Mothers for Nuclear Interviewed for CLIMATE WIRE
Excerpt: "In January, Shellenberger cosigned a letter to California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) making the case to keep Diablo Canyon. James Hansen, a former NASA climate scientist who made a similar jump from research to climate activism, also cosigned the letter and has joined Shellenberger in many engagements laying out the case for nuclear energy.
"Shellenberger is also organizing activists to defend Diablo Canyon. "We're talking a lot about Gandhi," he said. "You don't just write letters; you gotta march."
One group, Mothers for Nuclear, has taken this to heart. On June 24, organizers plan to march with their families almost 100 miles from Sausalito, Calif., to the state capital, Sacramento, to attend a California State Lands Commission meeting that could decide the fate of Diablo Canyon. "I felt for many years now that working there and being able to generate greenhouse gas free electricity, that felt like my contribution to humankind," said Heather Matteson, a cofounder of Mothers for Nuclear and a veteran employee at Diablo Canyon.
She crossed paths with Shellenberger at a public debate on nuclear energy at California Polytechnic State University and joined forces with his group when she learned that her employer, PG&E, might not keep Diablo Canyon up. "We're definitely not representing them in what we're doing," Matteson said. "They have even told us that they don't want our help." She is raising funds for the march through personal donations as well as sales of $20 pendants in the shape of an atom made from uranium glass that glows under ultraviolet light. "We're not necessarily pronuclear," she said. "We're pro whatever tools can help us. We don't want people to discount nuclear due to irrational fears."