Christine Todd Whitman, former New Jersey governor and head of the Environmental Protection Agency, calls the recent decision by Japan and Germany to close their countries’ nuclear power plants “reactionary.” Whitman says nuclear power is the cheap, zero-carbon answer to the unreliability of solar and wind power. In a recent opinion piece for The Hill, Whitman wrote, “No other electricity source can combine the benefits of knowing that it will always be on with its affordability and its lack of emissions.” Whitman supports renewing the licenses of the currently operational nuclear power plants around the country that are reaching the end of their 40-year expected life spans.