President Obama

Yesterday at his town hall in New Orleans, the President was asked about climate change, and he responded by reiterating his commitment to push for climate change legislation as soon as the health care debate is over.

One of his main points was that we need to increase our domestic energy production in environmentally-responsible ways – including expanding our nuclear energy sector.

“There’s no reason why technologically we can’t employ nuclear energy in a safe and effective way,” Obama said. “Japan does it and France does it and it doesn’t have greenhouse gas emissions, so it would be stupid for us not to do that in a much more effective way.”

We’re glad that President Obama is acknowledging the nuclear renaissance and recognizing the crucial role nuclear power must play in both ensuring energy security and sustainable development in the United States, and combatting carbon emissions and climate change.

It’s also important to point out that the President realizes, as we do, how important the growth of the clean energy sector could be to our economy:

“But I ultimately am convinced that we should be able to put together a package that puts people back to work, makes us more energy independent and saves our planet in the process,” he added.

Clean energy – including nuclear energy – means jobs, as we’ve pointed out. We’ve been able to keep hiring both here in the United States and around the world even while most of the economy has been in a downturn. An investment in nuclear energy is an investment in well-paying, secure, and economy-growing jobs for Americans… and we’re glad President Obama is on board with us in the crucial push for cleaner, safer, carbon-free energy.

To see a video of the question and answer, click here and go to the 5:15 mark.