The Washington Post reports today that prospects for passing climate change legislation in the Senate — coming up for committee debate on Tuesday — look increasingly dicey as Democrats remain deeply divided on the issue. Democratic senators from the South, Midwest, and Rocky Mountains are balking at the bill’s impact on industry and consumers, while few Republicans are willing to stick out their necks for a bipartisan vote on climate change. But slim hopes for an across-the-aisle deal still exist:
So Democratic leaders, with the support of the Obama administration, are trying to sway at least half a dozen Republicans by offering amendments to speed along their top priority: building nuclear power plants.
Many people have long viewed nuclear energy with suspicion, with cost, safety, and nuclear waste at the top of the list of objections. But the fact is that it will take a long time to scale up the production of renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. It will take just as long to rebuild our transmission grid to deliver that power to all parts of the country. And efficiency alone is not enough to address the climate issue — we need a source of clean power even as we try to develop our renewable energy industry and modernize our grid.
Nuclear is, of course, not the sole answer to our energy needs. But it’s looking like it might be the answer to our political deadlock on climate change legislation. Progressives might not like it, but they should keep in mind that the key is the cap. Getting that cap is the hardest part. Embracing nuclear energy to get one seems not just good policy but smart politics as well.
