LA CROSSE (WKBT) — Incumbent Wisconsin Congressman Derrick Van Orden (R-WI 03) joined Dairyland Power Cooperative officials for a roundtable on nuclear energy on Monday.
Van Orden said nuclear energy is nothing new, and that it should be embraced in the U.S.
“If you’re very serious about being carbon neutral or carbon free, you’re going to have to have nuclear involved, so you’re going to have to make an investment in these technologies,” Van Orden said.
“It’s safe, it’s reliable, it’s on 24/7, and it doesn’t emit carbon. There’s really no energy source right now that we can say that about,” said Brent Ridge, President and CEO of Dairyland Power.
Van Orden and Ridge said if the federal government would streamline the permit process and subsidize it the same as wind and solar, more utilities would invest in a nuclear future.
“I don’t want the federal government dictating to these professionals, ‘you’re going to use x amount of wind, x amount of solar, x amount of nuke.’ I don’t want to do that. I want the subject matter experts that are providing a service to be able to provide that service with reasonable oversight from the federal government,” Van Orden said.
“It’s de-risking the permitting and licensing process through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the federal government has shown signs of doing just that, so I think there’s some positive movement, but it has to be consistent and reliable in terms of once you start a permitting process, you can rely on it taking 12 months, 24 months, or however long,” Ridge said.
Ridge added their Alma or Genoa sites would make sense as places to transition to nuclear energy over time.
Van Orden wrapped the day with a campaign rally at his La Crosse headquarters with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA).
The Congressman Monday joined Minnesota 1st District Congressman Brad Finstad (R) and other Republicans in a letter to the USDA.
They’re asking for answers on why Minnesota-based Pure Prairie Poultry received millions of federal dollars last year but went bankrupt last month.
That bankruptcy forced several Minnesota and western Wisconsin farmers to cull or give away thousands of chickens because PPP stopped paying them.
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