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Today, Congressman Nunes released the following statement concerning media coverage of the situation in Japan and the importance of expanded nuclear energy production in the United States.

“I am highly disappointed with the media’s sensational coverage of the nuclear emergency in Japan. The victims of the earthquake and resulting tsunami deserve better. The facts, as we know them today, are not an indictment of nuclear energy safety. Quite the reverse is true. The survival of the 40 year old containment systems under such extreme conditions helps to prove the safety and durability of nuclear power. To provide the United States the energy it needs to prosper, it is essential to move forward with the deployment of at least 200 reactors,” said Rep. Devin Nunes.

Congressman Nunes is the author of the Roadmap for America’s Energy Future, also known as the Energy Roadmap, which has the support of 65 co-sponsors. The Energy Roadmap is a budget neutral, comprehensive national energy strategy. It delivers lower energy prices, enhanced energy security, and lasting economic growth.

The Energy Roadmap increases our domestic supply of energy by lifting restrictions on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Outer Continental Shelf, and oil shale in the Mountain West. It also removes barriers to expanding the uses of our nation’s extensive coal supplies to fill the tanks of American military vehicles and jets.

To reduce electricity costs and provide enough base-load energy for the expansion of hybrid and advanced electric vehicles, the Energy Roadmap will triple our nation’s nuclear energy capacity. This carbon free energy source will help us ensure 70% of the electricity generated in America is carbon emission free.

The Roadmap for America’s Energy Future acknowledges that dependence on a single fuel source, particularly a finite resource, is not in our national interest and establishes a renewable energy trust fund to spur the mass deployment of affordable alternatives. The trust fund will be financed by the revenue generated by new fossil fuel development and not the American taxpayer, a mechanism that recognizes that the development of conventional energy does not have to be inconsistent with the long-term goal of renewables.

Finally, the Energy Roadmap legislation exceeds President Barack Obama’s carbon reduction goals. However, the carbon reductions will not necessitate, as the President famously opined during his campaign for office, massive energy rate hikes on American consumers.