Assemblyman Chuck DeVore Email

This came Sunday morning (I guess we know what Chuck works on while he's at Church...:-))

The Orange County Register ran an editorial today supporting our efforts to lift California’s 31-year ban on the construction of new, safe, clean and reliable nuclear power plants.

Next weekend, I will ask the California Republican Party to officially endorse our initiative at their convention in Indian Wells. California needs the low-cost, low-emission power.

All the best,
Chuck DeVore
California State Assemblyman, 70th District
www.ChuckDeVore.com
www.PowerForCalifornia.com
http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/nuclear-power-law-1837485-energy-devore

Sunday, September 2, 2007
Today's editorial: Overreaction to reactors

Move to repeal state ban on new nuclear plants.

An Orange County Register Editorial

Increased demand for energy, uncertain supplies of fossil fuels, a law to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in California by 25 percent over the next 12 years – there are many reasons to search for a clean, reliable source of energy. Unfortunately, in California, one of the most obvious places to look –nuclear power – is against the law.

On the international level, nuclear power is widespread: it is used throughout Europe, supplying 78 percent of France's energy, and is on the rise in China and India. For Americans, worry over "climate change" as well as "energy independence" has brought nuclear power increasing bipartisan support, with everyone from Rudy Giuliani to Nancy Pelosi agreeing that it must be
considered as part of the U.S. energy portfolio. But in California, the Legislature passed a law in 1976 banning new nuclear power plants until the industry could permanently dispose of or reprocess nuclear waste. According to a Newsweek article at the time, even the state's environmental protection administrator called the effective moratorium "extremely simplistic."
Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, has introduced an initiative that would overturn that law, while adding stipulations to locate new plants in places safely distant from seismic faults and waterways. Assuming the proposal tests well with the public, Mr. DeVore will seek to gather 700,000 signatures by mid-November in order to put the measure on the June ballot. Mr. DeVore told us that preliminary polling found a modest majority in favor of repealing the
law.

The unique legal treatment given nuclear power is based on paranoia, but also on unique risks. No method exists of disposing or fully reprocessing nuclear waste, whose radioactive lifetime is measured in the hundreds of thousands of years. The unique benefits of nuclear power, however, are real, too. It doesn't produce CO2, it doesn't come from the Middle East, and it's
cost-competitive. Considerations of safety are part of any debate over nuclear power, but before the debate can occur, the possibility must be allowed. We support the initiative that would take that first step.

More information can be found at www.powerforcalifornia.com