No New Ontario Nukes?

Here in Nebraska they decided to refurbish the existing nukes but there have only been slight mutterings about new nukes. Looks like Ontario isn't going to support any more new nukes and there's some resistance building to new nukes even in places like Georgia.

Ontario Government Opposes Two Possible New Nuclear Reactors from Bruce Power - Canadian Press - 01 Nov 08

"Proposed plans by Bruce Power to build two new nuclear reactors on the shores of Lake Erie met with strong opposition from the Ontario government Friday. The only private nuclear generating company in Canada will conduct an environmental assessment as it considers building two reactors at the former Stelco lands in Nanticoke in southwestern Ontario.

"After a luncheon speech in Toronto on Friday, Energy and Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman made it clear the province is not behind Bruce Power's plans. 'It does not have government support in any form,' he said.

'It's a speculative move on the part of a private company designed to put pressure on downstream government policy. It doesn't enjoy the support, encouragement (or) approval, tacit or otherwise, of the government of Ontario.'"

ISSUE IN-DEPTH: NUCLEAR POWER: Nuclear Power Bad On So Many Levels - Atlanta Journal-Constitution - 02 Nov 08

"After 60 years and many billions of dollars in government subsidies, nuclear power should finally have to prove itself on its own merits —- which evidently it cannot do in a free market. Not only are taxpayers and citizens shouldering an unfair burden of the costs of nuclear power, but, even with these subsidies, as consumers we will be forced to cover the rising costs of nuclear plant construction.

These costs have consistently been well above even the high price tag quoted at the start of the project. Overruns of 50 percent or more will be paid by energy consumers, as utility rates are raised ever higher to protect guaranteed profits for investors. The rules for rate increases used by the Georgia Public Service Commission provide a safe incentive for those who invest in energy facilities.

Commitments made by allowing such unwise investments will lock consumers into paying rising energy costs that are unjustified and truly unnecessary."

No New Ontario Nukes?

Here in Nebraska they decided to refurbish the existing nukes but there have only been slight mutterings about new nukes. Looks like Ontario isn't going to support any more new nukes and there's some resistance building to new nukes even in places like Georgia.

Ontario Government Opposes Two Possible New Nuclear Reactors from Bruce Power - Canadian Press - 01 Nov 08

"Proposed plans by Bruce Power to build two new nuclear reactors on the shores of Lake Erie met with strong opposition from the Ontario government Friday. The only private nuclear generating company in Canada will conduct an environmental assessment as it considers building two reactors at the former Stelco lands in Nanticoke in southwestern Ontario.

"After a luncheon speech in Toronto on Friday, Energy and Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman made it clear the province is not behind Bruce Power's plans. 'It does not have government support in any form,' he said.

'It's a speculative move on the part of a private company designed to put pressure on downstream government policy. It doesn't enjoy the support, encouragement (or) approval, tacit or otherwise, of the government of Ontario.'"

ISSUE IN-DEPTH: NUCLEAR POWER: Nuclear Power Bad On So Many Levels - Atlanta Journal-Constitution - 02 Nov 08

"After 60 years and many billions of dollars in government subsidies, nuclear power should finally have to prove itself on its own merits —- which evidently it cannot do in a free market. Not only are taxpayers and citizens shouldering an unfair burden of the costs of nuclear power, but, even with these subsidies, as consumers we will be forced to cover the rising costs of nuclear plant construction.

These costs have consistently been well above even the high price tag quoted at the start of the project. Overruns of 50 percent or more will be paid by energy consumers, as utility rates are raised ever higher to protect guaranteed profits for investors. The rules for rate increases used by the Georgia Public Service Commission provide a safe incentive for those who invest in energy facilities.

Commitments made by allowing such unwise investments will lock consumers into paying rising energy costs that are unjustified and truly unnecessary."

Why I'm Voting For Obama

Comes down to a few simple items.

1. Energy - McCain's over reliance on "drill, baby, drill" domestic oil development schemes and nuclear power that are both inadequate in quantity, too late in development and are overly costly vs. the alternatives. His historic disregard for supporting the development and implementation of renewables is a big thumbs down for me. Conversely, Obama seems to get energy policy in the Amory Lovin's way.

2. The Supremes - I don't think an ideologically lopsided Supreme court is a good idea. They can't be voted out like politicians. If McCain put in some young Scalia wannabes one-third of the federal government would be locked up for a generation or two.

