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friends who defended nuclear power as a clean energy source. “I think most environmentalists are anti-nuclear,” she said. “Maybe it’s just the crowd I run with?” Over the years the nuclear power industry has worked hard to align itself with the green movement, a cause near and dear to young activists. “Environmentalists are torn about this,” said Regina Axelrod, professor and chairwoman of the political science department at Adelphi University in New York and an expert on nuclear power and energy policy. “They think that climate change is the most profoundly dangerous issue we have to deal with in stabilizing planet Earth, which is under
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In Chicago last week, gray-haired protestors donning anti-nuke buttons from the Cold War era and dreadlocked 20-somethings in hazmat suits joined forces to stage the city’s first anti-nuke demonstration in 10 years, rallying outside the World Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference at the Swissotel Chicago. attack.” It’s the reason people like Kraft have invested so much time trying to win over students to his cause. “We’re getting older,” Kraft, 59, said. “We definitely need to bring in some young folks.” He said he fanned interest in the Chicago protest rally by attending a clean-energy discussion at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Kraft parked himself at a table near the back of the room and stacked it with three piles of anti-nuke literature, including brochures and maps of Illinois’ 11 operating reactors. He kept the flier about the anti-nuclear rally face down until the discussion
ended and students began filing out. Over the three decades since Kraft took up the anti-nuclear banner, he has become more polished, less strident, more politically astute. Kraft’s group supports a “methodical replacement” of nuclear power. “Even if you could shut down every nuclear reactor in the United States today, you wouldn’t want to. It’s not only insane, it would probably black out most of North America. You can’t do it.” His political savvy was reflected in the planning that went into last week’s 45-minute meeting with Gov. Pat Quinn. Kraft had decided argu-
ments couldn’t be too technical and activists present couldn’t be too combative. They needed to control half the agenda; the governor the other half. It would be wise to bring another activist group but not one that would dilute the message. While Kraft’s organization boasts a core of about 30 people, he brought just two: the state director of a public advocacy group and another with political background. “I needed people who have the background and sensitivity to deal with a politician of this stature,” he said. Kraft, who went to the meeting dressed in a suit and hiking
THE TIMES LEADER boots, offered the governor practical solutions to his group’s concerns, ones that he felt also would fly politically in Illinois. For every bullet point, Kraft handed a folder of materials to Quinn’s aides, with each page highlighting key information. Pleased with how the meeting went, Kraft said, “I think they understand now that these are go-to people that they can turn to.” His upbeat attitude contrasts with activists like Ralph Nader. Last month, Nader renewed a nearly 2-year-old request to U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu to meet with several anti-nuke groups. Chu has yet to respond. “These guys are digging in their heels,” Nader said in an
www.timesleader.com
interview. “They’re playing Russian roulette with a technology that is uneconomical, unsafe and unnecessary, and cannot exist without government subsidies.” Kraft was 27 when he watched “The China Syndrome,” a thriller that played in movie theaters just two weeks before the Three Mile Island partial core meltdown. Outside the theater, he encountered anti-nuclear activists passing out leaflets. The more Kraft learned about nuclear power, the more he became an opponent. In 1981, Kraft and six others formed Nuclear Energy Information Service, with a mission to end nuclear power. Two decSee ANTI-NUKE, Page 7E
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