Guest Column: Out-of-state groups target nuclear power

Guest Column: Out-of-state groups target nuclear power

Grassroots Florida for Clean Energy
Jacksonville, FL

The attacks on nuclear power here in Florida, and in particular on the FP&L nuclear facility at Turkey Point, by out-of-state opposition groups are disturbing and purposefully intended to stoke unwarranted public fear and undermine sound energy policy. In fact, FP&L has a remediation plan in place and is not waiting on regulators to tell them to act.

But let’s be clear – the anti-development group leading this effort has an anti-nuclear power agenda and is deliberately distorting the facts with misinformation and scare tactics. The facility is safe and in compliance with federal environmental regulations.

Listening to one of the leading anti-nuclear opposition groups, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, also known as SACE, you would think the sky was falling; but unfortunately for them, there is a thing called facts that gets in the way of their political rhetoric.

Nuclear power is our ONLY full-time energy source that is free of emissions, however SACE has been leading the charge to sue and shut down this facility which powers nearly 1,000,000 homes in Florida.

What is going to replace this amount of power 24 hours a day, seven days a week?

It is also ironic that this same group which claims to want clean energy has an Executive Director, Steve Smith that was recently ranked the biggest carbon hypocrite in the South.  He has been plotting for decades to shut-down emissions-free nuclear power across the Southeast.

According to their website:

Well, it turns out Mr. Smith has a lot in common with a pioneering purveyor of carbon doom, Al Gore. Like Gore, Mr. Smith flies around in his private plane to preach about the pitfalls of carbon emissions.

Mr. Smith’s efforts add up to hypocrisy, not environmental advocacy.

Shortly after we called out Mr. Smith for his highflying hypocrisy, he went to great lengths to hide the evidence. He petitioned the FAA to block his flight logs from public view, making them no longer accessible by a simple internet search for his tail number, N5353U.

While he claimed to have a “valid security concern” for blocking his logs, his true motive is self-preservation.  The only risk facing Mr. Smith is the potential backlash from SACE’s donors when they find out that in 2012 alone, the environmental group paid $92,000 to an aviation company owned by Mr. Smith for the use of his private plane.”

SACE is also financially backed by Tom Steyer, a San Francisco hedge-fund billionaire and fringe opposition activist, who wants to impose west coast liberal values on Florida.

Much like George Soros, Steyer also has contributed millions of dollars to defeat pro-growth elected officials around the country.

One can start to see that this isn’t about promoting sound environmental policy at all, but rather an attempt to fundraise for organizations that want to scare Floridians for their own personal gain and antidevelopment control politics.

This message is approved and paid for by Grassroots Florida for Clean Energy; an organization that supports sound environmental policy based on science and facts.