Rockers against new nukes

Rock musicians Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and Graham Nash are putting a new millennium twist on their 1970s anti-nuclear message, urging Congress not to approve federal loan guarantees for new nuclear power plants.

Nearly three decades ago, the three were prominent in the anti-nuke movement, helping organize the “No Nukes” concerts at Madison Square Garden that stirred public opposition to nuclear power.

Tuesday, they were on Capitol Hill warning that a Senate version of a new energy bill contains a provision, backed by the nuclear industry, for loan guarantees that could serve as a “virtual blank check from taxpayers” to help build more nuclear plants.

The musicians have launched a petition drive and YouTube music video. They have backing from environmental groups and dozens of artists such as R.E.M., Ben Harper and Maroon 5.

The Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry’s trade group, scoffed at the objections.

“It’s a debate they’re going to lose because nuclear energy over the last quarter-century has proven its value to our country,” said institute spokesman Steve Kerekes. “It’s almost as if they’re in a time capsule and they’ve been transported forward.”