Diablo Canyon already produces clean energy 

I see the Mothers for Peace is once again assuring us that PG&E will keep its word and replace Diablo Canyon Power Plant's production with a cost-effective, greenhouse-gas-free portfolio of whatever ("Our energy future doesn't include nuclear," May 2). I assume they are referring to the same PG&E that promised it wouldn't start any more fires; the same PG&E that is not going to be keeping a whole lot of promises because it is bankrupt, and the same PG&E that has recently been abandoned by most of the corporate officers that made all those promises. Yeah, right. I should know as I was once a shareholder, and it promised to pay me dividends.

It doesn't matter anyway, and the logic is simple, so simple that it is possibly understandable even to the Mothers for Peace. If this wondrous greenhouse-gas-free portfolio is dedicated to replacing the massive non-carbon-emitting production of Diablo Canyon, that means it is not reducing an equally massive amount of production from carbon-emitting sources elsewhere. The end result is more greenhouse-gas emissions in the atmosphere. That's it, or would it help if I wrote bigger or something?

All I know for sure is that besides adding carbon to the atmosphere, the closure of Diablo Canyon will also cost our community hundreds of millions in local tax revenue over a 20-year period, and a billion or so a year in indirect economic benefits. It will force the relocation of well more than a thousand of our neighbors and their families, who have lived and worked in this community for decades. It seems a heavy price to pay just because some people are scared of nuclear power, which over time has proven to be the safest of all forms of power production. So much for the Home of the Brave.

Mark Henry

San Luis Obispo