Environmentalists Go Nuclear Over Obama Administration's Loan Guarantee

Liberals already unhappy with the Obama administration over taxes are going ballistic over an impending $7 billion loan guarantee for the nuclear power industry.

The taxpayer-funded guarantees are embedded in the continuing resolution used to fund the government (in lieu of an actual budget). Passed by the House, the resolution now goes to the Senate, and environmental groups are urging citizens to call their senators to delete the guarantees.

"Earlier this year the Obama administration and the industry's congressional minions were set to add as much as $36 billion to a Department of Energy loan guarantee program to build new reactors.Citizen oppositionhas been instrumental in slashing that number," says Harvey Wasserman, whoeditsNukeFree.org.

"Because they are uneconomical and cannot compete with natural gas and renewables, private funding for new reactor projects has been virtually nonexistent. The General Accounting Office and Congressional Budget Office have predicted at least a 50 percent financial failure rate for such loans."

Wasserman said $18.5 billion in funds for reactor construction loan guarantees were set aside by the Bush administration and that Obama gave $8.33 billion of that amount this year to the Southern Co.'s two-reactor project at Vogtle, Ga., where ratepayers are being forced to fund the plant as it's being built. More than $10 billion of the original federal money remains undistributed.

Environmentalists have voiced concerns over the cost and safety of nuclear projects planned in Florida.

"It is absurd that the 'Sunshine State' should be considering dangerous, overpriced, outdated energy when power companies could install and own rooftop solar on ratepayers' residences," said Cara Campbell, chair of Florida's Ecology Party.

"It also adds insult to injury when taxpayers are forced to subsidize and guarantee failed technologies, for without our hard-earned dollars nuclear cannot compete in a free-energy market. Innovative approaches such as distributed solar could serve any future power needs, create thousands of jobs across the state and put Florida in the forefront of clean-energy production."