Co-Chair Christine Todd Whitman visits Illinois and New Hampshire
CASEnergy Co-Chair Christine Todd Whitman traveled to Illinois on October 11th and New Hampshire on October 12th.
While in Illinois, Governor Whitman spoke along side Governor Edgars at the University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs. Addressing a crowd of students and faculty, Whitman’s message focused on the role nuclear energy can play when discussing our current and future energy demands.
“Illinois generates over 94 million MWh (94,154,140 MWh) of electricity and the East North Central Grid (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) consumes nearly 17 quadrillion Btu’s of electricity, that is almost five times more than what New England uses. But by 2030, the area’s overall electricity demand is projected to increase 16%. This is a problem we can not take lightly. However, each state can do its part and Illinois has taken the lead in finding energy solutions. Currently, there are eleven nuclear reactors in Illinois and over the past three years they have been operating at an average capacity of 92.8%.”
After concluding meetings with the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and the Chicago Sun Times Editorial Board, Governor Whitman traveled to New Hampshire to participate in the Clean Air Cool Planet Conference on Global Warming Solutions.
“The economy in New Hampshire is growing. Gross State Product has risen an average of 3.3 percent in each of the past 5 years. Growing economies mean more business, more people, more cars, more houses and more technology. And that means more energy. We will need to increase our primary sources of electricity. The trick going forward is for us to find a way to meet our energy needs while limiting environment repercussions. Nuclear is an appealing way to do this.”
Whitman followed the event with a media tour featuring appearances on WMUR, WGIR talk radio network and WCCM in Salem, NH. She also participated in interviews with the Nashua Telegraph, Portsmouth Herald, and Concord Monitor.
