IEER and CASEnergy Host 'The Great Energy Debate'

Nuclear Power: Climate Solution or Economic and Security Gamble?

WASHINGTON, DC - On Wednesday, December 10, 2008 at 9:30 AM, two of the leading, but opposing, voices on nuclear power will meet to debate the future role of this energy source.
Against the backdrop of an incoming administration whose position on nuclear power has come under significant scrutiny, Dr. Arjun Makhijani and Dr. Patrick Moore will address key questions including:

- Are new nuclear reactors an important part of the solution to climate change and meeting rising energy demand, or a risky diversion of critical resources from efficiency and renewable energy?
- What role should new nuclear reactors play in our energy mix as the U.S. invents and invests in a new energy economy, with a demand for green jobs?
- What are the economic ramifications - new jobs vs costly endeavor?
- Has the nuclear waste issue been solved? What is the potential for recycling?
- What about proliferation and industry safety questions?

- Are there reasonable alternatives to nuclear energy? And can they meet the baseload and peakload energy demand?

The debate participants will each make an opening statement, and then take questions from a mutually-agreed-upon moderator, followed by Q&A from attending credentialed media.

WHO: Dr. Arjun Makhijani, President, the Institute for Energy and Environmental ResearchDr. Patrick Moore, Co-Chair, the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, and a Co-Founder of Greenpeace Moderator - Environmental/Energy
Reporter TBD
WHAT: Dr. Arjun Makhijani and Dr. Patrick Moore debate nuclear power: what are the economic, environmental, and energy security issues?

WHERE: Lisagor Room
The National Press Club
14th and Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC
WHEN: Wednesday, December 10, 2008, 9:30 am

Light Refreshments Will be Served

ABOUT THE DEBATE PARTICIPANTS

Arjun Makhijani, Ph.D.
A nationally-recognized expert on energy and nuclear reactors, Dr.
Arjun Makhijani is the President of the Institute for Energy and
Environmental Research. The author and co-author of numerous
reports and books on energy and environment related issues, he was
the principal author of the first study of the energy efficiency
potential of the US economy published in 1971. Most recently, he is
the author of Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S.
Energy Policy (2007).
Dr. Makhijani has served as a consultant on energy issues to
numerous utilities, the Edison Electric Institute, the Lawrence
Berkeley Laboratory, and several agencies of the United Nations.
His published articles include journals such as The Bulletin of the
Atomic Scientists and in newspapers including theWashington Post.
He has testified before Congress, and has appeared on ABC World News
Tonight, the CBS Evening News, CBS 60 Minutes, NPR, CNN, and BBC,
among others.
In 2007, Dr. Makhijani was elected a Fellow of the American Physical
Society. He earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Electrical
Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California,
Berkeley in 1972, specializing in nuclear fusion.
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Patrick Moore, Ph.D.
Dr. Patrick Moore is an internationally-renowned ecologist and
recognized leader in the environmental field for over 30 years. He
is a co-founder of Greenpeace and served for nine years as President
of Greenpeace Canada and seven years as a Director of Greenpeace
International.
In 2006, Dr. Moore was named Co-Chair of the Clean and Safe Energy
Coalition, a national grassroots coalition that promotes nuclear
energy as an environmental, economical, and dependable source of
power.
Dr. Moore also serves as Chair and Chief Scientist of Greenspirit
Strategies, which he founded in 1991, a consultancy focusing on
environmental policy and communications in forestry, agriculture,
fisheries and aquaculture, mining, biodiversity, energy and climate
change.
In 2005 Dr. Moore testified before Congress, and has been widely
quoted in media outlets around the world, including The Economist,
Wall Street Journal,New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED,
Newsweek, CNN, MSNBC, FOX, CNBC, CBS Evening News, PBS and NPR,
among myriad others.
In 1969, Dr. Moore was awarded a Ford Foundation Fellowship, and
obtained an Honours Bachelors of Science in Forest Biology from the
University of British Columbia, where he also earned his Ph.D. in
Ecology in 1972.

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR Contact: IEER Media: Joel Finkelstein
(202) 822-5200
Wednesday, December 10, 2008 CASEnergy Media:
Deborah Nelson (202) 944-3374