City Council Goes on Record Against Nuclear Power Plants

The Cambridge City Council last night officially recorded its opposition to further licensing and constructing of nuclear power plants in the United States.

The council also set up an "Energy Management Commission" to coordinate conservation efforts within the city.

The two proposals resulted from last November's citywide "safe energy referendum," which was approved by Cambridge voters by more than a 4-1 margin.

"We wanted to tackle both sides of the energy question--opposition to nuclear power, but also the harder task, replacement of that energy with safe forms of power," Cliff Truesdale, who led the fight for the referendum, told the council last night.

Truesdale said, "We can't wait for the alternative to nuclear power to fall out of the sky. You, as city leaders, must actively encourage insulation and conservation," he added.

The Energy Management Commission, which will be staffed by volunteers, will consider a proposal to force landlords to weatherize rental units in the city.

Richard Bell, head of the national Energy Policy Information Committee, said communities had been successful in efforts to spur conservation in other states.

"This committee is an important step toward making Cambridge the first city in the Northeast to fully grapple with the energy crisis," Bell said.

"The rate at which money leaves our city to pay for rising energy costs increases daily," Bell said. "This is an important step to stemming the flow of these energy dollars," he added.

Paul Walker, research director of the Union of Concerned Scientists, also called on the council to address the nuclear issue "head-on."

"Nuclear power is not necessary to the energy supply situation in the United States," Walker said. "What's more, it is expensive politically, economically and environmentally," he added.