With the elections quickly approaching, how well do you know where the candidates stand energy - specifically, nuclear power?
The national conventions and the presidential debates provided a detailed look into the mindset and vision both Senators John McCain and Barack Obama have campaigned on for over a year. Significant policy differences lie between each candidate, but both have stated that they support a vision for the future where nuclear power plays a major role.
"My fellow Americans, when I'm President, we're going to embark on the most ambitious national project in decades. We are going to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't like us very much. We will attack the problem on every front. We will produce more energy at home. We will drill new wells offshore, and we'll drill them now. We will build more nuclear power plants…We must use all resources and develop all technologies necessary to rescue our economy from the damage caused by rising oil prices and to restore the health of our planet."
--Sen.John McCain, In his acceptance speech at Minneapolis’ Xcel Center, Thursday, September 4, 2008
"Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close. As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. . .And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy - wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; and investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced."
- Sen.Barack Obama, In his acceptance speech at Denver's Invesco Field, Thursday, August 28, 2008
“But we kept the debate going, and we kept this issue to -- to posing to Americans the danger that climate change opposes. Now, what's the best way of fixing it? Nuclear power… Look, I was on Navy ships that had nuclear power plants. Nuclear power is safe, and it's clean, and it creates hundreds of thousands of jobs. And I know that we can reprocess the spent nuclear fuel. The Japanese, the British, the French do it. And we can do it, too. We can move forward, and clean up our climate, and develop green technologies, and alternate -- alternative energies for -- for hybrid, for hydrogen, for battery-powered cars, so that we can clean up our environment and at the same time get our economy going by creating millions of jobs.”
--Sen.John McCain, In the Presidential Debate at Belmont University Tuesday,October 8, 2008
“And it is absolutely critical that we understand this is not just a challenge, it's an opportunity, because if we create a new energy economy, we can create five million new jobs, easily, here in the United States. …And that's why we've got to make some investments and I've called for investments in solar, wind, geothermal. Contrary to what Sen. McCain keeps on saying, I favor nuclear power as one component of our overall energy mix...And we're not going to be able to deal with the climate crisis if our only solution is to use more fossil fuels that create global warming. We're going to have to come up with alternatives, and that means that the United States government is working with the private sector to fund the kind of innovation that we can then export to countries like China that also need energy and are setting up one coal power plant a week.”
-Sen.Barack Obama, In the Presidential Debate at Belmont University Tuesday,October 8, 2008
Given the realities of rising U.S. energy demand, it is encouraging that nuclear power is on the agenda of both presidential candidates as they seek to diversify the country's energy mix and reduce dependence on foreign oil. Growing momentum for better, more efficient sources of energy has elevated nuclear's profile as a truly clean, "green" way to power our nation's continued growth, and has fueled a renaissance that extends to the campaign trail.