Former President Bill Clinton Praises Obama's Energy Policy, Japan Considers Going Zero Nuclear

No one should be surprised that former president Bill Clinton backed up President Obama's energy policies in his speech last night. In a Ringing endorsement last night, Clinton had  soaring praise for Obama's agreement with the auto industry to increase vehicle fuel efficiency standards to an average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025 - which Clinton said will help Americans' wallets as well as the Earth's climate.

Bloomberg Business Week has a story about Japan turning zero nuclear.  With The Japanese public disinclined toward the use of nuclear energy, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda facing declining approval rating, the Prime Minister recently ordered his cabinet ministers to consider how to cope with challenges the country would face without nuclear energy.  The effects of this would be absolutely huge.  It is estimated that it would cost the country the equivalent of $622 billion to build a power grid around renewable energy.  Zero nuclear would be an enormous boost to renewable energy which would have to ramp up to providing the country 35% of electricity supply by 2030.  Not surprisingly, major business interests, especially the business lobby Keidanren, say this non nuclear plan is unrealistic and a threat to the manufacturing economy of Japan.  No doubt the nuclear meltdoen of Fukishima put nuclear energy in a new perspective, but whether zero nuclear becomes a reality is 50/50 in my book.