nuclear-news

Could a Clean Energy Bank wreck our economy? Well, Yes, if Clean Energy means NUclear The Seminal May 14th, 2009 You can barely sit through a TV show, listen to the radio, or even read a blog without coming across an ad from someone extolling the virtues of some “clean” energy form or another. Never mind that some of them—from nuclear power to “clean” coal—bear no resemblance to the cleanest solutions like wind, solar and energy efficiency. Some industries have more money to spend on ads than others…………………………what could be more virtuous than a federal Clean Energy Bank? On the surface, the idea sounds perfect: the federal government would set up a bank to support the development and implementation of clean energy technologies, especially those that private investors can’t or won’t fund. In fact,…………………….. there are a couple of teeny-tiny little problems with the concept as written in both the Senate energy bill and Inslee bill in the House. Kind of like there were teeny-tiny little problems with unregulated derivatives trading, or lack of federal oversight and regulation, or corporate greed, that brought our economy to its knees last October…………………..here’s the reality: Sen. Bingaman’s Clean Energy Bank bill would provide more concrete government backing for dirty energy technologies than anything any lobbyist for the nuclear power or coal industries could have dreamed of even a year ago…………………………..that there is no limit—none whatsoever—to the amount of money that can be directed to “clean energy” technologies by this proposed bank. $10 billion? No problem. $100 Billion? No problem? $1 Trillion? NO PROBLEM! This was confirmed in discussions yesterday between Senate Energy Committee staff and experts from Union of Concerned Scientists and Natural Resources Defense Council…………………..Let’s take a look at what might be funded under this definition: New nuclear reactors, for one, as many as the industry might consider building, at whatever cost the industry thinks necessary……………………………..the nuclear power industry is the one most in need of this money. Why? Because there is no private capital available to support construction of new nuclear reactors.  It’s that simple—private investors simply won’t take that risk…………………………………private money won’t flow to nuclear power under any circumstances without the taxpayers taking the risk. The reality is that the nuclear industry has already asked for $122 Billion in taxpayer-backed loan guarantees (most of which would actually be taxpayer-funded as well, through the Federal Financing Bank). And that would cover only about 20 reactors.

US tells Benjamin Netanyahu: no raids on Iran nuke sites

US President Barack Obama has sent a message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding that Israel not surprise the US with a military operation against Iran, according to reports yesterday in Israel.

The Haaretz newspaper said the message was conveyed by a senior American official who met Mr Netanyahu, ministers and other senior officials in Israel.

Growth of Renewables Transforms Global Energy Picture REUTERS By Environment News Service May 13, 2009

In 2008 for the first time, more renewable energy than conventional power capacity was added in both the European Union and United States, showing a “fundamental transition” of the world’s energy markets towards renewable energy, finds a report released today by REN21, a global renewable energy policy network based in Paris.

Global power capacity from new renewable energy sources in 2008 was up 16 percent over the world’s 2007 capacity from new renewable sources, the REN21 Renewables Global Status Report shows.

“This fourth edition of REN21’s renewable energy report comes in the midst of an historic and global economic crisis,” says Mohamed El-Ashry, chairman of REN21.

“Although the future is unclear, there is much in the report for optimism,” said El-Ashry, an Egyptian national who from 1991 to 2003 served as the first CEO of the Global Environment Facility, which provides grants to developing countries for environmental projects………………………………….The report notes that in response to the financial crisis, several governments have directed economic stimulus funding towards the new green jobs the renewable energy sector can provide, including the U.S. package that will invest $150 billion over 10 years in renewable energy………………….

Feed-in tariffs were adopted at the national level in at least five countries for the first time in 2008 and early 2009, including Kenya, the Philippines, Poland, South Africa, and Ukraine.

The report also shows that several hundred cities and local governments around the world are planning or implementing renewable energy policies and planning frameworks linked to carbon dioxide emissions reduction.