Presidential hopeful Senator John McCain followed his speech on energy and climate in Houston, Texas with an emphatic call for new nuclear plants to reduce dependence on foreign energy. McCain announced, If I am elected president, I will set this nation on a course to building 45 new reactors by the year 2030, with the ultimate goal of 100 new plants to power the homes and factories and cities of America.” While this is a commendable goal, the nation will have to be careful that it is achieved by virtue …
The House Appropriations subcommittee on Energy and Water approved an increase in Energy Department spending to continue work on Yucca Mountain. The $494.7 million budget request was approved for the fiscal year 2009 despite much talk that Yucca Mountain will never be opened. As Heritage scholar Jack Spencer stresses, Yucca Mountain remains critical to used nuclear fuel management in the United States. The ball continues to roll in the right direction for Yucca, as the funding approval came just weeks after The Department of Energy submitted the license application to …
John McCain delivered his energy and climate speech this afternoon in Houston, and he rightly espoused policies to commence offshore drilling and significantly expand domestic nuclear capacity. As he stressed the difficulty of addressing climate change, he made a compelling case for building new commercial nuclear plants: In Europe and elsewhere, they have been expanding their use of nuclear energy. But we’ve waited so long that we’ve lost our domestic capability to even build these power plants. Nuclear power is among the surest ways to gain a clean, abundant, and …
Canada is beginning to see nuclear energy as the superior substitute to carbon fuel-based electricity. A number of Canadian environmental activists and government officials are turning to nuclear power and reviving its prestige as the cleanest energy source we can feasibly use. As the Canadian public continues to suffer from rising oil prices, they are not turning to the red-herrings of wind and solar power, but to nuclear energy. The Ontario provincial government is acting on plans to build new nuclear plants. In Canada, the public, the government, and environmental …
Hypocrisy is nothing new to celebrities and politicians that make the push to go green. First, it was John Travolta, preaching about the catastrophic consequences global warming with five (yes, five) private jets that he likes to fly for ‘business purposes’. Next, it was Harry Reid getting out of his Chevrolet Suburban to attend a news conference on energy efficiency across the street. Now, it’s Google co-founder Sergey Brin’s time in the spotlight to showcase his green hypocrisy. Brin and co-founder Larry Page have turned Google’s headquarters into a green …
The tornadoes that blew through the Midwest yesterday damaged homes and buildings including a research nuclear reactor facility at Kansas State University. The reactor, a TRIGA Mark II model, has been operating since 1962, making it one of the oldest operating models of its design in America. One might think a hazardous explosion or a reactor core meltdown would occur if a tornado slammed into a 46 year old nuclear reactor, right? Wrong. Shutting down a nuclear reaction is a relatively simple process, and K-State’s research reactor was deactivated before …
A poll released by Zogby International shows that a strong majority (67%) of Americans favor building nuclear power plants. Republicans are most favorably disposed to nuclear energy (85%), with Independents not far behind (70%). Democrats, although less enthusiastic about building new plants, still have a plurality (49%) in support. The poll also found that Americans want to build nuclear power plants more than oil, coal, or natural gas plants. A plurality (43%) of those polled said they favor nuclear power stations in their community over any alternative. This poll suggests …
It’s too dangerous. It’s too expensive. There’s no solution to the waste problem. Anti-nuclear activists have thrown every excuse in the book when it comes to the reemergence of nuclear power in the United States, and they’ve all been dispelled. Today, with the costs of energy rising with no end in sight. Joanne Von Alroth of Investor’s Business Daily says, “Until recently, many shunned nuclear energy thanks to Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. That’s changing thanks to screaming oil prices. Nuclear energy has developed a new and improved image — …
Proponents of global warming legislation often dismiss the economist costs of implementing a cap and tax scheme to reduce carbon emissions. They’ll ask, “What’s the cost of not doing anything at all?” Well, according to the International Energy Agency, the cost of actually doing something will come at a remarkably steep price, $45 trillion just to give a ballpark estimate. That’s right, the IEA’s latest report says $45 trillion worth of new energy, mostly nuclear and wind, will be needed to cut greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) in half by 2050. …
With gas prices reaching an all-time high and oil companies banking record profits, it’s easy for the public to blame oil executives for draining their wallets at the pump. Ask an economist, however, and he will give you a different answer: supply and demand. Of course, it’s more complicated that. Undoubtedly, a number of variables impact the supply and demand of oil, including Big Oil. To eliminate any confusion, the American Petroleum Institute recently released a primer on the issue titled, “The Truth About Oil and Gasoline.” The clear and …
