Governor Schwarzenegger endorsed Senator McCain for president and supported his energy proposal to build more nuclear reactors. Yet, our new president has expressed his concern for nuclear safety and the lack of a permanent solution to nuclear power's deadly byproduct: high-level radioactive waste. Our Governor will better serve Californian's by turning away from the French example of nuclear-intensive energy production and looking west — towards Hawaii. Our 50th state, President-elect Obama's home state, has just agreed on a plan to accelerate the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative. Designed to position the islands as a renewable energy model for the country, the agreement provides that 70 percent of power would come from clean energy sources by 2030. Republican Governor Linda Lingle and Hawaiian Electric Industries officials said they plan to lay undersea cable, forming a power grid so that Maui, Molokai and Lanai can feed 400 megawatts of wind-produced energy to Oahu.

Past decisions to follow a nuclear path cost California ratepayers over $10 billion in overruns and the federal government broke its promise to remove lethal radioactive waste from our fragile coast. As for new reactors proposed in the Southeast, the most recent estimate is $17 billion for about 2000 megawatts. Though still in the planning stage, the estimate has tripled since the utility first announced its intent to build the reactors.

The California Energy Commission (CEC) will soon send its Assessment of California's Nuclear Power Plants to the Governor for approval. The CEC Report highlights the uncertainties of dependence on aging reactors, and the absence of information needed to produce a valuable roadmap for responsibly planning the state's energy future as well as determining the impacts of the state's continued reliance on aging reactors.

The Governor has demonstrated his willingness to step back and reevaluate his position when his constituents strongly disagree with him and has been a leader in renewable energy programs. The Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility and the Sierra Club asks our Governor to forget nukes and invest in educating our children in innovative technology to be a template for other states and countries. California could fund more “GI bill” type programs in existing institutions to train returning veterans and new students in state-of-the-art renewable energy technologies.

If Governor Schwarzenegger still thinks nuclear power has “a great future,” he has not listened to the documented economic arguments that have been put forth by the investment community and consumer representatives in Sacramento during the past five years.

California should not look to aging reactors on our fragile coast for future energy supplies. Nor should we waste money on expensive new reactors, likely manufactured in foreign countries, which would increase stockpiles of highly radioactive waste in our state and decrease our energy security.

Governor Schwarzenegger, please do not waste California's spare resources pursuing last century’s energy technology when a golden opportunity for our future awaits only the political will to make it a reality.

Rochelle Becker is Executive Director of Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility.

Jim Stewart, who has a PhD in nuclear physics from Yale University, is Co-chair of Sierra Club California's and Angeles Chapter's Climate-Energy Committees.