AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN
J U LY 9 , 2 0 1 0
Jump-start job creation by
focusing on how we produce,
use and conserve energy
By Christine Todd Whitman and Rep. Juan C. Zapata
T
his week, the nation’s
leading Latino and other
community leaders are
meeting in San Antonio for the
National Council of La Raza’s
annual conference. The conference
will provide special focus
needed on economic challenges,
especially those affecting Latino
communities. The national
unemployment rate among Latinos
is 12.4 percent, higher than the
national average of just under 10
percent.
One of the opportunities we have
to kick-start job creation is by
focusing on how we produce, use
and conserve energy. America’s
electricity demand is poised to
rise 23 percent by 2030 and the
need in Texas will be double that at
48 percent. Meeting that demand
responsibly is going to require an
investment in a diverse range of
clean energy sources.
Of the clean energy technology
options available now, none is
better-suited than nuclear energy
at supplying large amounts of
electricity that does not pollute
the air, together with creating
thousands of badly needed jobs.
That’s particularly the case
in Texas, where two proposed
reactors at NRG Energy’s South
Texas Project in Matagorda County
will put some 6,000 people to work
building those power plants.
Nuclear energy facilities act
as economic hubs in local
communities by luring new
businesses and increasing a tax
base that provides good schools,
libraries and other critical
infrastructure. NRG estimates the
two new reactors at South Texas
Project will generate more than
$15 billion in follow-on business
activity, along with $600 million in
REP. JUAN C. ZAPATA,
local and state tax revenues.
CASENERGY MEMBER
And because nuclear energy is
emissions-free when producing
power, each additional plant
prevents carbon emissions from
fossil fuel plants that would
otherwise fill the air. Texas’s four
reactors prevented 29 million
metric tons of carbon dioxide
from entering the atmosphere last
year - the equivalent or removing
nearly 1 million passenger vehicles
from the road. That’s a significant
environmental benefit given
that four Texas cities fall below
Environmental Protection Agency
standards for air quality and Austin GOV. CHRISTINE TODD
teeters on the brink of falling below WHITMAN, CO-CHAIR,
those standards. CASENERGY COALITION
PAGE 1
AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN
J U LY 9 , 2 0 1 0
Jump-start job creation by focusing on how we
produce, use and conserve energy
Nuclear energy’s economic and
environmental benefits have
helped the Clean and Safe Energy
(CASEnergy) Coalition, a group
to which Rep. Zapata belongs
and which I co-chair along with
Greenpeace co-founder Patrick
Moore, form a broad-based
coalition of more than 2,400
members who support the
industry’s expansion. That support
is especially strong here in Texas,
where CASEnergy members include
local Latino leaders such as State
Senator Leticia Van de Putte and
Ramiro Cavazos, president and
CEO of the San Antonio Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce.
Support is growing in Texas and
across the country. A recent
Gallup polled showed that 62
percent of Americans – an all-time
high - favor the use of nuclear
energy to produce electricity.
This favorability is due, in part,
to the industry’s excellent safety
record in recent years. South Texas
Project, for example, recently
logged its 10 millionth labor hour
without a significant worker injury
or accident. This commitment
to worker safety also extends to
safe operation of the plant, which
generated 22.4 million megawatt-
hours of electricity in 2009—
enough to power 2 million homes
and more than any other dual-
reactor power plant in the country.
President Obama has recognized
the importance of nuclear power
to the nation’s energy portfolio.
In May, he asked Congress to
approve $9 billion in additional
loan guarantee authority so that
proposed new reactors such as the
two at South Texas Project could
move forward quickly and put
Americans back to work.
“New nuclear power
plants have the potential
to create as many as
70,000 jobs in the
coming years, and we
need to act now to
ensure our workers are
adequately trained to
take those jobs.”
Consideration of nuclear energy
in Congress has drawn bipartisan
support in part because of
the tremendous job creation
potential of reinstating America
as a leader in this industry. As
President Obama said in April:
“Make no mistake: whether it is
nuclear energy, or solar or wind
energy, if we fail to invest in
these technologies today, we’ll be
importing them tomorrow.” We
should be taking a leadership role
and creating jobs, not moving more
American jobs offshore.
Of course, nuclear energy alone
can’t meet all of our electricity
needs. As Texas has discovered
as the nation’s leader in wind
power, America will have to
develop a full suite of clean energy
sources, including wind, solar and
geothermal. Natural gas must
continue to be a bridge fuel to this
cleaner energy portfolio. We must
conserve more energy as well.
CASEnergy members here in Texas
and elsewhere are meeting with
other stakeholders to find common
ground on our energy future.
Our coalition recently joined with
leaders from the manufacturing,
economic development and wind
energy sectors to release a “Policy
Roadmap for Clean Energy,” which
makes the case for a diverse U.S.
clean energy portfolio that places a
premium on job creation.
One area on which we are keenly
focused is investment in workforce
training. New nuclear power plants
have the potential to create as
many as 70,000 jobs in the coming
years, and we need to act now to
ensure our workers are adequately
trained to take those jobs.
Nothing lifts a community like
good-paying, stable jobs and
industries. Today, Texas has the
opportunity to strengthen its
communities, meet its growing
electricity demand, and improve its
air quality. Nuclear energy is poised
to help deliver on these goals.
Whitman is a former administrator
of the EPA and governor of New
Jersey and co-chair of the Clean and
Safe Energy Coalition (CASEnergy),
a national grassroots coalition
that promotes the economic and
environmental benefits of nuclear
energy as part of a green-energy
economy. Zapata, a Florida state
representative, serves as chairman
of the NALEO Education Fund
and Board of Hispanic Caucus
Chairs (BHCC) and is a member of
CASEnergy. To read more about the
“Policy Roadmap for Clean Energy,”
visit www.cleansafeenergy.org.
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