WASHINGTON, Apr 26, 2006 -- UPI

 

A former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief, along with a co-founder of the Greenpeace organization, will lead a nuclear reactor PR campaign.

Former EPA Administrator Christie Whitman and Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore have been hired by the Nuclear Energy Institute, a trade association of reactor operators, to campaign for the construction of new reactors, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

Whitman, a former New Jersey governor, told reporters Tuesday she believes nuclear power is "environmentally friendly, affordable, clean, dependable and safe," During the same news conference, Moore -- who left Greenpeace in 1986 -- said his organization had been wrong to oppose nuclear energy, which he says is essential to help reduce global warming.

Moore is currently the director of a company that distributes geothermal systems in Canada.

Representatives of the United States Chamber of Commerce and the Teamsters Union also spoke in favor of new reactors, The Times said.

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