Ignoring The Facts on Indian Point

A few days ago, I mentioned that many of the folks who had been more vocal about closing the nuclear reactors at Indian Point Energy Center had disappeared from the public square in the wake of the power outage gripping parts of New York City.

It looks like I spoke too soon. From the New York Sun:

And the winner of this week's gubernatorial debate between Democrats Eliot Spitzer and Thomas Suozzi was … Republican John Faso. Both Messrs. Spitzer and Suozzi said they'd close the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Westchester County, this after a week of 95 degree heat that left tens of thousands of Queens residents without power. The nuclear plant provides 2,000 megawatts of electricity, or about 11% of the state's supply, without supporting Middle East oil potentates or creating the pollution generated by burning coal.

After watching the debate, we rang Mr. Faso and asked him about Indian Point. "It's amazing that they would have answered the question that way," he said of the Democrats. "We need more generating capacity, not less." Mr. Faso noted that closing Indian Point would mean that businesses would close for lack of electricity. "Air conditioning wouldn't work," Mr. Faso said.

Thanks to Urban Elephants and News Copy New York for the pointer.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Power, Energy, Technology, Environment, Electricity, New York, Indian Point, Eliot Spitzer, Thomas Suozzi, John Faso