NEI Nuclear Notes

We’ve viewed somewhat nervously the seeming effort to strip away a forward-looking energy policy in favor of the sparkly but short-sighted goal of replacing our dependence on foreign oil with a dependence on domestic oil. It’s an election year diversion that has taken way too much attention away from broader energy issues, especially since there seems no actual way to achieve the stated goal – lowering gasoline prices - with the stated approach – loads of new drilling. The arguments over drilling have done nothing more or less than successfully sucked the light of a reasonable approach to energy issues into an oily black pool. So it is heartening to see some Senators – the informal Gang of 10, with five from each party - try to claw their way out of the blackness to find a way back to broader and more urgent energy issues. Calling their bill the New Energy Reform Act of 2008 or New Era, it allows some drilling while proposing a fairly ambitious portfolio. This is what they propose...