In March 28, 1979, Americans and globally awoke to a stunning meltdown at the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear plant along the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
A cooling of support for nuclear power soon followed.
Given the dangers involved, it was understandable.
Anti-nuclear activists quickly mobilized to call attention to the threat of nuclear energy and its mishandling and mismanagement.
Celebrities organized concerts and marches.
Left-wing critics of nuclear energy seemed to occupy the moral high ground including a very successful movie: "Meltdown: Three Mile Island," (Netflix).
Congressional hearings also took place.
In 1981, citizens' groups succeeded in a class action suit against Three Mile Island, winning $25 million in an out-of-court settlement.
Some of the funds were used to found the TMI Public Health Fund.
On Nov. 8, 1983, a federal grand jury indicted Metropolitan Edison on criminal charges for the falsification of safety test results prior to the accident. Studies conflicted on whether there was the ability to determine an increase of cancer within the Three Mile Island area.
But the danger remained.
Cleanup of the area continued until 1993.
Since the meltdown of one of the units, a private business was able to operate the remaining reactor until it could no longer compete in the free market where natural gas became a more cost-effective option.
President Ronald Reagan had a familiar joke about the government’s view of private industry, "If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."
Which is what TMI’s owner, Exelon, hoped to do. They threatened to close unless Pennsylvania agreed to pay to keep it profitable. Fortunately, the Commonwealth resisted bailing out the energy company and the plant closed.
More recently, thanks to The Biden administration’s corrupt Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), many nuclear and wind companies have reaped billions in taxpayer subsidies.
This business model has become too familiar in America. During the Obama-Biden administration, investors, and employees in Solyndra solar energy company donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Obama and Democrats and were given over $535 million of taxpayer subsidies.
The company went bankrupt, the donations were spent, and the only loser was the American taxpayer.
Now, along comes Baltimore-based Constellation Energy, a leader in nuclear energy. Constellation’s stock price increased 80% in the last year and has market capitalization of $66 billion all due to taxpayer subsidies.
Constellation Energy has its eyes set on the former disaster site as a potential profit center.
Not because the facility can produce power cheaper or more efficiently than competitors, but by convincing the federal and state government to hand them U.S. and Pennsylvania hard earned taxpayer dollars.
And since 2017, Constellation has spent six figures in lobbying in Pennsylvania every fiscal quarter through 2024.
As another display of monetary muscle, Constellation Energy issued the country’s first :green bond" to buy and develop nuclear projects.
According to the company, "A green bond is a financial instrument that is issued specifically to finance projects or activities that deliver positive environmental or climate impacts.
"It allows investors to actively support investments that promote sustainability and help address environmental challenges."
So there you have it. An unpopular form of energy has gained the support of American’s political left because that unpopular power source is enriching the political left in America: such as DEI groups and BLM who, in turn, support the Biden administration’s radical left agenda.
Constellation Energy is pressuring the Pennsylvania government to reopen Three Mile Island. Despite its financial strength, continues to ask Pennsylvania taxpayers to foot the bill.
All the more reason to pull the plug on nuclear subsidies.
Craig Shirley is the Chairman of Citizens for the Republic, as well as a Ronald Reagan biographer and presidential historian having written six books on Reagan. He's also written The New York Times bestseller, "December, 1941" and also published the companion book, "April, 1945." He's also the author of the book "Mary Ball Washington," which won the People’s Choice Award from the Library of Virginia. His book on the 1980 presidential campaign, "Rendezvous with Destiny" was named by The Wall Street Journal as one of the five best campaign books of all time. Shirley is also the author of the newly released bestseller, "The Search for Reagan" and is now writing a book about the 2024 Trump campaign tentatively entitled, "Comeback." Read Craig Shirley's Reports — More Here.