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October 29, 2009
2009 Environmental Law Institute —
Miriam Hamilton Keare Policy Forum
On October 29, ELI held its principal policy event of this anniversary year, the ELI-Miriam Hamilton Keare Policy Forum. The topic this year explored whether expanded use of nuclear power and coal is inevitable in our climate-constrained future, and if so how best to manage them.
This issue has gained greater salience in recent years, as advances in technology promise a new generation of safer nuclear reactors and the possibility of sequestering coal emissions. In 2007, former Greenpeace activist and current nuclear energy proponent Patrick Moore proclaimed that nuclear power is essential to combatting climate change.
Producers of coal maintain that it is impossible to ignore the most-abundant fossil fuel — and that it can compete with lower-carbon energy sources. Representing an entirely different viewpoint is Jon Wellinghoff, the Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, who told reporters “we may not need any, ever,” referring to new coal and nuclear power plants. State regulators, meanwhile, are responsible to ratepayers and pollution control mandates. Environmental organizations have mostly opposed expanded use of both energy sources, but that opinion is by no means monolithic.
To represent the diversity of this debate, here is the panel.
Matthew L. Wald, New York Times energy reporter, (moderator)
Peter Bradford, Vice-Chair, Union of Concerned Scientists
Hon. Garry Brown, Chairman, New York State Public Service Commission
Alex Flint, Senior Vice President of Governmental Affairs, Nuclear Energy Institute
Mike Morris, Chairman, President & CEO, American Electric Power
Hon. Jon Wellinghoff, Chairman, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Download an MP3 recording of the session.
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