FOE News:WASHINGTON, D.C. ― The plan to close California’s last nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon, at the end of its current operating lease was approved Thursday by the California Public Utilities Commission.
Pacific Gas and Electric, Friends of the Earth, and other environmental and labor organizations reached a historic agreement in 2016 to shut down the two reactors at Diablo Canyon and replace them with renewable energy, efficiency and energy storage. Thursday’s decision makes a nuclear-free California one step closer.
In response to the decision, Damon Moglen, Senior Strategic Advisor at Friends of the Earth, issued the following statement:
The commission’s decision to support closing Diablo Canyon gives California a historic opportunity to create a blueprint for closing nuclear and fossil fuel plants across the country.
With the plans in motion to close the plant, the commission needs to begin the process of replacing Diablo Canyon with clean, renewable sources of energy. Further, the commission missed an opportunity to ensure that the plant’s workers and local community would receive the support they need to make this transition successful.
While state leaders talk about taking action on climate change, today’s decision by the commission fell short of putting those values into action. We will continue to work to assure that Diablo Canyon is replaced by greenhouse gas-free renewable energy, and that we treat the workers and local communities with the respect that such a historic decision demands.
