double checking Obama on nuclear/coal

[donsu]

there is an article about this at:

http://counterpunch.com/frank02222008.html

calling him:

The Nuclear Industry's Golden Child
That Obama Glow

[BeatleBoot]

1. You Can't Lose

[eleny]

2. Why has the Clinton campaign not used this against him?

[redqueen]

3. I think they have.

I haven't even paid that close attention, and I've seen her mention it more than a few times.

[eleny]

5. I caucused for Obama but this is where I part ways with him

The nuke and liquid coal issues keep me up at night. After Kucinich there weren't very palatable choices afaic.

[redqueen]

6. It was one of the main reasons that I was flipping

between him and Clinton for a while.

[Dems Will Win]

4. Because Obama has said that if currently insoluble safety and storage problems are not met,

NO NUKES.

Non-issue as a result

[eleny]

7. I sure hope you're right

That statement leaves a lot of wiggle room.

No matter which Dem is elected in November, I think DUers are going to be very busy pushing our government where we want it to go.

Thanks DWW!

[RestoreGore]

18. Got a link for that?

[Dems Will Win]

20. He has said it twice in debates that I remember

but I don't have time to go through all the debate trnascripts, probably Nevada and I think the debate before this one or the one before that.

[RestoreGore]

21. Of course n/t

[ProSense]

15. They have, and it's mimicking the same BS Hillary tried to pull

S.2348
Title: A bill to amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to require a licensee to notify the Atomic Energy Commission, and the State and county in which a facility is located, whenever there is an unplanned release of fission products in excess of allowable limits.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack (introduced 3/1/2006) Cosponsors (4)
Related Bills: H.R.4825
Latest Major Action: 9/25/2006 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 637.
Senate Reports: 109-347 COSPONSORS(4), ALPHABETICAL : (Sort: by date)


Sen Boxer, Barbara - 9/12/2006
Sen Clinton, Hillary Rodham - 9/25/2006
Sen Durbin, Richard - 3/1/2006
Sen Voinovich, George V. - 9/25/2006

The Committee on Environment and Public Works, to which was referred the bill (S. 2348) to amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to require a licensee to notify the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the State and county in which a facility is located, whenever there is an unplanned release of fission products in excess of allowable limits, having considered the same, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute, reports favorably thereon and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.

link

Here's her press release praising the legislation and taking credit for helping to get it passed, even though she didn't sign on as a co-sponsor until 12 days later:

September 13, 2006

Clinton Announces Committee Approval of Legislation to Require Disclosure of Leaks from Nuclear Plants

Bill Would Require Indian Point and Other Nuclear Plants to Notify Local Governments in the Event of Future Leaks to Groundwater

Washington, DC – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) applauded the approval today by a key Senate committee of legislation to require nuclear plant operators to quickly notify the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the state and county in which the plant is located, of any leak of radioactive substances, such as the releases from the spent fuel pools at Indian Point that occurred last August. Senator Clinton joined Senator Obama in bringing the legislation to the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, where it was unanimously approved today.

“Local officials need to know when radioactive materials are leaked from any of New York's nuclear power plants, including Indian Point,” said Senator Clinton. “This important legislation will ensure prompt notification of any future leaks, and I will be working hard to move it through the full Senate.”

Last fall, the NRC and Entergy discovered leaks of radiation-contaminated water from the spent fuel pools at the Indian Point power plant. However, local officials were not notified of the leaks until weeks after they were discovered. The legislation approved by the EPW Committee today would ensure that local governments would receive much faster notice of any such leaks in the future. The bill will next go to the full Senate for consideration.

The legislation directs the NRC to develop regulations to require plant owners to notify the NRC, state and county officials of radiation leaks. For leaks that threaten drinking water, the bill recommends reporting to the NRC, the state and the county within 24 hours, unless they are already subject to more stringent reporting requirements.

[bridgit]

25. Sen. Durbin is an Obama supporter also supporting the bill, why not point that out as well?

By the dates you've posted, he was the first to do so. This is the sort of selective blinding of the eye that has gotten American in the place she is in...too sad.

