Expansionary Institute

Michael Zey
futurist3000@aol.com

By Randall Mikkelsen

 
WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney said on Wednesday his energy policy team was considering the future of U.S. nuclear power and that new nuclear plants could reduce greenhouse gases better than a "seriously flawed" Kyoto global warming treaty.

"If you want to do something about carbon dioxide emissions, then you ought to build nuclear power plants. They don't emit any carbon dioxide. They don't emit greenhouse gases," Cheney said on MSNBC's "Hardball" program.

The 1997 Kyoto treaty seeks to limit industrial nations' emissions of "greenhouse gases," including carbon dioxide which is produced by burning fossil fuels in power plants and vehicles. Such gases help retain the earth's heat and are thought to contribute to global warming.

Cheney said the Bush administration opposes the treaty because it treats nations unequally in limiting emissions.

President George W. Bush in January put Cheney in charge of a Cabinet-level task force to develop a long-term strategy to increase U.S. energy security. Its recommendations were expected in about six weeks, Cheney said.

"A chapter in the report will deal with the nuclear questions and whether or not we want to go forward, but no decisions have been made yet," he said.

A senior aide to Cheney said the task force had not yet begun to study the nuclear issue. She said Cheney's remarks were intended as a comment on the greenhouse gas issue and not as a signal the panel would recommend new nuclear plants.

But asked whether the panel would study the possibility of building new plants, she said, "they're not going to ignore nuclear generation."

No permits to build U.S. nuclear plants have been granted since 1975, although nuclear power provides about 20 percent of U.S. electricity, Cheney said.

The 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear accident, a near meltdown of a Pennsylvania power plant that spread low-level radiation over an area near the plant, put a long-term chill on the industry.

GLOBAL WARMING TREATY "FLAWED"

Cheney drew a contrast between nuclear power and the Kyoto treaty, saying the agreement was "seriously flawed" because it did not place restrictions on developing nations such as China and India.

The treaty was signed by the United States under former President Bill Clinton, but not submitted to the U.S. Senate for ratification.

"We do not support the approach of the Kyoto treaty," Cheney said. "If you're really serious about greenhouse gases, one of the solutions to that problem is to go back, and let's take another another look at nuclear power, use that to generate electricity without having any adverse consequences."

Forms of electricity generation such as coal- or oil-fired plants emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Bush last week retreated from a campaign promise to require power plants to limit emissions of carbon dioxide. The European Union responded with concern that the act signaled a U.S. retreat from efforts to fight global warming.

Cheney said that Bush made clear U.S. opposition to the Kyoto treaty in his decision last week on carbon dioxide.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush did not include increasing nuclear power in his energy platform during his campaign. But he indicated Bush had not ruled it out.

"His charge to them (Cheney's committee) was to look broadly and to look long term," Fleischer said. "We'll take a look at the recommendations in their totality."

21:22 03-21-01

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