On the heels of President Obama's big energy speech and in the wake of the ongoing nuclear disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, the Obama administration -- along with many members of Congress and the nuclear industry -- remains steadfast in its promotion of nuclear energy here at home.
With nationwide unemployment still hovering around 9 percent, job creation has been one of the leading support points for the so-called "nuclear renaissance."
But AlterNet has learned that University of Massachusetts researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute -- who are also consultants to the Department of Energy -- have provided data to the Obama administration that show investment in renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar and biomass, would generate far more returns in American jobs than would investment in building new nuclear power plants.
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According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Bingaman's top donor over his career has been the Los Alamos National Laboratory, birthplace of the atomic bomb. The Illinois-based Exelon Corporation, the nation's largest owner and operator of nuclear power plants, is another of Bingaman's major contributors and a prominent campaign contributor to President Obama.
http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/150546Exelon and its employees were the seventh-largest source of campaign money for Obama, 49, during his four-year Senate career, contributing at least $71,850, according to the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics.
When he ran for president, the company’s employees gave at least $200,000, and board member John Rogers Jr., chairman of Chicago-based Ariel Investments LLC, was a top Obama fundraiser.
Exelon “actively engages in the political process and supports candidates from both parties who we believe will support sensible energy policies,” company spokeswoman Judith Rader said yesterday in a statement.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-23/nuclear-illinois-helped-shape-obama-view-on-energy-in-dealings-with-exelon.html