nuclear power

January 5, 2024

A “grave concern” – fight building against Biden’s hydrogen hubs

By Dana Drugmand

When President Joe Biden visited Philadelphia in mid-October to announce a $7 billion federal investment in seven regional ‘clean’ hydrogen hubs proposed across the country, he touted the promise of “tens of thousands of jobs” and the potential for sharp reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to “taking 5.5 million gas-powered vehicles off the road.”

But for many climate and environmental advocates, the announcement was no cause for celebration. Though proponents of hydrogen pitch it as a clean alternative to fossil fuels, nearly all hydrogen production globally currently stems from these planet-warming fuels, and environmental advocates worry that a massive hydrogen buildout risks extending the fossil fuel era at a time when climate science demands an urgent transition away from coal, oil, and gas.

The hydrogen hubs “amount to another corporate scam”, Marion Gee, co-executive director at the Climate Justice Alliance, said at the time of Biden’s announcement, while Food and Water Watch Policy Director Jim Walsh called the project “greenwashed dirty energy [that] will undermine efforts to address the climate crisis.”

Now, some activist coalitions are challenging the government narrative and organizing efforts to block some hub buildouts. They cite a lack of transparency and the potential for negative environmental impacts among a laundry list of concerns.

“It’s really a misappropriation of funds, of our taxpayer funds, to go down this hydrogen path,” said Tracy Carluccio, deputy director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, a regional environmental group focused on protecting the quality of the Delaware River watershed. “We’re going to be fighting it, and I think the public as a whole is going to be fighting these hydrogen hubs across the nation.”

The group is coordinating a sign-on letter to the US Department of Energy (DOE) expressing “grave concern” with a proposed hydrogen hub for the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The letter asserts that the government hub project amount to a “little known federal initiative that will have indelible impacts on our communities and the environment.”

August 24, 2023

California court dismisses lawsuit over nuclear power plant

By Shannon Kelleher

A California state judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by an environmental group seeking to force Pacific Gas & Electric Power Co. (PG&E) to adhere to a 2016 pledge to fully retire the state’s last nuclear power plant by 2025.

Instead of preparing to shutter its operation, PG&E is seeking approval to keep the Diablo Canyon plant open through 2045. The plant, which has come under fire for environmental and safety concerns, rests on the coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The San Francisco County Superior Court decision, issued August 23, sided with PG&E’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit on procedural grounds. The decision followed a court hearing on Monday.

“It didn’t come as a huge surprise, but we’re still very disappointed in the outcome,” said Hallie Templeton, legal director of Friends of the Earth (FOE), which filed the lawsuit in April alleging that PG&E is violating the agreement it signed with the group in 2016. “It was very clear to us after the hearing that the judge didn’t want to touch this case with a ten-foot pole.”

The court decided to dismiss the case after taking the position that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) continues to have jurisdiction over matters related to the contract between FOE and PG&E.

“The issues presented by FOE’s claim are policy matters that fall squarely within the CPUC’s authority,” wrote Judge Ethan Schulman in the decision.

August 18, 2023

Critical hearing looms in battle over California’s last nuclear power plant

By Shannon Kelleher

Opponents of a nuclear power plant in California face a key court hearing next week, a potential turning point in a long-running battle over the fate of the state’s last nuclear power plant.

The environmental group Friends of the Earth (FOE) is set to square off against Pacific Gas & Electric Power Co. (PG&E) in an effort to keep alive the group’s legal challenge to PG&E’s continued operation of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, which is located on the coast roughly halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

FOE filed suit in April in San Francisco County Superior Court alleging that PG&E is violating an agreement it signed with the group in 2016 pledging to fully retire the plant by 2025. Now, with the support of state and federal officials, the utility is seeking approval from regulators to keep the plant running until 2045.

PG&E is asking the court to stay or dismiss the FOE lawsuit. Both sides will air their arguments on the issue Monday morning in San Francisco County Superior Court.

PG&E says the plant can “ensure the long-term availability of a valuable source of safe, clean, affordable and reliable electricity for more than three million Northern and Central Californians.”

In contrast, FOE, along with several scientists and environmental advocates, says the Diablo Canyon plant is a danger to public safety and the environment. Plant critics fear the plant’s continued operations put the state at risk of a nuclear accident, prevent the state from fully embracing a transition to clean energy, and saddle the public with an unnecessary financial burden.

August 17, 2022

Postcard from California: Close California’s last nuclear power plant

The last nuclear power plant in California, vulnerable to earthquakes and priced out of the energy market by cheaper renewables, is slated to close in three years.

But now both Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Biden administration, citing the specious notion that nuclear power is needed to help address the climate crisis, are poised to give the plant’s owner billions of taxpayer dollars to keep it open. It’s a really bad idea.