Transportation Bill Vote Postponed, Business Coalition wants GHG Standards, Secy Chu to tout Nuclear Power

Speaker Boehner postponed a vote on the Transportation bill, which has also become a semi energy bill. Sensing that the bill would have a tough road ahead - the House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) warned lawmakers in a closed-door meeting that the highway bill has less GOP support than last summer's debt-limit package - the Speaker said "it is more important that we do it right".

A coalition of business groups wants the Obama Administration to get moving on greenhouse gas standards for new power plants. "Derailing or delaying such standards leads to increased uncertainty and undermines the potential for capital investment and economic growth, weakening the opportunity presented to U.S. businesses by the growing $243 billion global clean energy market," the American Sustainable Business Council, Ceres, Main Street Alliance, environmental Entrepreuners and Small Business Alliance stated in a letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget. 

Energy Secretary Steven Chu will tout the Obama administration’s support for nuclear energy Wednesday at a Georgia power plant whose owner recently won approval to build the first new U.S. reactors in more than 30 years.  Chu will tour the Vogtle nuclear power plant near Waynesboro, Ga., and “highlight steps the Obama Administration is taking to restart America’s nuclear energy industry,” according to the Energy Department. The visit comes a week after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a license allowing for the construction and conditional operation of two new nuclear reactors at the site. It’s the first time the commission greenlighted construction for a new reactor since 1978.  Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Southern Co won conditional approval in 2010 for an $8.3 billion Energy Department loan guarantee to help build the new reactors. Chu signaled Monday that he expects the department to soon finalize the loan guarantee.