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Lieberman-Warner Climate Bill and Nuclear Energy

Sen. Barbara Boxer's (D-CA) much-anticipated "Boxer substitute" to the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act has just been released (sub. req'd). To no one's surprise, the nuclear industry does not get much play. However, according to Congress Daily's Darren Goode, Senator Boxer "may be amenable to provisions regarding training of workers, keeping production in America and nuclear safety."

In the coming days, Sen. Joe Lieberman (Independent Democrat-CT) and Sen. John Warner (R-VA) are expected to unveil an amendment that "would aim to increase nuclear engineers and other workers and improve the financing and purchasing of [nuclear power plant] equipment." From CongressDaily,
Warner said the nuclear section “will be the focal point of a lot of attention.” He said their plan will serve as a “building block” for others to work on during the floor debate. Lieberman said he and Warner are not addressing the speeding up of nuclear facility permits through amendments, and added that providing loan guarantees for nuclear production is possible. Furthermore, he said, their initial amendment does not address the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository or the broader issue of cleaning up and storing nuclear waste.

Boxer said Lieberman and Warner should have the votes to attach a nuclear title to the bill and said she may be amenable to provisions regarding training of workers, keeping production in America and nuclear safety. “They have the votes, so at the end of the day we will see what passes,” she said.
To be continued...

Comments

Anonymous said…
As Jeb Babbin noted in Human Events:

"Reid has scheduled the Lieberman-Warner global warming “cap and trade” bill for a cloture vote. Republicans are going to have a lot of fun with a bill that would raise the price of a gallon of gasoline by another 50 cents to a dollar."

I do wish NEI would spend less of its precious and limited political capital on support for global climate change issues - it just looks like naked rent-seeking. Plus, the science behind GHG is shakey and has a definite chance of being debunked to the embarassment of all.
Anonymous said…
There's nothing "shaky" about the science at all. The long term trend is global warming. Ignoring it is going to lead to more than just embarassment for those that don't want to see the writing on the wall.
Anonymous said…
People need to wake up! Our leaders (Dems and Republicans alike) are leading us straight into socialism! The control that the environmental lobby has on our congress is scary! Something needs to be done or we will no longer have the "right" to post comments like these that speak against the Party
Anonymous said…
To: first anonymous post: You are just like the media all wrapped up in Global Warming claiming it is human caused. Wake up--the science is wrong. I agree we should seek ways to be more efficient, however government doesn't need to tell us how. We need to be a God fearing people who does right to our neighbors and treats our world as we would our home.

Stop worrying about things that are out of your control. God created this world and he'll be the one to take us to the next phase of this world. The world was created for man to use and God gives man intelligence to improve.
c.f. in AZ

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