Sen. Isakson (R-GA) loves nukes AND mother nature! Then Boxer debates nukes with him.
Thanks Senate for taking up a bill on the most important issue facing the country today — energy.
Says Vogtle nuclear plant provides affordable energy. [In fact, the WSJ reported “The existing Vogtle plant, put into service in the late 1980s, cost more than 10 times its original estimate, roughly $4.5 billion for each of two reactors.”]
It is ironic that the legislation before us leaves out any provisions for nuclear.
It pays no attention to the single way we sequestered carbon today, through mother nature.
1) Nuclear omission is disappointing — [Like McCain, he has obviously not read my paper “The Self-Limiting Future of Nuclear Power, Part 1“]. Although nukes have gotten some $100 billion in subsidies since 1948, he specifically proposes the following [if this mendment passes, I assume Boxer will pull the bill]:
- We need 10% ITC for nuclear (He points out solar is 30% — he doesn’t point out that nuclear s a mature technology that delivers 20% of US electricity while solar is an emerging technology that delivers 0.1% of U.S. electricity, but e does make the absurd argument that per kwh, renewables get much larger subsidies. NOTE to Isakson: That is the whole point!)
- Accelerated depreciation — 5 years.
- loan guarantees
2) Proposes $25 billion in tax credits for conservation easements to forever preserve green spaces. He claims the bill does nothing for tree sequestration, but that is wrong. Lots of offset money can go for trees.
Warner (R-VA) says he basically agrees, but thinks Isakson amendment is a deal-killer. Warner has his own nuclear amendment, which is less specific.
Isakson says that, if so, that means we aren’t serious about global warming. “We must put our biases away.”
Boxer said Exelon (a major nuke utility) supports the bill. And that nukes Will be built without more subsidies. Asks for 5 minutes for a discussions.
Boxer says Modeling suggests that 150 nuclear plants will be built overthe lifetime of this bill. [Guess she didn’t read my nuclear report either. Note to self: Get over it.]
Warner — plants are going ahead.
