Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Henry Waxman and Nuclear Power

The Center is going to go out on a limb and predict House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, left, will support nuclear power. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already stated support for the technology. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has never opposed Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant. He knows its value. House Majority Whip James Clyburn is aggressively supportive of nuclear energy. He should be. Half of the electricity in his home state of South Carolina comes from emission free fission power. We think Waxman will come to the same conclusion. California should build at least 10 nuclear plants along its coast in the next 10 years.

Climate change mitigation legislation will be the impetus for Waxman's support. He has no choice. The push will come from Congress' deliberations over regulating carbon dioxide. EPA will have to punt on this issue and Congress should give appropriate guidance for carbon capture and reuse. The Center has a solution waiting for him when he calls us [or when we see him in the Rayburn Building]. Energy Defense Reservations (EDR) are the truth, light and way in climate change mitigation and electricity reliability. Cap-and-trade without the nuclear energy solution is fruitless. America needs to cough up some of those billions to support the expensive construction of new plants too. Nuclear energy also needs Henry Waxman's help because new plant construction has become very expensive. But in a global warming and climate changing world, it is well worth every penny.

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