A report issued by a 75 member bipartisan Nuclear Energy Caucus states that “the value of nuclear energy is clearly evident” and doing nothing about the impending closure would be a “devastating and permanent blow to Pennsylvania’s economy and environment.” That leaves 3 options. One would be to compensate nuclear plants for their environmental attributes which is already being done for other sources of electrical generation.
The second would be propping up the economic prospects of carbon-free, zero-emissions nuclear plants by assessing a fee on electrical generators that emit carbon into the atmosphere.
The third option would involve different phases that would include a long-term approach for carbon pricing while the state government would offer immediate financial assistance.
Andrew Williams of the Environmental Integrity Fund stated that “Pennsylvania can and should step up and create a system with flexible, market-based solutions that will reduce climate pollution.” A group known as Citizens Against Nuclear Bailouts feels that “Corporations of an already profitable nuclear industry continue to go door-to-door at state capitols across the country looking to pad their shareholders’pockets with bailouts from hardworking citizens to increase their own profits.”