OntheWilderSide

Green Party blasts Legislative move to repeal Nuclear Moratorium;
Call attempt an effort to undermine Renewable Energy

Green Party leaders condemned legislative attempts to repeal the Illinois moratorium against new nuclear production.  House Bill 875 and Senate Bill 2162 would delete the provision in state law prohibiting the construction of new nuclear facilities until the nuclear waste storage issue is resolved.

Nuclear power is bad for the economy, bad for the environment, and bad for the people of Illinois. We need to be phasing out nuclear production.  It is completely irresponsible for legislators to champion it.”

The Green Party pointed out that the expansion of nuclear production would undermine the 2007 Renewable Energy Portfolio standard law requiring that Illinois electric utilities produce 25% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025 – and in the process, would be bad for job growth in Illinois.

“Renewable energy production and energy efficiency efforts create more jobs than nuclear production,” said William Edgar, DuPage County Green Party Chair.  “And nuclear is more expensive to produce than wind or geothermal.  Nuclear power is bad for workers and bad for consumers.” 

Greens also pointed to the effort to repeal the nuclear moratorium as further evidence of the pernicious influence of Pay to Play in Illinois politics.  The Illinois State Board of Elections Campaign Disclosure site shows over 30 variations of the name Exelon having contributed over $2,500,000 to candidates in Illinois since 2001. Many of these legislators are now sponsoring the moratorium repeal legislation.

“Illinois needs to ban corporate contributions immediately,” said Mark Mallon, Green candidate for Urbana City Council (Ward 2).  “Are we going to get real reform out of Springfield this year, or more of the same?”

The Illinois Green Party recommends the expertise of the Nuclear Energy Information Service (NEIS) for more information on the perils of nuclear power.  NEIS is online at www.neis.org.

Filed under: 3rd party, Ecology, Green Party, politics, Press Release, social & economic justice, sustainability, sustainable Tagged: | campaign finance, Illinois, nuclear energy, nuclear power, renewable energy