WASHINGTON -- January 19 -- "In his interview published in today’s Wall Street Journal, President Bush calls for building more nuclear power plants as a solution to the environmental dangers he now admits are posed by coal burning power plants. Nuclear power is a dangerous energy source that creates more problems than it solves. It is irresponsible for the President to advocate building new nuclear power plants that will endanger communities and serve as potential terrorist targets.

"Switching from dirty coal plants to dangerous nuclear power is like giving up smoking cigarettes and taking up crack.

"President Bush’s energy policy makes America less safe by increasing our dependence on polluting fossil fuels, nuclear power, and foreign sources of energy. It puts our energy future in the hands of foreign countries, while funneling billions of taxpayer dollars to polluting energy companies. The Bush energy policy does not aggressively pursue energy efficiency and renewable energy, even though these solutions are our quickest and cleanest alternatives. President Bush should scrap his energy bill and replace it with a bill that serves the American people, not just giant energy companies.

"It’s time for America to harness its own innovation to move towards energy freedom. The technology exists today to make our cars and trucks go farther on a gallon of gas, produce more of our energy with clean, renewable sources like wind and solar power, and become more energy efficient."

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