There’s only one proven way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and maintain an American standard of living that includes comfortable homes, ample food, health care, good schools, efficient transportation, a hospitable climate and steady jobs.
It’s nuclear power.
The Memphis Commercial Appeal:
WASHINGTON — The rest of the world has overcome its fear of nuclear energy and the United States will fall farther behind in reliable power generation and industrial capacity if it doesn’t build 100 new nuclear plants in the next 20 years, Sen. Lamar Alexander told a conference of international business leaders today.
Alexander, a Tennessee Republican and a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Major Economies Business Forum on Energy Security and Climate Change that China plans to build 132 new nuclear reactors in the next 20 years and that some are already under construction.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has 34 proposals pending in a five-year licensing process that, once completed, will likely find approved projects tied up in court. There currently are 104 American reactors supplying 19 percent of the country’s electrical energy. …
“So let’s take stock,” Alexander said. “There are 40 reactors now under construction in 11 countries around the world, none of them in the United States. In fact only two are in Western Europe — one in Finland and the other in France both built by (the French-owned) Areva.” The rest are in Asia.
“Are we going to be able to compete with countries that have cheap, clean, reliable nuclear power while we’re stuck with a bunch of windmills and solar farms producing expensive, unreliable energy or, more likely, not enough energy?” he asked.
The answer is no. If our energy costs 10 times the energy used by industry in China and Europe, how are we supposed to produce goods with a price that world consumers are willing to pay?
If a political party wants to do some good (and probably win some votes), it should adopt a platform that includes adding 100 nuclear plants within 10 years, doubling our oil and gas output within 20 years (that, of course, would be temporary), and developing economical sun, wind and geothermal power within 30 years.
Our lights don’t come on by accident, but if we don’t keep the juice flowing, they sure can go off by accident.
Frank Warner
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