nuclear-news

https://www.jacksonville.com/opinion/20190510/guest-column-nuclear-power-isnt-needed-for-green-new-deal      By David Kyler, 10 May 19, Recently Tim Echols, vice chairman of the Georgia Public Service Commission, made comments that were critical of the proposed Green New Deal.Echols’ comments could hardly have been more misleading, misinformed and cynically ironic.

In dismissing the progressive proposal, Echols defended Georgia’s energy policy and portrayed the Plant Vogtle nuclear plant as a praiseworthy centerpiece of the state’s achievements. But even casual observers recognize Plant Vogtle as a wasteful fiasco and a tribute to extravagant corporate welfare.

Plant Vogtle is now double the starting cost at $30 billion. It is years behind schedule. And it remains a horrendous yet profitable hoax foisted on U.S. taxpayers and Georgia Power customers.

Even if Vogtle were running on schedule and within budget, there are very good reasons why so few nuclear plants are now being built — and why nuclear power has been omitted from the Green New Deal. Here are just some of those reasons:

• Accidents such as Chernobyl and Three Mile Island demonstrate the dangerous public safety risks of nuclear power.

• Mining and processing nuclear fuels produce huge amounts of carbon emissions.

• There is still no acceptable method for long-term storage of deadly radioactive waste.

• The cost of building a nuclear plant requires corporate financing that is lavishly supplemented by government-guaranteed loans.

• Unlike nuclear power, solar equipment can be scaled down to ownership by individual households.

One of the Green New Deal’s major goals is correcting unfair income disparities that have been facilitated by public policies that reward corporations at the public’s expense.

By supporting decentralized energy technology like rooftop solar and omitting corporate-dependent power sources — like nukes — the Green New Deal will help working people build economic security.

Contrary to Echols’ claims, the Green New Deal’s aims are legitimate if ambitious.

Providing clean energy is a commendable and timely enterprise that is vital to America’s future.

David Kyler is the executive director of the Center for a Sustainable Coast in St. Simons Island, Ga.