WASHINGTON, D.C.—Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica had the following response to President Obama’s comments about energy policy in tonight’s State of the Union address as prepared for delivery:
“President Obama says he wants to lead the country in clean energy innovation. Unfortunately, requiring more coal, nuclear power, and natural gas production is not leadership and is not innovation. Coal, nuclear power, biofuels, and natural gas are inherently dirty. Telling Americans anything else is just misleading.
“President Obama should explain to families in Appalachia who are drinking unsafe, polluted water how he can call coal clean. He should go to New York and Pennsylvania and say why their drinking water needs to be sacrificed for our energy needs. He should tell the people in Nevada and South Carolina whose states could become radioactive waste dumps how he can say the same thing about nuclear.
“Friends of the Earth will aggressively oppose any efforts to use regulatory mechanisms or taxpayer dollars to prop up these or other polluting industries.”
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