Friday, August 01, 2008
Abercrombie and Peterson
The collaboration of Neil Abercrombie and John Peterson to push for energy independence is the best news in a long time.
Peterson has been working this point steadily and loudly forever, which makes sense for a coal-country congressman.
Abercrombie's role is more novel and interesting. Hawaii doesn't have a dog in the fight, so to speak, but nevertheless Abercrombie has decided to serve the people of America. Since he has solid leftist credentials, his strong advocacy will put other leftist members (including Pelosi) in an uncomfortable position.
The plan includes offshore drilling, coal-to-gas, and oil shale. It doesn't support nuclear plants directly. Instead it removes the most serious obstacle to nuclear: the disposal of waste. We've been stuck in endless and pointless litigation about using Yucca Mountain in Nevada to store leftover uranium waste. This makes as much sense as litigation over a defense contract to make breech-loading muskets. France has already perfected waste recycling ... which was originally invented here, but abandoned and forbidden by Soviet Agent Jimmy Carter. The A & P proposal would require the government to stop arguing about an obsolete method, and simply follow France.
One of the authors, Shelley Capito of WV, says:
Maybe there's a faint scrap of hope for us after all. ¶ 9:53 AM
Peterson has been working this point steadily and loudly forever, which makes sense for a coal-country congressman.
Abercrombie's role is more novel and interesting. Hawaii doesn't have a dog in the fight, so to speak, but nevertheless Abercrombie has decided to serve the people of America. Since he has solid leftist credentials, his strong advocacy will put other leftist members (including Pelosi) in an uncomfortable position.
The plan includes offshore drilling, coal-to-gas, and oil shale. It doesn't support nuclear plants directly. Instead it removes the most serious obstacle to nuclear: the disposal of waste. We've been stuck in endless and pointless litigation about using Yucca Mountain in Nevada to store leftover uranium waste. This makes as much sense as litigation over a defense contract to make breech-loading muskets. France has already perfected waste recycling ... which was originally invented here, but abandoned and forbidden by Soviet Agent Jimmy Carter. The A & P proposal would require the government to stop arguing about an obsolete method, and simply follow France.
One of the authors, Shelley Capito of WV, says:
We have been working on this for about a month. There have been no lobbyists and no special interests. We have been writing this ourselves, and that is the way it should be. We've found common ground because we all realize the U.S. is unloading a lot of energy dollars overseas. We also all realize it is becoming a security issue. ... Leadership will not put forward an energy bill because they are absolutely opposed to off-shore drilling. They know they would lose. There are enough Democrats, Republicans and Americans who think we need to be reliant on ourselves. ... If we can't drill for oil and we don't want coal or nuclear energy, we have no pathway to energy independence.
Maybe there's a faint scrap of hope for us after all. ¶ 9:53 AM
