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Daniel Kessler: President Obama and Nuclear Power’s Spin Campaign

President Obama and Nuclear Power’s spin campaign
The Huffington Post Daniel Kessler and Jim Riccio 25 Nov 08 Within hours of President-elect Obama’s victory, the nuclear industry was at it again:spinning nuclear power and attempting to put the best light on the industry’s prospects after the loss of their favorite candidate, Sen. John McCain. The President of the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), Skip Bowman, congratulated President-elect Obama andVice President-elect Biden on their victory and then he proceeded to mischaracterize their position on nuclear power…………………..the nuclear industry selectively edited the Obama/Biden campaign message.

Here’s the part of the Obama/Biden platform that the nuclear spin-doctors at NEI left out:

However, before an expansion of nuclear power is considered, key issues must be addressed including: security of nuclear fuel and waste, waste storage, and proliferation.
So rather than calling for an expansion of nuclear power, the Obama/Biden campaign actually acknowledged the dirty and dangerous downside of nuclear power and the risk that expanding nuclear power would lead to the spread of nuclear weapons.

It is not just the threat of proliferation that makes nuclear power a “non -starter.” Eight years of inaction on global warming by the Bush/Cheney administration have put America and the world well behind the climate curve ball. In order to address climate change we need energy choices that are fast and affordable and nuclear power is neither.
In fact, the price tag for new nuclear power is so prohibitively expensive; $11 to $12 billion per plant, that one U.S. corporation has already rejected building a new nuclear plant. Last December, MidAmerican Energy Holdings, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., became the first U.S. corporation to reject plans for a new nuclear reactor………………..

Similarly, a new report by Greenpeace and European Renewable Energy Council shows that investment in renewable power and energy efficiency worldwide would create a $360 billion a year industry, provide half of the world’s electricity, and slash $18 trillion in future fuel expenditures — all while protecting the climate and phasing out nuclear power.

Nuclear propagandists have and will continue to attempt to spin the climate crisis to the advantage of nuclear corporations. They will continue to claim that we can’t address global warming without more nuclear reactors.

Fortunately for America and the planet….Yes We Can!

Daniel Kessler: President Obama and Nuclear Power’s Spin Campaign

Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, radiation, uranium

November 26, 2008 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | spinbuster