Nuclear Energy Information Service
Illinois' Nuclear Power Watchdog for 25 Years

National Energy Legislation

A Banal and Useless Piece of "Statesmanship"

Letter to the Editors
June 29, 2005

Whoopie. The Senate just finished its “work” and passed some "National Energy Legislation. "

And just in time to celebrate this Nation’s birth. We and they can now turn our attention to more important things – like the brats and the fireworks and parades.

Just what exactly was accomplished by this august body? I think an apt metaphoric description would be something like: the lookout on the Titanic yells, “Iceberg! Dead ahead!” and the Captain immediately responds – “Re-arrange all deck chairs!” At a time when the future survival of the nation, if not the planet, begged for a quantum shift in energy policy, the Senate gave us, “adjust the widgits.”

Even the Washington Post, in its prescient Sunday editorial, “Lost Energy” recognized the monumental banality of this enormous 85 to 12 exercise in self-congratulatory futility. A “lost opportunity,” they called it. Throw money at more-of-the-same, business-as-usual, lobbied-to-the-hilt methods of energy production (more coal, oil, gas, nuclear power) that got us into the many environmental, economic, and foreign policy fixes we currently find ourselves. Avoid the controversial (aggressive energy efficiency and conservation, increased CAFÉ standards), no matter how desperately needed they are. Explain to the public, “It ain’t perfect, but we had to do something.” Thank heaven these people are Senators – and not surgeons. Or worse – leaders.

While many in the Senate and the media are busy spinning the effort as, “Progress! We’ve finally moved forward!” it’s important to remember that you are “moving forward” pitching over a cliff. The real energy issues, their causes and effects that confront and threaten us today once again went largely ignored. Global warming? The “sense of the Senate” – it’s real! Actions proposed? Do nothing.

The energy war for Iraq, claiming tens-of-thousands of lives, both American and Iraqi – not even mentioned. How many body bags per gallon does your civilian Humvee get? The well-documented fact that the US wastes between 22-44% of all the electricity it generates? Uh, what was the question? Oh yes, $10.1 billion subsidies for more nuclear plants. What Enron scandal? Let’s repeal PUCHA!

Even some of the more cheerie aspects of the Senate’s action – a modest commitment to more renewable energy, for example – are likely to be stripped away in conference committee with the pro-energy industry House members. If the Senate mentality on energy is still stuck somewhere in the 19th Century, the House mentality is breathtakingly Neanderthal. The concept of “extract more, no matter who owns it; what’s ours is ours, what’s yours soon will be,” isn’t really much of an energy “strategy” to be proud of. And we’re going to export our “democracy” to the Iraqis?

The upcoming House-Senate Conference committee will be an unexpected test of Creationism. The limp-biscuits in the Senate may just evolve enough backbone to fight off the irrational, narcissistic and primitive demands of the energy lobbyist House members – thereby reinforcing the theory of evolution, and just possibly beginning the process of nudging this Nation into the energy direction it desperately needs to go – before our “forward progress” carries us irreparably too far.

Gratefully,

David A. Kraft

David A. Kraft
Director, NEIS
Evanston, IL: 847-869-7650; -7658 fax
Hamburg: 011-49-40-430-7332
Neis@neis.org

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