[HARRISBURG, PA] – Representative Thomas Mehaffie III (R-Dauphin) today introduced legislation that would prop up Pennsylvania’s struggling nuclear power plants by adding a third tier for nuclear energy to the state’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards (AEPS). Three Mile Island and Beaver Valley are expected to close in 2019 and 2021 respectively.
The following environmental and clean energy advocacy groups issued the statement below in response to the proposed legislation: Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Clean Air Council, PennFuture, PennEnvironment, Keystone Progress, Clean Water Action, Physicians for Social Responsibility Philadelphia/Pennsylvania, Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, and the Philadelphia Solar Energy Association.
“Pennsylvanians need and deserve a forward-thinking, long-term strategy to fight climate change and invest in a clean energy economy centered around renewable energy. This legislation does nothing to advance the deployment of renewable energy in Pennsylvania and further locks us into increasingly expensive nuclear power from old and outdated equipment.
“Pennsylvania’s policymakers ought to be working to significantly scale up clean, safe and affordable renewable energy from wind, solar, geothermal and low-impact hydro power. Building a clean energy economy around renewable energy in tandem with a declining, enforceable limit on carbon pollution from power plants will reduce emissions significantly in Pennsylvania as well as create jobs and protect health and the environment.
“We urge Pennsylvania legislators to shift their focus from preserving the aging energy sources of the past and instead look ahead toward real climate solutions that will advance a clean energy future in our Commonwealth.”