SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Many Oswego County residents have rallied around the FitzPatrick nuclear plant lately in hopes that its 600 high-paying jobs can be preserved. But not everyone wants to save FitzPatrick.
Several anti-nuclear groups held a news conference today in Syracuse to argue that it’s time to make the transition away from nuclear power toward wind, solar and other renewable sources.
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“Nuclear power is by no means clean, it’s not safe, and it should never be prioritized over other energy sources,” said Jessica Azulay, program director of Alliance for a Green Economy.
Entergy Corp., which owns FitzPatrick, announced Nov. 2 that it will close the money-losing plant by early 2017. Local elected officials and residents have continued to lobby the state in hopes of finding a way to prevent the shutdown.
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Nationwide, opinions about nuclear power are split, although support for nuclear appears to be waning slightly, according to the Gallup organization. In 2015, a slim majority of Americans (51 percent) favor the use of nuclear energy for electricity in the U.S., while 43 percent oppose it, Gallup reported.
Those numbers are similar to what Gallup found when it last measured attitudes two years ago. Support for nuclear power is down from the peak of 62 percent five years ago. Current support is on the low end of what Gallup has found in the past 20 years, with the 46 percent reading in 2001 the only time that it sank lower.
Read more at Activists: Shut FitzPatrick nuclear plant and create renewable energy jobs
