Uranium Investing News

By Melissa Pistilli-Exclusive to Uranium Investing News

A three-day round of hearings over a companion bill to the cap-and-trade legislation passed in the House last May begins today in the Senate. The bill has been introduced by Democrat Barbara Boxer of California, head of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry.

It seems the call for cap-and-trade climate change legislation could breathe new life into the US nuclear industry as Democrats make concessions to Republicans in order to get the bill passed before President Barak Obama heads to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December.

While speaking at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Friday, President Obama urged the Senate to get the job done saying new energy and climate legislation is essential and should include “safe nuclear power” along with other renewable energies.

The House bill includes a cap-and-trade emissions reduction plan that mandates the use of renewable energy by utilities and allows polluters to buy and sell permits for emissions. It is expected to bring in billions of dollars and reduce carbon dioxide emissions 17 per cent by 2020 and over 80 per cent by 2050.

While most Senate Democrats support cap-and-trade legislation, getting Republicans to back it is a different story. It is this split along party lines that the nuclear industry stands to benefit from as Democrats make concessions in order to bring reluctant Republicans to the bargaining table.

Those in the nuclear power sector have been working hard to push the idea that nuclear energy is green energy because it doesn’t emit carbon dioxide emissions. But, of course, many environmentalists are still opposed to its inclusion under the clean energy umbrella.

However, even anti-nuclear politicians like Senator Boxer are coming to terms with the fact that nuclear will need to be a part of the equation.

In a bipartisan move, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (South Carolina) and Democrat Senator John Kerry penned an op-ed together in The New York Times. “Nuclear power needs to be a core component of electricity generation if we are to meet our emission reduction targets,” said the two Senators.

Even the President went as far to say at a New Orleans town hall this month that there is “no reason” why the US couldn’t employ nuclear power in a safe manner like Japan and France.

Those in the industry are encouraged by the growing positive sentiment toward nuclear power taking shape in Washington DC. “We think a consensus is beginning to develop in Washington that nuclear incentives must be in climate legislation,” said Alex Flint, vice president of governmental affairs at The Nuclear Energy Institute. “These are the things that are necessary to build new plants on schedule for what is needed for the climate change space.”

Key Republicans that might sign onto the Senate bill if nuclear energy plays a more important role include Senators Lindsey Graham, Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and John McCain (Arizona).

“The only way we get there … is if we really ramp up nuclear,” said Senator Murkowski in a C-SPAN interview. “Nuclear power must be part of the solution.”