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Larger Lessons Inside Indian Point Debate

By Eric McErlain
Over at Energy Outlook, Geoffrey Styles has digested the public reaction to the NAS study on replacing the electricity generated by Indian Point Energy Center, and he thinks it doesn't augur well for the future of New York and New England:
The Indian Point situation exemplifies several trends that I've focused on since the inception of this blog two-and-a-half years ago. First, there's the inherent incompatibility of economic growth facilitated by increasing energy consumption with regulatory policies that make it extremely difficult to build new energy facilities near population centers. This is compounded by the sort of NIMBY-ism that takes no account of the economic benefits of the facility in question. Add to this the current strain of unprioritized environmental concern, and you have a recipe for disaster. While nuclear power is a mixed bag, environmentally, it is undeniably the largest source of greenhouse-gas-free electricity that we have. Climate change poses a much bigger problem than nuclear power, as many people are starting to realize, including some notable environmentalists.

(snip)

The federal report on Indian Point suggests it would be very difficult to replace the 2,000 MW capacity of these plants, and I don't doubt that either, because alternative generation (and its fuel sources) won't get permits, and the mooted efficiency projects-- which certainly have the potential to displace the load being served by Indian Point--have a way of never materializing or being swamped by new demand.

Sadly, I continue to believe that we are headed for a national train wreck on energy, and there's every indication that this part of the country will experience it before many others. That's not why I'm moving my family south, but it's a nice side benefit.
For more on the situation in New England, visit the Boston Globe.

Styles is moving his family to Northern Virginia, just outside Washington. Welcome to the neighborhood.

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Comments

Anonymous said…
I highly recommend Styles' blog, "Energy Outlook." He's an intelligent and considered thinker about energy issues.

That said, we don't always agree but not because he's some kook from left field, just an oil guy.
June 16, 2006 at 5:40 PM
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