New Obama Yucca Mountain Ad

Yucca Mountain, for years, has been a contentious issue in Nevada. That state has kept radioactive waste out of Yucca Mountain for years. 

McCain wants to build 45 nuclear plants in 20 years. But where to put the waste? 

From the local paper:

The projected costs to build a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, ship used radioactive fuel to Nevada from around the country and operate the site for 100 years have grown to more than $90 Billion, an energy department official said Tuesday.

Where's that money coming from? The story also says there are environmental concerns that still need to be addressed:

Questions surrounding radioactive waste disposal long have been an impediment to the development of more nuclear plants, Sproat contended.

But with the project now under review by the regulatory commission, "we are three to four years away from answering the questions and putting them to bed finally," Sproat said.

If McCain was president he'd be winding down his last year in office before he could even get started on nuclear energy. So McCain's nuclear talk is just that. Talk, talk, talk.

McCain's Yucca talk hasn't been well received: 

There was muted reaction on Capitol Hill and among nuclear industry representatives on Wednesday to Arizona Sen. John McCain's proposal that the United States participate in an international nuclear waste repository.

With the Department of Energy finally ready to seek a license to build a nuclear waste site at Yucca Mountain, the candidate's comments could divert attention from that achievement, an industry official said.

DOE officials are expected to submit a repository application next week to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ending more than a decade of delay.

McCain "put the flag up there and I did not see anyone in Congress saluting it," said the official who asked not to be identified because his company was not commenting on the proposal.

"It is so far removed from where we are in policy circles that I can't imagine it being discussed, even in bar talk," the official said.

McCain even talked about an international dump:

LVRJ: After McCain's speech Tuesday in Denver where he said that an international nuclear waste site "could make it unnecessary" to open a facility at Yucca Mountain, his aides suggested he was thinking more along the lines of supporting Russia establishing a site in Siberia where nuclear waste from Asian and European nations might be guarded.

"The international spent fuel repository, first and foremost, is about what to do with spent fuel that resides in other countries," said Randy Scheunemann, McCain's senior foreign policy adviser.

Obama has always contended he would consider nuclear energy if the waste problem could be solved.  

Here's the AP's comparison of Obama and McCain's energy plans.

Nevada ad


Obama's energy plan

Obama in Lansing Michigan Video

Obama, who spoke in Lansing today, said McCain, in government for 26 years, has voted against renewable energy. He voted against fuel efficiency standards, against wind power, against an energy bill....

"It's important to remember that he's part of that failure." The only proposal McCain has is offshore drilling.


Even McCain supporters have said that offshore drilling would not lower gas prices. Unfortunately, that's another attempt by McCain Bush to exploit many Americans, who are feeling the pinch of high gas prices. 

It's about time to hammer McCain on this because McCain did NOT start talking about energy until Obama did. Republicans have NOT cared one iota about energy.

It's been all about oil.

McCain also talks about nuclear power but that's just a political thing because it ain't going to happen unless they figure out where to put the waste. Nevadans have successfully opposed waste being dumped at Yucca Mountain for years. 

A recent story in the local paper says:

LVRJ: The projected costs to build a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, ship used radioactive fuel to Nevada from around the country and operate the site for 100 years have grown to more than $90 Billion, an energy department official said Tuesday.

I capitalized the "B." Where's that money coming from? See, it's just political speak on the part of McCain. We can't keep falling for this crap.

McCain told a Nevada audience he wanted to build 45 plants by 2020. He didn't go over very well there. Obama has said he would consider nuclear energy if the waste problem-- storing it safely-- could be solved. 

Meanwhile, Obama gives another brilliant speech (sorry McCain)