Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Yay Chu
During his confirmation hearings, EPA secy Steven Chu spoke out solidly against nuclear power, following the usual Gaia line.
More recently, under pressure from Western governors and senators, he's backpedaled considerably. In fact he's starting to sound almost pro-nuke. Responding to Montana Gov Schweitzer in a Western Govs Assn meeting, Chu stated clearly that nuclear is a clean and desirable form of energy. Today in this Senate hearing in response to Idaho Sen Crapo, Chu emphasized that the Obama admin has already provided loan guarantees for nuclear construction (which I didn't know), and then promised to do everything needed to clear out regulatory barriers.
If he means it, this is a highly positive step, and more than Sultan Bush ever did for nuclear power.
Kudos also to Schweitzer and Crapo for hard and persistent questioning in both of these meetings.
= = = = =
Later: Polistra is puzzled (sort of) by the lack of public announcement of these changes. Most Americans now favor increasing nuke power. Not an overwhelming majority, but good enough for normal politics. Therefore, you'd think an administration would publicize its efforts to support more power-plant construction. But the only thing we hear publicly is the raw 'Green meat', the solar, wind, and biomass. This satisfies the media, the gibbering insane Godzillas who shout at us from CNN, MSNBC and Fox. More precisely, it satisfies the Wall Street Mafia, which owns the media and salivates at the prospect of a new bubble to inflate. So the emphasis isn't really puzzling, but it does remind us forcefully that the people are not even a minor third-order adjustment variable in our political equation. ¶ 11:42 AM
During his confirmation hearings, EPA secy Steven Chu spoke out solidly against nuclear power, following the usual Gaia line.
More recently, under pressure from Western governors and senators, he's backpedaled considerably. In fact he's starting to sound almost pro-nuke. Responding to Montana Gov Schweitzer in a Western Govs Assn meeting, Chu stated clearly that nuclear is a clean and desirable form of energy. Today in this Senate hearing in response to Idaho Sen Crapo, Chu emphasized that the Obama admin has already provided loan guarantees for nuclear construction (which I didn't know), and then promised to do everything needed to clear out regulatory barriers.
If he means it, this is a highly positive step, and more than Sultan Bush ever did for nuclear power.
Kudos also to Schweitzer and Crapo for hard and persistent questioning in both of these meetings.
= = = = =
Later: Polistra is puzzled (sort of) by the lack of public announcement of these changes. Most Americans now favor increasing nuke power. Not an overwhelming majority, but good enough for normal politics. Therefore, you'd think an administration would publicize its efforts to support more power-plant construction. But the only thing we hear publicly is the raw 'Green meat', the solar, wind, and biomass. This satisfies the media, the gibbering insane Godzillas who shout at us from CNN, MSNBC and Fox. More precisely, it satisfies the Wall Street Mafia, which owns the media and salivates at the prospect of a new bubble to inflate. So the emphasis isn't really puzzling, but it does remind us forcefully that the people are not even a minor third-order adjustment variable in our political equation. ¶ 11:42 AM
