Powering Our Future: Nuclear or Renewables?

From Citizen Action NM:
A free public forum on the controversial topic of future energy resources will be held:

Thursday, April 6, 2006, 7-9 PM
University of New Mexico Law School
1117 Stanford Dr. NE, Room 2405

The forum will explore a number of views concerning how our world’s future energy needs will be met: “Powering Our Future: Nuclear or Renewables?”

What are the pros and cons of nuclear vs. renewable energy? The case for massive development of nuclear energy as the only technology fundamentally capable of producing enough energy to meet the needs of a burgeoning population and world economy will be made by Dr. Donald Petersen, a member of the Los Alamos Education Group. 

Dr. Petersen joined the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1956 and spent his career studying the health effects of radiation on workers. He retired from the lab in 1990, but has continued to work as an educator with his colleagues William Stratton and Glen Graves of the Los Alamos Education Group (LAEG), a non-profit organization formed in 1995. The LAEG’s current work is centered on providing verifiable facts and arguments to refute exaggerated or misstated claims in opposition to nuclear energy development.

The case for renewables as the only clean, safe, economical and reliable source of energy will be made by Ben Luce, Policy Director for the New Mexico Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy (NMCCAE). Dr. Luce joined Los Alamos National Laboratory as a physicist in 1993. Three years later he became an advocate for renewable energy after becoming aware of global climate change and its potential impacts on the environment. He joined the New Mexico Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy (NMCCAE) in 1998, an alliance of ten environmental and consumer interest organizations in New Mexico that advocates for clean energy policies. He has been on leave from the lab for the past three years to work full-time for the Coalition.

The presenters will discuss the scientific, political, economic, and emotional arguments for and against nuclear power vs. renewable energy. The forum will also touch on New Mexico’s current policies that incorporate renewable energy projects.

The public is invited to bring questions for both speakers and join the debate! For more information call Citizen Action New Mexico: (505) 262-1862. Citizen Action is a project of the New Mexico Community Foundation.