News

Nuclear Power Not Renewable

March 14, 2009 - By Valerie Friedman, in Orlando (Florida) Sentinel

While I applaud Gov. Charlie Crist's efforts to reduce greenhouse gases by mandating a state energy standard of 20 percent renewables, I am distressed to hear he is being lobbied to include nuclear power as a renewable source of energy.

It is not. It emits heat and steam into the atmosphere; it uses a finite resource (uranium) to produce that power; and it produces toxic waste we still don't have the technology to transport and store safely. I'm already disgusted that my power bills went up during a recession to pay for nuclear power plants I do not want.

We should not allow the power companies to grab another windfall by letting them include their nuclear boondoggle in our energy plan. -- VALERIE FRIEDMAN, Orlando