3. Health Insurance - McCain's modest tweaks of the current system wouldn't get the job done for me. I got stranded, after decades of paying premiums, by Mutual of Omaha as they got away with dumping the whole lot of their customers when they got out of the business. I'm sure it worked out very well for them but all of us folks who were older and/or had pre-existing conditions were completely hosed.

Unless something is done about pre-existing conditions, like Obama's suggestion of national pools, I'm pretty much screwed without starting up work for an organization that provides decent health insurance. I'd prefer not to have to take a job just for the insurance benefits but this year might be the last for me to go independent. I had to go to school just to qualify for my current health care plan. A student plan being used by a 50 something old guy. There's something major wrong with that.

4. Negative Campaigning - I know that the team that's behind usually has to go negative to catch up. But there are degrees of these things and the Republicans, and in particular the McCain camp, have gone over the line repeatedly. The Obama pals around with terrorists and and the latest implying that he's an anti-Semite are the move too far. The whole pitch about "honor" starts to ring pretty hollow when your side is up to that kind of business.

The local Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate (Kleeb) will probably lose because he refused to go negative against a fairly high positives long time Republican politician (Johanns). No such problems with the McCain crew and frankly a lot of other Republican candidates in this neck of the woods. They are running William Ayers commercials against a local Democratic Regent candidate now along with bringing in stuff completely unrelated to the position of the regent. Hey, that irrelevant, but effective, tactic worked for Sarah Palin in her run for mayor of Wassila so why not for a Republican regent candidate in Nebraska. In Palin's instance, it was gun control.

5. The Economy - McCain has said that he'll balance the budget in four years. That's patent nonsense given the debt we've got racked up, the recession we're going into and the tax cuts that he's proposing. You can't get there from here. Obama has said he'd cut taxes for those making $250,000 or less. That would be me again.

6. Social Security - Obama wants to raise the cap on social security taxes as a way of balancing the books. That seems as good a way as any to me. That cap should also be indexed to inflation as should minimum wages.

Why I'm Voting For Obama

Comes down to a few simple items.

1. Energy - McCain's over reliance on "drill, baby, drill" domestic oil development schemes and nuclear power that are both inadequate in quantity, too late in development and are overly costly vs. the alternatives. His historic disregard for supporting the development and implementation of renewables is a big thumbs down for me. Conversely, Obama seems to get energy policy in the Amory Lovin's way.

2. The Supremes - I don't think an ideologically lopsided Supreme court is a good idea. They can't be voted out like politicians. If McCain put in some young Scalia wannabes one-third of the federal government would be locked up for a generation or two.

3. Health Insurance - McCain's modest tweaks of the current system wouldn't get the job done for me. I got stranded, after decades of paying premiums, by Mutual of Omaha as they got away with dumping the whole lot of their customers when they got out of the business. I'm sure it worked out very well for them but all of us folks who were older and/or had pre-existing conditions were completely hosed.

Unless something is done about pre-existing conditions, like Obama's suggestion of national pools, I'm pretty much screwed without starting up work for an organization that provides decent health insurance. I'd prefer not to have to take a job just for the insurance benefits but this year might be the last for me to go independent. I had to go to school just to qualify for my current health care plan. A student plan being used by a 50 something old guy. There's something major wrong with that.

4. Negative Campaigning - I know that the team that's behind usually has to go negative to catch up. But there are degrees of these things and the Republicans, and in particular the McCain camp, have gone over the line repeatedly. The Obama pals around with terrorists and and the latest implying that he's an anti-Semite are the move too far. The whole pitch about "honor" starts to ring pretty hollow when your side is up to that kind of business.

The local Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate (Kleeb) will probably lose because he refused to go negative against a fairly high positives long time Republican politician (Johanns). No such problems with the McCain crew and frankly a lot of other Republican candidates in this neck of the woods. They are running William Ayers commercials against a local Democratic Regent candidate now along with bringing in stuff completely unrelated to the position of the regent. Hey, that irrelevant, but effective, tactic worked for Sarah Palin in her run for mayor of Wassila so why not for a Republican regent candidate in Nebraska. In Palin's instance, it was gun control.

5. The Economy - McCain has said that he'll balance the budget in four years. That's patent nonsense given the debt we've got racked up, the recession we're going into and the tax cuts that he's proposing. You can't get there from here. Obama has said he'd cut taxes for those making $250,000 or less. That would be me again.

6. Social Security - Obama wants to raise the cap on social security taxes as a way of balancing the books. That seems as good a way as any to me. That cap should also be indexed to inflation as should minimum wages.