If You're Concerned About Climate Change, You Should Support Nuclear Power

By Carol Browner—Ms. Browner served as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Clinton, and as Director of the Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy under President Obama. She is a member of the Leadership Council of Nuclear Matters, an organization that is funded by nuclear-energy concerns such as Exelon Corp (NYSE:EXC).
 
I used to be anti-nuclear.  But, several years ago I had to reevaluate my thinking because if you agree with the world’s leading climate scientists that global warming is real and must be addressed immediately  then you cannot simply oppose clean, low-carbon energy sources.
As a former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator and former director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy, I have long championed clean air and the need to limit the dangerous pollutants that contribute to climate change.  In doing so, I have come to fully appreciate the role that our current nuclear energy facilities play in meeting our energy needs without increasing carbon pollution.
That’s why I’ve joined with a bipartisan group of leaders including former Senators Evan Bayh and Judd Gregg, in supporting a public education campaign highlighting the essential role of and need to preserve our nation’s existing nuclear energy plants.  Electricity generation accounts for nearly 40 percent of our nation’s carbon emissions.  Existing nuclear power plants, which produce 19 percent of U.S. electricity, emit virtually no carbon pollution and are among the cleanest sources of electricity available.  In 2012, existing nuclear energy plants provided 64 percent of our carbon-free energy.  This means that existing nuclear energy plants prevented 569 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere, which is roughly equal to the carbon dioxide emissions from 110 million automobiles.  Those same plants also prevented emissions of 1 million short tons of sulfur dioxide (which contributes to acid rain) and a half-million short tons of nitrogen oxide (which causes urban smog).

http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2014/05/05/if-youre-concerned-about-climate-change-you-should-support-nuclear-power/