SLO County leaders should support Diablo nuclear plant’s retirement

Gene Nelson wants our local elected officials to follow the lead of New York in propping up the continued operation of an aging nuclear power plant (“SLO County leaders should save Diablo,” Sept. 14).

Bad idea. They should support Diablo’s retirement.

In the words of former Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner Peter Bradford, New York is “committing at least $7.6 billion in above-market payments to three of its six plants to assure that they operate through 2029 … Long-term subsidies for uneconomic nuclear plants also will crowd out penetration of these markets by energy-efficiency and renewables.” (“Compete or suckle: Should troubled reactors be subsidized?” www.theconversation.com)

Advocating watering down California’s Renewables Portfolio Standard by pretending that nuclear energy is renewable energy is another bad idea.

The Sierra Club urges local officials to join us in intervening at the Public Utilities Commission to ensure that California secures enough energy efficiency and renewables so greenhouse gas emissions don’t increase when Diablo closes and that a conservation easement is placed on the 12,000 acres of coastal land surrounding the plant, acknowledging the will of San Luis Obispo County’s voters when they passed the DREAM Initiative 16 years ago.

This story was originally published September 27, 2016 at 8:41 PM with the headline "SLO County leaders should support Diablo nuclear plant’s retirement."