Today’s Good News: Communities Say No To Nuclear Power
Here’s a piece of good election news that didn’t make most newscasts: In the Chicago-area, racially mixed communities of Oak Park, Berwyn and Riverside, voters approved by well over two-to-one a referendum asking that “our elected officials in Illinois take steps to phase out nuclear power in the state, replacing it with renewable sources such as wind and solar.”
This news comes from Harvey Wasserman, an activist who edits a website called nukefree.org. He notes that the three communities currently rely on atomic power for some 75% of their electricity, which is supplied through Commonwealth Edison, a subsidiary of Exelon, America’s largest nuke owner. With 11 operating reactors, Illinois has more reactors than any other state.
But 31,586 (68.3%) voters approved the referendum, versus 14,676 (31.7%) opposed.
Atomic energy will be one of the most critical issues the new administration will face. Obama was criticized for taking campaign donations from Exelon. Both he and Vice President-elect Joe Biden expressed campaign support for atomic power.
But the issue of how to finance such a “nuclear renaissance” now overshadows all the rhetoric, and will define the technology’s future. A strong lobby is pushing new nukes. The financial community hasn’t been excited, but new ratepayer-based reactor financing is now being shoved through state public utilities commissions in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and possibly elsewhere, with tens of billions in potential liability. Also, in the fall of 2007, the industry inserted into a Congressional energy bill a package of loan guarantees meant to provide $50 billion in taxpayer-backed funds to build new reactors.
That gambit ultimately failed, thanks to some strong grassroots organizing. This fall an even larger federal loan plan, offering virtually unlimited funds, was on its way to the US Congress. Fortunately, the financial meltdown has put the kibosh on it pretty well for now.
Exelon will no doubt still have the President’s ear and his sympathy. This strong vote by the people who have the most to lose from nuclear power - those who have to live near the plants - is a good sign that the resistance is strong and growing, and that the new administration won’t be able to sneak a favor in for their pals on nuclear power.
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