[Sustain] Senate 2007 Energy Bill Contains Sneak Nuke Subsidies

[Eric Brooks]

Senate 2007 Energy Bill Contains Sneak Nuke Subsidies

http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/politics/2007/07/our_nuclear_future.html


      Our unnecessary nuclear future

by Amanda Witherell

diablo canyon.jpg

/photo of Diablo Canyon nuke plants courtesy of PG&E's Jim Zimmerlin/

Sigh. Just when you're starting to think something productive might 
occur in the legislature, enter the monkey wrench. A recently released 
study <http://www.ieer.org/carbonfree/index.html> outlines exactly how 
we could be planning for an energy future free of nuclear and coal. If 
only our leaders would quit pandering to industry and adopt such a plan, 
but instead it looks like the nuclear industry has quietly tucked a 
provision 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/31/washington/31nuclear.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th> 
into the new energy bill that would provide billions of dollars of loan 
guarantees for new nuclear power plants.

The nuclear power industry has long argued that new plants aren't 
feasible unless these subsidies are granted. They scored them in the 
2005 energy bill and despite the overwhelming evidence that more 
renewable energy sources are needed, looks like the 2007 bill will 
allocate even more coin toward new nuclear power plants. A lot of 
bitching has always accompanied the tax credits and subsidies granted to 
renewable power sources like solar and wind, with a lot of scorn that 
these industries are too expensive to stand on their own and therefore 
can't serve our energy needs. But nuclear obviously can't either and has 
a proven track record of cost overruns. 
<http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/politics/2007/07/%E2%80%9D>

And a dangerous new nuclear era is dawning, 
<http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=3718&catid=4> with advocates 
<http://www.fanweb.org/patrick-moore/> claiming nuclear power plants are 
"emissions-free" and will save us from global warming. 
<http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/politics/2007/07/%E2%80%9D> To paraphrase one 
of my trusted sources, "That's like saying you don't fart and ignoring 
the giant crap you're leaving behind."



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