[reality based]

8. Incredible that this is coming out this late in the campaign.

[RestoreGore]

10. And that they never really discuss in debates

he like all other candidates serves his own masters as well.

[RestoreGore]

23. Video regarding Exelon and his ties

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqhISssMxnY

[RestoreGore]

9. And his support of corn ethanol

Which already has been proven to not be environmentally viable and a source of food and water insecurity, but sure does make Archer Daniels Midland a truckload of money.

[Dems Will Win]

11. Once he is in the Oval Office and looks all this over, and was elected without lobbyist money

I trust him to make the right decisions on coal, nukes and ethanol.

I don't trust lobbyist-fueled Clintons on anything. Nothing.

[donsu]

12. have you noticed a hint of rose on your glasses

nt

[RestoreGore]

14. Oh, so he is giving up getting donations from EXELON?

And sorry, are you stating that he HASN'T "looked this all over" yet? He has to get to the Wh to do it? Wow, come conviction there. Then I have nothing to base any such trust regarding him OR Hillary Clinton, so please stop trying to 'sell me.' If he is against it then say it NOW, and stop taking money from the nuclear lobby NOW. You can't say you are against nuclear proliferation and FOR nuclear power and look credible. And you can't continue to push 80% reductions of GHG by 2050 and support corn ethanol.

[Araxen]

13. Obama comes from the most nuclear state

and I've never seen a problem with nuclear energy in the US. I read up on it and it's actually pretty safe.

[donsu]

17. and the radiation-for-ever waste - did you read up on that?

where do you think the ever growing lethal waste pile should be kept?

[Dogmudgeon]

24. Radiation isn't forever.

Spent nuclear fuel usually has one one-millionth of its original radioactivity. New technologies will allow us to exhaust all its radioactivity. Even with today's spent fuel, it only needs to be contained for a few hundred years. In the near future, it will probably be a lot easier to suck the remaining juice out of it and render it inert.

Compare that to coal, which contains 15-40 parts per million of radioactive uranium and thorium. When you burn coal, the radioisotopes go right into the atmosphere -- thousands of tons of it every year. Even with scrubbers, there's a lot, and most of the world is nowhere near using scrubbers. A coal truck in NYC recently set off a nuclear material detector, that's how dirty it is. It was in the news last spring, IIRC.

Also compare to solar photovoltaic energy. The new generation of more efficient, cheaper solar cells use cadmium and tellurium. Cadmium is one of the most toxic substances known, far more so than uranium or plutonium. And it NEVER decays away.

There is no such thing as risk-free energy. The risks of nuclear energy center on financial and corporate power, but all power systems have the same political problems; nuclear is not a special case. We need to "take back" primary energy generation. This is an area where Democratic leadership is vital.

We can better decide how to deal with our energy mix when our money isn't being used as ransom.

There are plenty of discussions about this, pro and contra, on the DU Energy-Environment forum. The issues we discuss, no matter what opinions you hold, are things we should also be talking about with the candidates.

--p!

[bridgit]

16. Pie-eyed wonder is the true inspiration; 'the industry' is already working the problem...

believe it!! Many of their people are already in-place ;) Accredited, academic papers resolving the "insoluble safety and storage problems" are not only already on the shelf but likely to flow behind several hundred thousand dollars, perhaps a quaint little Mc Mansion in Vail (or cozy little locale of your choice), a paid-in-full/all-expense higher education for your children under the auspices of the Sorbonne and voila!

Nukes.

[RichardRay]

19. Probably doesn't pass some people's litmus test, but...

From Obama's statement on Energy Policy

Safe and Secure Nuclear Energy: Nuclear power represents more than 70 percent of our noncarbon
generated electricity. It is unlikely that we can meet our aggressive climate goals if we
eliminate nuclear power from the table. However, there is no future for expanded nuclear
without first addressing four key issues: public right-to-know, security of nuclear fuel and
waste, waste storage, and proliferation. Barack Obama introduced legislation in the U.S.
Senate to establish guidelines for tracking, controlling and accounting for spent fuel at nuclear
power plants.

I can live with that...

[RestoreGore]

22. Well good. They can bury the waste in your backyard then?