CASEnergy Co-Chair Christine Whitman Makes a Splash in San Antonio with Latino Groups
CASEnergy Co-Chair Governor Christine Todd Whitman made a trip to San Antonio, TX on July 12-13 to attend the National Council of La Raza’s 2010 Annual Conference to spread the word on the positive benefits of nuclear energy for Latinos and to educate others on the Coalition’s work.
First, on Monday, July 12, the Governor held a nationwide CASEnergy member call from San Antonio to explain the four points of the CASEnergy Policy Roadmap for Clean Energy, to discuss the efforts surrounding the new initiative and next steps going forward, to highlight how members and others can help with efforts in their area and to answer questions from Coalition members and call participants.
During the two days that the Governor was at the conference, she was able to meet with a number of important Latino organizations and their leaders.
Governor Whitman discussed with them how nuclear energy power plants can be a vehicle for good, well-paying jobs in the Latino community, citing a program Miami-Dade College in South Florida has with NextEra Energy (formerly Florida Power & Light).
With the national unemployment rate among Latinos at 12.4 percent, compared to the national average of just under 10 percent, many wanted to hear about the economic benefits nuclear has to offer. To that end, Gov. Whitman explained that of the clean energy technology options available now, none is better-suited than nuclear energy at supplying large amounts of electricity that does not pollute the air, together with creating thousands of needed jobs within Latino communities.
The Governor added that nuclear energy facilities often act as economic hubs in local communities by luring new businesses and increasing a tax base that provides good schools, libraries and other critical infrastructure – all of these would greatly help to strengthen Latino communities.
The same week of the conference, Gov. Whitman and Juan C. Zapata, Chair of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) Education Fund and a CASEnergy member, co-wrote an editorial that was published in the Austin American Statesman on July 9, titled, “Jump-start job creation by focusing on how we produce, use and conserve energy.” In the editorial, the two discuss how nuclear expansion will help Texas meet its anticipated 48 percent growth in electricity demand by 2030, which is more than double the national average. The editorial also highlights the economic benefits of nuclear energy for both the state of Texas and the Latino community, with specific regard to the job creation potential of the two proposed reactors at NRG Energy’s South Texas Project in Matagorda County.
