Nuclear and coal are polluting, dangerous, and economically inefficient energy sources. Despite this common knowledge, the Trump Administration and Energy Secretary Rick Perry continue to prop up these dying industries. Friends of the Earth is committed to fighting against the Trump Administration’s dangerous, misguided policies on coal and nuclear power.
In September 2017, Energy Secretary Rick Perry introduced a ludicrous proposal to change electricity market rules in order to bailout failing nuclear and coal projects. The plan proposed a $3.7 billion handout for coal and nuclear generators — both of which have been struggling financially against competition from renewable energy. For good reason.
The truth is the U.S. doesn’t need nuclear reactors and coal plants to keep the lights on – the Department of Energy’s own grid reliability report confirmed that. A draft of that report also proved that renewable energy doesn’t threaten the power grid, and that it actually makes the grid more reliable.
We called on our members to tell the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reject this proposal, and instead focus on the transition to 100 percent clean, efficient, renewable energy.
18,000 of our members spoke up — and FERC listened.
In a common sense ruling, FERC rejected Perry’s proposal, recognizing that propping up struggling nuclear and coal power plants will not strengthen the resilience of the electrical grid. Now, any changes made to the power grid will be grounded in fact — which is great news for renewable energy.
The rejection of Perry’s plan is a clear sign to industrialists that bailing out dirty energy is a terrible idea. The fight against dirty energy is far from over, though.
Transitioning to renewable energy is the only way to ensure that our electricity is truly reliable and resilient. Every dollar we waste propping up dirty energy is dollar we could have used to build a clean and sustainable energy future.
Friends of the Earth members spoke up, and stopped another handout to the polluting nuclear and coal industries.
