Whitman Touts Benefits of Nuclear Energy: Former EPA Chief Says South Carolina Needs to Depend Less on Coal, More on Atomic
By Sammy Fretwell, The State, Columbia, S.C.
Nov. 20–South Carolina needs to depend less on coal to supply power — and more on nuclear energy — as concerns about global warming and air pollution rise, the Environmental Protection Agency’s one-time administrator said Monday.
Former EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman, now a spokeswoman for nuclear energy, was at USC to rally support in South Carolina for atomic power production. It’s a source she says must be considered in the growing debate over global warming and greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.
Overall, South Carolina gets more than 50 percent of its power from nuclear energy, one of the highest percentages in the country. The state has nuclear reactors at four different sites operated by Duke Energy, South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. or Progress Energy. Those companies are considering seeking federal approval for additional reactors in the Carolinas.
“Nuclear is something we’ve got to continue to look at,” Whitman told about 35 people at USC’s business school. “Coal will always be part of our energy mix, but there’s no denying it emits greenhouse gases; it emits regulated pollutants, and that will undoubtedly continue.”
Whitman, President Bush’s first EPA chief, made her remarks as South Carolina residents are at odds over a proposed coal plant in Florence County. State-owned power company Santee Cooper says it needs to build the plant to supply power by 2012, but a coalition of environmental groups has rallied against the facility.
Whitman said she could not comment on the Santee Cooper plant. But of coal, the former New Jersey governor said, “I’d like to see it de-emphasized a bit.”
Laura Varn, a spokeswoman for Santee Cooper, said her company would rather build a new nuclear plant than a coal plant. But she said it isn’t possible to get federal approval for the nuclear plant in time to meet demand.
Whitman’s presence in Columbia follows a push by nuclear power proponents to revive the once dormant industry. They have seized on the issue of global warming, arguing that nuclear is the better long-term answer for the country’s energy needs.
Whitman is co-chair of the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition. The pro-nuclear coalition’s other co-chair is Patrick Moore, the former Greenpeace official who spoke in South Carolina last spring about the need to keep open a nuclear waste dump in Barnwell County.
Whitman was to meet with private groups later Monday and be at Clemson University today for a similar speech.
“She’s paid by the nuclear lobby, so what she said wasn’t surprising,” said nuclear power critic Jerry Rudolph, a member of the Carolina Peace Resource Center.
Rudolph said he doesn’t believe the only choice is between coal and nuclear. If the United States spent enough effort working to conserve energy while developing alternative energy sources, there would be little need for coal and nuclear power, he said.During the question-and-answer session, a handful of anti-nuclear activists peppered Whitman with questions and comments about the need for nuclear energy. Columbia activist Leslie Minerd told Whitman the United States is offering financial incentives to develop new nuclear power plants, but Minerd said that amounts to “corporate welfare.”
Whitman said anti-nuclear groups were more vocal at USC than she has encountered in other talks but said the critical questions were not surprising.
“It’s the kind of thing you expect. There are such passions among people who have opposed it for so long.”
Reach Fretwell at (803) 771-8537.
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