Rock Stars vs. Nuclear Power

Rock n Roll Hall of Famers Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Graham Nash are in Washington visiting New York Democrat John Hall (of Orleans fame) and other lawmakers, in an effort to take their "No Nukes" message out of the arena and into the capital dome.

The musicians started Musicians for Safe Energy to organize No Nukes concerts in an effort to build political support for their position that nuclear power is unsafe and not environmentally friendly. They want Congress to stop underwriting loans companies need to build new reactors, according to USA Today.

Nuclear power is a divisive issue in the environmental community. Long reviled for its connections to nuclear weaponry, its intractable waste and lingering concerns over safety, nuclear power is now being embraced by some who see it as a necessary part of the energy mix, given that it produces almost no greenhouse gas emissions (at least, not after the uranium is mined and processed).

Music has played a role in politics -- particularly environmental politics -- for a generation. Now the question: Can "rock music for policy wonks" -- as Browne put it to USA Today -- make a difference in that debate?

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