Obama on nuclear energy then and now

[JDPriestly]

Obama during the 2008 campaign:

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama favors the continued use of nuclear power and sees it as an integral and inevitable part of any effective U.S. energy policy, especially in light of growing concerns about global warming.

Nevertheless, Obama believes the United States must not increase its reliance on nuclear energy until other critical issues, such as national security and nuclear waste disposal, have been adequately addressed. Obama has said, “I don’t think that nuclear power is a panacea” for America’s energy problems.

“Nuclear power represents more than 70 percent of our non-carbon generated electricity,” Obama says in his energy plan. “It is unlikely that we can meet our aggressive climate goals if we eliminate nuclear power as an option. However, before an expansion of nuclear power can be considered, key issues must be addressed including: security of nuclear fuel and waste, waste storage, and proliferation.”

http://environment.about.com/od/environmentallawpolicy/a/obama_nuclear.htm

Obama now:

LANHAM, Md. — Promising "this is only the beginning," President Barack Obama announced more than $8 billion in federal loan guarantees Tuesday for the construction of the first nuclear power plant in the United States in nearly three decades.

Obama cast his move as both economically essential and politically attractive as he sought to put more charge into his broad energy agenda. Obama called for comprehensive energy legislation that assigns a cost to the carbon pollution of fossil fuels, giving utility companies more incentive to turn to cleaner nuclear fuel.

"On an issue that affects our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, we can't continue to be mired in the same old stale debates between left and right, between environmentalists and entrepreneurs," Obama said in a stop at a job training center outside Washington. "Our competitors are racing to create jobs and command growing energy industries. And nuclear energy is no exception."

Rising costs, safety issues and opposition from environmentalists have kept utility companies from building new nuclear power plants since the early 1980s.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/16/obama-nuclear-plant-presi_n_463754.html

In supporting nuclear energy, Obama is supporting the creation of a time bomb for our great-great-great-grandchildren -- and enslaving us to monthly utility bills.

Why isn't more being done to develop solar energy that can be created with materials that are generally available? Why aren't we investing more in solar and less in nuclear? Solar is safe. Nuclear is not, and it will cost much too much to make it safe.

[vegiegals]

1. And sad hopeless day in America!!

[Great Bear]

2. Maybe he has had more time to really study the issue

and has determined that he was wrong before. Takes a brave, secure man to admit a mistake.

[JDPriestly]

5. Maybe he is being paid off somehow. This is not a good decision

for future Americans. But it will be a very profitable decision for the folks that own the nuclear materials, reactors, power companies right down to your local utilities. What a sad day.

[amborin]

7. by Exelon? as when he changed the law about releases into the drinking water n/t

[Don Caballero]

3. I am very excited about the use of more nuclear energy in the States

This will certainly lower the carbon footprint of our polluting nation and serve as a guiding light to the rest of the world.

[Codeine]

9. +1

Fuck the Luddites.

[timeforpeace]

4. This is great for our country. Well done, President Obama!

[EFerrari]

6. That "same old conflicts" line is a false equivalence. Disappointing. n/t

[Codeine]

8. Good on our President

for standing up to the hysterics and fearmongers and forging ahead on the only source of energy that will be able to power our future, energy-hungry needs. As we transition our transportation system away from destructive fossil fuels we will require far more electricity than we have now, and it will have to be reliable, available, and carbon-free.

President Obama -- :yourock: