities with nuclear reactors.

In fact, Entergy is a founding sponsor and “strategic partner” of C2ES (http://www.c2es.org/about/strategic-partners). Other nuclear-oriented utilities listed on the “Business Environmental Leadership Council” of C2ES include Areva, Dominion, Duke Energy, Exelon, and NRG. (Seehttp://www.c2es.org/about/strategic-partners.) At the time of the 2011 launch of C2ES, Think Progress referred to it as “an explicitly corporate-managed organization.” (Seehttp://thinkprogress.org/climate/2011/11/10/366887/pew-center-for-climate-changes-name-now-sponsored-by-energy-companies/.)

Two and a half years later, C2ES misleadingly refers to itself in the news advisory for its April 28^th nuclear power briefing as “independent,” which would not appear at all to be accurate in the nuclear power context. Making matters worse, the promotional material for the news event (as noted above) completely omits any reference to C2ES’s heavy reliance on nuclear industry funding and the industry’s active involvement in the “leadership” of the Center

NIRS Executive Director Tim Judson said: “Exelon is spearheading an aggressive, multi-front campaign today to rewrite the rules of the energy marketplace to protect the nuclear power industry, which is dying in the face of a number of factors, including safety concerns, out-of-control costs, and cheap renewable energy alternatives. Exelon, Entergy and the rest of the industry have every right to make their case. All we are asking them to do is to come clean about the funding of their front groups. Enlisting formerly high visibility government officials to act as shills for nuclear power is completely acceptable as long as the industry does not try to hide the ball about where the money is coming from.”

In addition to calling for more transparency, Judson emphasized that any notion that C2ES is a major environmental group that suddenly is “coming out for nuclear” is completely mistaken. There is a long track record that shows that the Center and its predecessor (Pew) have long defended and even openly touted nuclear power:………

ABOUT NIRS

2013 marked the 35th anniversary of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, which was founded to be the national information and networking center for citizens and environmental activists concerned about nuclear power, radioactive waste, radiation and sustainable energy issues. For more information, go to http://www.nirs.org. http://www.cnbc.com/id/101619421

April 29, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA