Republican Enthusiasm for Nuclear Power
source: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/2012-republicans-embrace-nuclear-power-so-far/?hp
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- ampersand
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“There are many people, including me, who believe that it behooves us to increase a reliance on nuclear power,” Politico reported Mr. Barbour saying. “We don’t know what happened in Japan. We need to study and learn and make sure that we continue to have safe reliable clean nuclear energy in the United States.”
The need for an increase in domestic nuclear power was certainly shared by Mr. Barbour’s likely rivals before the accident in Japan.
Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and a candidate for president in 2008, said in 2007 that Americans are embracing nuclear power as they learn how safe it is.
“There’s been a real bias against nuclear energy in the United States, going all the way back to Three Mile Island in 1979, but I think most of it is unfounded. I mean, we’ve been running nuclear submarines for 60 years without accidents,” he said in an interview in October of 2007.
“A lot of it is changing attitudes, educating the public that nuclear byproducts can be disposed of safely, because the first reaction people have is, our kids are going to glow in the dark if we put that stuff in our state. That’s not the case,” Mr. Huckabee said.
At the same conference, Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota, told a group of bloggers that “I’m in favor of more nuclear energy.” That matches up with policies he pursued as governor. In 2008, Mr. Pawlenty called for repeal of his state’s moratorium on new nuclear power plants, according to Minnesota Public Radio.
Sarah Palin has long supported the idea of nuclear power. In September of 2008, campaigning with Senator John McCain of Arizona, Ms. Palin said that “in a McCain-Palin administration, we’re going to lay more pipelines … build more nuclear plants … create jobs with clean coal … and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal and other alternative sources.”
Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, has also embraced nuclear. In 2008, she was quoted as saying that a new nuclear power plant in her district would bring energy bills down for her constituents. She backed Mr. McCain’s plan for 45 new nuclear plants, saying “It’s a great idea. And the sooner the better.”
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/2012-republicans-embrace-nuclear-p...
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artemis6
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Nuclear power is a no-win , because someone has to suffer toxic waste in their back yard . It is the very LAST form of energy that we should invest in , that is never .
- 1 year ago
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artemis6
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ampersand
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artemis6:
True, that.
Another total marketing myth, (which means "lie" in more mundane human terms), was that nuclear facilities would translate into cheaper energy for consumers.
That has NEVER happened.
Not only has it always cost the consumers far more than any other forms of available energy, it's been an environmental disaster on all levels.The crying need for the development of such power wasn't from households but from developers selling the idea to a tiny handful of highly concentrated over-reaching industries with a view to global ambitions and nation-states with some twisted ideas of power and "prestige."
No matter how many times disasters occur or how many lives lost the same usual suspects wait a bit and then go back into propagating the same old lines about how "we" need this type of concentrated toxic power development.
The latest rationale is that we have so many people we need it for their expanding energy needs. I don't buy that. There are plenty of alternatives. I don't need it. Personally, I don't know any sane person who does.
- 1 year ago
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ampersand
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ampersand
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Harley Barbour may be little too tied in with the energy barons to make so quick a pirouette, but I expect we'll see a little fake hemming and hawing from a couple of the other major Republican candidates for a week or so until the public's memory fades.
Whats good for the bottom line is good enough for Rethuglicans.
If you want public health and safety concerns factored in, you're probably in the wrong country, my friend. - 1 year ago
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ampersand
