An Energy Head Fake: The Administration is still hostile to oil drilling and nuclear power.

[bananas]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704784904575112144130306052.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_AboveLEFTTop

* MARCH 11, 2010

An Energy Head Fake
The Administration is still hostile to oil drilling and nuclear power.

President Obama used his January State of the Union speech to promise "a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants" and "new offshore areas for oil and gas development." Judging by its recent decisions, we'd say his Cabinet hasn't received the memo.

Congress's ban on offshore drilling expired in September 2008, and a Bush Administration plan for leasing the energy-rich Outer Continental Shelf was due to begin this year. Yet within a month of taking office, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar halted leasing by extending the public comment period by six months. When that period ended last September, Interior said it would take "several weeks" to analyze the results. It has yet to release a summary.

<snip>

As for nuclear power, Mr. Obama has promised an $8.3 billion loan guarantee to build two nuclear reactors in Georgia. However, Mike Morris, the CEO of American Electric Power, explained at a recent Wall Street Journal energy conference that while loan guarantees were a "nice thing," they were meaningless in the absence of regulatory certainty.

Only five of 50 states have what Mr. Morris calls nuclear-friendly "enabling" legislation that might convince corporate boards to commit capital to a long-term project. The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, despite adopting a streamlined licensing process in 2005, hasn't issued key rules.

<snip>

These things are such boondoggles, even federal loan guarantees aren't enough, they need "enabling" legislation to take away any accountability or responsibility from them.

[kristopher]

1. Perfect example: They also eliminated the ability to collect from bankrupt nuclear plants...

The standard practice when government loan guarantees are issued is that the government is first in line for payback during bankruptcy proceedings. The new regulations for the nuclear loans eliminated that preference and the government is now treated as one of the flock.

Corporate welfare...