Turning the Sunshine State into a mega-state can be rewarding, but as it grows, so too does power consumption. New plants have to be built to keep up with the booming demand and nuclear is a prime option.

Florida already has five generators in three plants, Crystal River near the Bay area, Saint Lucie on the treasure coast, and Turkey Point near Miami.

Enter former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman, who has also served as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

These days, she heads up a coalition to expand America’s nuclear power industry. The message: it's cleaner and cheaper than any other option. Her stop in Tallahassee Wednesday had everything to do with timing.

“The demand is coming at us, and you can't wait and it takes eight to 10 years to get a facility up, but Florida's done some very smart things as far as making it more attractive for companies to make that kind of investment in a nuclear facility,” Whitman said.

In the background, like the steady hum of electricity, you can hear Whitman’s critics. Namely members of the environmental crowd, who argue that nuclear advocates are pulling the wool over your eyes.

Mark Ferrulo with Environment Florida said nuclear is actually one of the most expensive ways to go, not to mention dangerous, because radioactive waste is left behind. Still, he's not surprised there's talk of expanding Crystal River.

“The utilities make money when you burn energy. They don't make money when you save energy. So of course the utilities, their financial best interest is, the more wasteful we are as consumers and the more energy we consume and so they're the ones who are proposing to build nuclear plants,” he said.

That's why Ferrulo's calling for a bigger focus on renewable energy, such as solar power. But, Whitman said that’s not enough. Plus, as far as she's concerned, three-eyed fish and radioactive dogs are nothing more than the stuff of cartoons.