America


Teachers Fight to Block Clean Nuclear Energy


Their California union is the 2nd largest anti-nuke group in the U.S.


I BY KEN BRAUN


nfamous for their obsession with wind tur- bines and solar panels, Californians now import more electricity than every other state and pay about 40% more for it than the national average.


With more proven oil reserves than 44 other states, they


also pay (with the exception of Hawaii) the highest gasoline and diesel prices in America — a full dollar more per gallon for regular grade than at least 40 other states. Bad advice drives bad policy, and one of the Golden


State’s great destroyers has been the California Teachers Association (CTA). For example, the CTA cosigned an April 2021 joint letter


to President Joe Biden that advocated for weather-depen- dent wind and solar energy systems and an “end to the fossil fuel era.” The first of the letter’s four demands called for an end to


all domestic coal, oil, and natural gas production by 2031. The second demand was to “phase out nuclear energy as an inherently dirty, dangerous, and costly energy source.” Together, those targeted fuel sources added up to 92%


of all energy produced in the United States in 2023. A more straightforward request might have asked the White House to just end industrial civilization. Organized labor is infamous for claiming positions out


of step with membership. So, it’s reasonable to assume many California teachers don’t support paying union dues to support paying high energy prices. Those dues added up to $199.7 million for the year end-


ing August 2022 (according to the CTA’s most recent public IRS report), part of the union’s $224.2 million total annual funding. This makes the CTA the second-largest known anti-nuclear group in the United States. Along with other recent updates based on the latest


public IRS filings, the total annual revenue of the American anti-nuclear movement is now at least $2.5 billion.


FULL POWER Newsmax last month focused on our need for nuclear energy to fuel America’s soaring demand for electricity spurred by artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, and next- generation supercomputers.


26 NEWSMAX | OCTOBER 2024


Here are the top 10 domestic opponents of the world’s only limitless and reliable source of carbon-free electricity, along with their most recently reported annual revenue:


1. World Wildlife Fund


2. California Teachers Association 3. Environmental Defense Fund


4. Natural Resources Defense Council 5. Sierra Club


6. World Resources Institute 7. Rocky Mountain Institute


8. League of Conservation Voters


$267,333,011 $224,210,575 $190,102,851 $175,527,533 $165,905,154 $140,260,323 $130,699,352 $68,906,791


9. Southern Environmental Law Center $53,489,044 10. Dream Corps via Green for All


$53,488,309


Put together, the California Teachers Association, the Sierra Club, and Dream Corps have a combined annual revenue of $443.6 million. They share something else in common, beyond opposing


nuclear power and the other major fuels that make prosperity possible. All three are based in California.


The total anti-nuclear movement is much larger, though


it is also true that many groups, such as the CTA, have lots of bad policy ideas to share and don’t spend all their time and money solely opposing nuclear energy. Even the CTA admits nuclear energy is the largest


source of zero-carbon electricity in the U.S. A 2020 analysis from the union’s research unit reported


that nuclear energy “results in 98% fewer deaths than coal; 99.7% fewer than oil; and 97.6% fewer than gas,” making it “just as safe” as wind and solar power production.


Ken Braun is senior investigative researcher of the Capital Research Center.


PLANT©RHODODENDRITES


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