Don’t let California nuke affordable energy

Due to utopian green energy mandates, California is facing a sustained energy crisis. The Democrats in Sacramento are trying to phase out fossil fuels without practical, affordable alternatives in place. The result has been Venezuelan-style rolling blackouts and a 40 percent jump in electricity prices in the last decade.

If the Democrats believed their own warnings about an approaching climate apocalypse, they’d be actively building nuclear power plants—a clean, efficient, and safe energy source with zero carbon emissions. Instead, they are forcing the shutdown of California’s last operational nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon, which is slated to retire in 2025.

Should California Democrats succeed in wiping out both fossil fuels and nuclear power, Californians will face a bleak energy future of even higher electricity prices and more unreliable energy production.

That’s why today I introduced in Congress the Clean Energy Protection Act, a bill that will require California to issue Diablo Canyon the permits needed to keep nuclear power operating in the state, as well as direct the appropriate federal agencies to issue permits to allow the plant to develop an additional 8,000 megawatts of next generation nuclear capacity. In short, the bill will stop California from shutting down a crucial source of reliable, clean baseload energy.

To learn more about my fight to restore sensible energy policies to California, you can watch my interview with Fox Business’ Elizabeth MacDonald here or read my op-ed in the Washington Examiner here.