The Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry’s main lobbying arm, is reportedly requesting a 30 percent tax credit for existing reactors as part of coronavirus aid.This is the same demand that the nuclear made repeatedly last fall, well before the coronavirus.

While we applaud the House for its climate leadership, we look now to the Senate to follow suit. The Senate must reject this massive nuclear boondoggle.

In a letter sent to the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees, the groups called on Congressional tax writers to oppose an industry-backed proposal to subsidize existing reactors with a new 30 percent tax credit. Specifically, the letter urges that this tax credit be excluded from a potential extenders package expected this Fall.

As the nuclear industry lobbies Congress for a bailout, a new analysis commissioned by Friends of the Earth shows that their favored tax proposal would entail massive costs for taxpayers, ratepayers and the climate.

The document calls for massive government investment in dangerous false solutions like nuclear and carbon capture and storage at a time when better, cheaper renewable options already exist.

Friends of the Earth welcomes bold action to fight climate change and transition the U.S. to 100% renewable energy. Unfortunately, the legislation introduced by Sen. Tina Smith and Rep. Ben Ray Lujan does not provide the solutions we need to address the climate crisis.

At a Florida Department of Environmental Protection hearing today, Friends of the Earth called on Governor Ron DeSantis and state regulators to reject a revised wastewater discharge permit for Florida Power & Light’s aging Turkey Point nuclear reactors.

The outdated reactors at Turkey Point are at the epicenter of the climate crisis. Rising seas and major hurricanes will wreak havoc on Turkey Point and endanger millions of lives in south Florida. 

Friends of the Earth will be appear before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety and Licensing Board in an hearing today, regarding Florida Power and Light’s controversial request to operate the aging Turkey Point nuclear reactors for an unprecedented eighty years.

The White Paper spells out in detail why nuclear power bailouts would hinder the global fight to combat climate change, and provides practical solutions for phasing out old, uneconomical plants.