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The argument undergirding this essay is that the new environmental movement in the United States is partly a symbolic issue. Some liberal or radical members of key strategic elites who are alienated from the social and political system are drawn to concrete issues which serve as a surrogate for a real criticism of the hegemonic structure. The question of nuclear energy was chosen to test this argument. Five predictions were made, then confirmed by the evidence: (1) the relevant scientific community would be highly supportive of nuclear energy; (2) views about nuclear energy would correlate highly with political ideology among various non-scientific leadership groups; (3) national media journalists would be skeptical of nuclear energy; (4) journalists would inaccurately perceive and report the views of the relevant scientific community on nuclear issues to other elites and to the general public; and (5) the views of key leadership groups would correlate highly with the news sources which they perceive as reliable. In conclusion, the fears of United States citizens about new technologies and nuclear energy in particular have emerged because of real problems which deserve careful discussion, thought, and decisions. However, the exaggerated concerns about the possible risks of nuclear power are due to conflict among various leadership groups, a weakening of the social fabric of the society, a social mistrust that dates from the early 1960s, and a shift of the locus in influence and power in our society. (Author/BZ).