Under what authority does Obama have the right to 'grant loan guarantees' for Nukes?

[SnoopDog]

Only the House can legislate funding - right?

The House and Senate MUST stop Obama on this... HE HAS NO AUTHORITY TO DO THIS?

[eleny]

1. On Countdown tonight, KO phrased that it was his suggestion

I hope someone posts the facts.

[SnoopDog]

2. Yes, I too want the facts on the legitimacy of Obama's proclamation.

Does this not require a Bill to be passed?

[Statistical]

12. Bill was passed and signed in 2005. n/t

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Policy_Act_of_2005#Legislative_history

[FreakinDJ]

3. Wasn't it in the Stimulus Bill

[SnoopDog]

4. Doesn't it bother anybody that we are 'progressing' backwards?

Nuke power is simply idiotic. We must implement clean energy and damn the sons-of-bitches who simply want
to make a million bucks (while destroying our planet and killing us).

We should have solar cells on every rooftop in America... And Solar Thermal Generation plants thru out the West...

[RC]

8. Apparently you have no clue as to the dirty polluting chemicals and processes

that are involved in making stuff out of silicon.

[jtrockville]

10. What's their half-life? What's their cost?

Can any of their by-products be considered "weapons grade"?

[SnoopDog]

15. I bet it is alot less than plutonium...

And I bet we could devise means to safely decompose the production byproducts...

And I bet whatever is the byproducts - it is not as dangerous as the contaminants as 'spent nuclear fuel'...

[DeSwiss]

5. The President has explicit authority....

...under the http://www.presidentsusa.net/presidential_powers.html">Constitution -- which basically comes down to usurping legislative authority. That's what the "leading the country" tag is all about. While this action may have been a part of an energy bill or the stimulus package, it need not have been. He may be obligating the country to back these loans by Executive Order. If Congress doesn't agree, it can pass a law saying so and refusing to guarantee the loans.

- Another episode in the "change we can believe in....."

[SnoopDog]

9. Nope....

It really is striking that the Constitution really does not give the President much power at all...

Loan, or guaranteeing loans, is a 'money' thing and can only be originated in the House (ok, the Senate can Propose - but not the President).

I would so much like to see our spineless House and Senate democrats tell Omaba 'no sorry we won;t vote for this'... BUT, how about 'solar cells on every roof top??? sounds good to me).

[Statistical]

14. Well they can't BECAUSE THEY DID VOTE FOR IT.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Policy_Act_of_2005#Legislative_history

[DeSwiss]

17. I was just commenting on that very idea in another thread.....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7727961&mesg_id=7729946

http://www.solarlighting.com/">Solar Power ***** http://www.outdoor-solar-lights.com/solar-powered-street-lights.html">Solar Power ***** http://cleantechnica.com/2009/05/13/exploiting-the-downsides-of-wind-and-solar/">Wind & Solar Power ***** http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/02/florida_town_in.php">Solar Power


And beyond solar is http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/technology_and_impacts/energy_technologies/how-geothermal-energy-works.html">geothermal. Read this from an article at the http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/technology_and_impacts/energy_technologies/how-geothermal-energy-works.html">Union of Concerned Scientists:

The areas with the highest underground temperatures are in regions with active or geologically young volcanoes. These "hot spots" occur at plate boundaries or at places where the crust is thin enough to let the heat through. The Pacific Rim, often called the Ring of Fire for its many volcanoes, has many hot spots, including some in Alaska, California, and Oregon. Nevada has hundreds of hot spots, covering much of the northern part of the state.

These regions are also seismically active. Earthquakes and magma movement break up the rock covering, allowing water to circulate. As the water rises to the surface, natural hot springs and geysers occur, such as Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park. The water in these systems can be more than 200°C (430°F).

Seismically active hotspots are not the only places where geothermal energy can be found. There is a steady supply of milder heat—useful for direct heating purposes—at depths of anywhere from 10 to a few hundred feet below the surface virtually in any location on Earth. Even the ground below your own backyard or local school has enough heat to control the climate in your home or other buildings in the community. In addition, there is a vast amount of heat energy available from dry rock formations very deep below the surface (4–10 km). Using a set of emerging technologies known as Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), we may be able to capture this heat for electricity production on a much larger scale than conventional technologies allow.

If these resources can be tapped, they offer enormous potential for electricity production capacity. In its first comprehensive assessment in more than 30 years, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimated that conventional geothermal sources on private and accessible public lands across 13 western states have the potential capacity to produce 8,000–73,000 MW, with a mean estimate of 33,000 MW.2 State and federal policies are likely to spur developers to tap some of this potential in the next few years. The Geothermal Energy Association estimates that 132 projects now under development around the country could provide up to 6,400 megawatts of new capacity.3 As EGS technologies improve and become competitive, even more of the largely untapped geothermal resource could be developed. The USGS study found that hot dry rock resources could provide another 345,100–727,900 MW of capacity, with a mean estimate of 517,800 MW. That means that this resource could one day supply nearly all of today’s U.S. electricity needs.4.

MORE: http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/technology_and_impacts/energy_technologies/how-geothermal-energy-works.html

So with a renewable and steady resource of energy literally right under our feet, then why do you suppose no one wants to go in that direction? BECAUSE it's right under your feet. So you can access it for yourself. No middleman. Just the right tech and maintenance.


- Our leaders lack the ability and the will to start thinking outside the box.....

- It would seem there are not a few people whose minds are flowing in the same direction. Wouldn't you say?


On edit: added pic

[Statistical]

13. Not even close

The bill was passed in 2005.

The bill gave DOE the authority in selecting which sites will receive the loan guarantees.

They have selected the first site in George and Obama simply made the announcement.

[Liberal In Texas]

6. This is really a bad move.

The danger, storing the waste, the inevitable cost overruns...

Where is the Manhattan Project-style push for alternative energy sources? We need decentralized electric production like they're doing in Germany. Every house with a solar panel, every business.

This is nuts.

[Bobbieo]

7. Nobody wants nuclear waste in his/her backyard or Yucca Mountain.

[Statistical]

11. Your right. That is why Congress authorized it in 2005. It passed 74 to 26 in Senate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Policy_Act_of_2005

The money has been earmarked for 5 years now. They DOE and NRC have simply been waiting for a project to get far enough through regulatory process to start selecting sites. The Georgia site is just one of 6 (12 if Obama gets expanded funding).

[lib2DaBone]

16. China is moving ahead with 20 High-Tech Pressurized Nuclear Plants..

China is also building a modern, computer controlled electric grid to coordinate delivery of Wind Power, Nuclear and Hydro-Electric.

Unlike the US, with the arrival of peak Oil, China will be positioned to use electric power as a bridge to other forms of green energy.

China is also building over 16,000 miles of high-speed Mag-Lev rail and are laying thousands of miles of fiber optic cable... rapidly moving ahead of the US.