Obama Announces $8 Billion for Nuclear Power Plant

This move will make the left nuts. It's telling that Obama discusses partisanship during the announcement, which he made this morning at a job training center in Maryland. It would be the first nuclear plant in three decades, according to the AP. Read the transcript here. The $8 billion in loans would build plants in Georgia.

Obama jokes about alarms and the press at the Jobs center:

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Obama's Seeking $54 Billion in Nuclear Plant Loans

Obama's seeking republican support on energy. Obama is submitting his budget next week, which will triple the amount for nuclear plants. Also, the Energy department will be studying where the spent fuel goes--it isn't going to Yucca Mountain. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu says nuclear power provides 20% of our electricity but 70% of our carbon-free electricity.

New Poll: Drilling More Important Than Environment

A story in the Washington Post says Americans aren't interested in conservation and they could care less about the environment -- about half said this. Those surveyed (?) want to drill here and drill now, even in pristine wildlife regions. I guess they think it will make gas prices lower??? Oh, the irony. 

They also want "new sources of energy," which the newspaper defines as oil but makes no mention of other sources of energy, except for nuclear and Americans aren't warm to that. The paper also doesn't offer a link to the poll or the questions. I have to think this is one of those polls intended to influence readers and the sample was polluted, so to speak. There's way too much polling going on.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans now put a priority on "finding new sources of energy" over improving conservation -- a significant shift since 2001 -- and majorities support all of the five potential federal initiatives tested in a new ABC News poll.

There is overwhelming backing for stricter fuel efficiency standards, as large majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents alike line up behind the idea. There is also widespread support across party lines for a more controversial proposal in the battle over energy policy: offshore oil drilling.

Overall, 63 percent want the federal government to lift its embargo on new drilling in U.S. coastal waters. Nearly eight in 10 Republicans and seven in 10 independents back the idea, as do just over half of Democrats in the poll conducted in partnership with Stanford University and Planet Green.

There is a new ad out by wecansolveit.org that fights the notion that drilling is the answer. It will run during the Olympics