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A president with an energy plan – Los Angeles Times

A president with an energy plan
Neither nuclear nor ‘clean coal’ will solve the crisis.
Los Angeles Times, Editorial 15 Oct 08 “,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,meeting our energy challenges will remain among the most important concerns of the next president.

That’s why it’s doubly disappointing that neither Barack Obama nor John McCain has a responsible energy plan. In pandering to voters in swing states, both have backed dangerous, dirty energy sources in contradiction of their own principles……………………………………there’s “safe nuclear,” a phrase as oxymoronic as “clean coal” that both candidates like to toss around. Nuclear waste remains toxic for millenniums, and no one has figured out a sufficiently permanent way of storing it. McCain’s plan to build 45 nuclear plants by 2030 is either disingenuous or naive. Because the nation’s existing plants are crumbling, they will have to be decommissioned as fast as new ones can be built, making it unlikely that there would be a net increase in nuclear power even if McCain’s goal could be met. Moreover, private investors have no interest in building nuclear plants unless they receive generous subsidies and taxpayer-backed loans, yet the Congressional Budget Office considers such loans so risky that “well above 50%” of them would default. Nuclear power isn’t just environmentally irresponsible, it’s fiscally irresponsible…………………………….Our power supply might never be completely clean, but we’ve barely scratched the surface of what could be done to improve energy efficiency and raise the share of renewable power. Clean power would create jobs for American workers and innovations that could be sold around the world, while greater efficiency would lower consumers’ energy bills by cutting demand………………………………Obama and McCain are both well informed about environmental matters, and either would be a vast improvement over Bush. But the next president needs to be more than knowledgeable. He needs to have the political courage to demand change — and possibly even sacrifice. Obama has shown little of this kind of courage so far, but McCain has shown still less.

A president with an energy plan – Los Angeles Times

Tags: nuclear

October 16, 2008 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics