Nuclear Industry Takes Out NRC Chair Gregory Jaczko, Washington Post Endorses Clean Energy Standard

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko is stepping down, effective upon the confirmation of his successor, according to a statement from Jaczko released today.  Effectively, the Nuclear Industry won a year long battle to oust Jaczko.  Gregory Jaczko's staunch ally Senate Majority Harry Reid plus tepid support from the Administration, was not nearly enough to stop months of  bureaucratic knife-wielding by the other four industry-backed members of the five-person panel.  The industry effort was spearheaded by Democratic Commissioner Bill Magwood. Magwood, led a similar coup against Terry Lash during the Clinton Administration at the Department of Energy before replacing Lash.  Magwood's ally at the time was Alex Flint, then a GOP Senate staffer for Senator Domenic who took the lead on nuclear policy. He's now the top lobbyist for the nuclear industry -- whose criticism of Jaczko coincided with Magwood's dramatic assault.  We just have to pray that the U.S. sees no nuclear accidents during Magwood tenure.

An editorial in the Washington Post on May 19 was  optimistic about Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman's proposed Clean Energy Standard. The proposal would require that utilities derive a defined portion of their electricity from technologies that emit fewer greenhouse emissions than coal,  Critically, any electricity technology — wind, solar, natural gas, nuclear or something entirely new — can get credit, scaled in accordance to the improvement it offers. This clean electricity mandate would ramp up over time, requiring that 54 percent of electricity in 2025 come from such sources and 84 percent in 2035. If this sounds familiar, it’s because many states have similar policies in place.  The plan would slash coal use, boosting natural gas, nuclear and renewables. Total U.S. energy- related carbon emissions would decline to 80 percent of the 2005 level by 2035, the Energy Information Administration estimates.  In spite of the costs, the Washington Post is supportive of this by sayint that a clean electricity standard could hold the most political appeal of any big approach to carbon cutting. It is harder to construe as a tax increase, and it explicitly benefits GOP favorites, such as natural gas and nuclear energy, as well as Democratic ones, such as solar and wind energy.