Today the Obama administration implemented its campaign pledge to close the completed but never opened Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. This after 13 billion of taxpayer dollars have been spent to prepare the facility to receive spent fuel from the nation's nuclear power facilities. Not only that since the feds have unilaterally breached the contract the US government signed with the nuclear electrical utilities to receive the spent fuel, we the taxpayer will continue to pay fines and penalties.
What an asinine policy decision!
Look, if you are one of the man-made global warming chicken littles - as our current prez seems to be - a conversion to an all-electric ground transport system recharged with electricity from nuclear power plants is the only rational policy position. In the interest of full disclosure I have not tasted the man-made global warming theory Kool-Aid, but I do agree that as a general principle limiting the amount of fossil fuel we consume is a good thing from both an air quality and energy security perspective.
That is why I am just astounded at the oxymoronic thinking that drove Obama's decision to close Yucca Mountain. Clearly if you are genuinely concerned about CO2 emissions then you would logically be a strong supporter of nuclear power. Closing Yucca Mountain only creates a further obstacle and and increases the uncertainty regarding new nuclear plant development and/or re-licensing of existing nuc plants.
In a few days Obama is off to Copenhagen to sign an international agreement to limit the emission of greenhouse gases. The hypocrisy of this event in the face of his decision to further limit the use of nuclear power in the USA is stunning.
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