1/30/10: Obama's Nuclear Lie

(map source: ReviewJournal.com)

UPDATE (Feb 1 9:25pm EST) - Many thanks to Michelle Malkin for linking to this story.

In his State of the Union Address, President Obama said the following:

But to create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. And that means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country.

This is a lie. The idea of President Obama supporting nuclear power is laughable. Simply put, it cannot be done because of Obama's own policies killed nuclear energy months ago:

Obama Killed Nuclear Power in November 2009

Back in November, Obama's energy secretary Steven Chu said the administration will not open the nuclear waste storage facility at Yucca Mountain and it will not reverse the 30-year old ban on reprocessing spent nuclear fuel.

These two decisions mean there is no place to store spent nuclear fuel.

The Current State of Nuclear Waste Storage

Make no mistake, there is already a huge problem with the current storage situation and President Obama knows it:

The spent fuel, growing at the rate of 2,000 tons a year, now is being held in pools and above-ground concrete containers at reactor sites.

"The nation has already accumulated 60,000 metric tons of spent nuclear waste, and the material is going to have to be isolated from the environment for hundreds and thousands of years," Edwin Lyman, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, told the Christian Science Monitor.

Source: Bellona.org

Richard Henry Lee at American Thinker adds that the Yucca Mountain decision means that a new alternative probably surface for years or decades, if ever.

We Can Do Better?

Chu was grilled by Senator John McCain about the decision during the November hearing:

"What's wrong with Yucca Mountain, Mr. Chu," McCain asked in remarks broadcast from the hearing.

"I think we can do a better job," said Chu.

McCain asked whether it was true that Obama — as well as Chu — view Yucca Mountain as no longer an option.

"That's true," replied Chu.

"Now we're going to have spent fuel sitting around in pools all over America," McCain retorted, and characterised the Obama position on nuclear waste — and its decision to uphold the rejection of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel — as a reflection of the administration's opposition to nuclear energy.

Chu said there were short-term answers other than Yucca, while a long-term solution to dealing with nuclear waste is developed.

Source: Bellona.org

Rhetorical Games Of Obama, Chu and Holder

The rhetorical games at play here are very similar to the trickery employed with the KSM civilian trial and the "closing" of Guantanamo Bay:

1.) "We need not cower in the face of the enemy" - Eric Holder

On November 13, Eric Holder announced that 9/11 terrorist conspirators would be given civilian trials in New York City. To discourage criticism of the decision, Holder said, "We need not cower in the face of this enemy. Our institutions are strong, our infrastructure is sturdy, our resolve is firm, and our people are ready."

Both Chu and Holder failed to explain why their method is superior to the alternative - namely, Yucca Mountain or military tribunals. Instead, they try to trap their critics in a rhetorical corner. If you disagree with Chu, you think American CAN'T do a "better job" of disposing of nuclear waste. If you think Holder is wrong, you must be a coward and you must think America lacks resolve.

Using familiar language to hide the real motive beneath a cloak of morality... This is straight out of the Saul Alinsky playbook:

A related principle taught by Alinsky was that radical organizers must not only speak the language of the middle class, but that they also must dress their crusades in the vestments of morality. “Moral rationalization,” he said, “is indispensable to all kinds of action, whether to justify the selection or the use of ends or means.”[67] “All great leaders,” he added, “invoked ‘moral principles’ to cover naked self-interest in the clothing of ‘freedom,’ ‘equality of mankind,’ ‘a law higher than man-made law,’ and so on.” In short: “All effective actions require the passport of morality.”[68]

Source: DiscovertheNetworks

2.) Closing Guantanamo Bay While Offering No Real Alternative

In his first week in office, President Obama signed an executive order promising to close Guantanamo Bay within one year. It hasn't happened and there is no indication it will happen anytime soon. Here's how it breaks down:

1. Make a bold announcement
2. Do nothing
3. Blame someone else when #1 fails to happen
   

This is exactly what is happening with nuclear energy. Americans are supposed to feel some sort of pride that "we can do better." After all, we are the greatest nation in the world and if you think we can't "do better" than Yucca Mountain, you must be some kind of anti-American socialist.

Furthermore, we will figure out exactly where to store spent nuclear material, even though there are no options presently on the table. But we are Americans so you just have to believe that it will be sorted out.

And when it is all finally sorted out, then President Obama can get around to building all those new power plants.

Ain't. Gonna. Happen.

For those of you who are looking for an advanced breakdown of how this all works, think of it like this: Obama is using a Cloward-Piven strategy to push the nuclear power industry to its breaking point with regard to storage capacity. Meanwhile Obama's energy secretary is pulling a page out of the Alinsky playbook by using familiar language that appeals to the patriotic tendencies of real Americans.

For more insight on Obama's real direction on the future of nuclear power, Jonah Goldberg at National Review has written about the anti-nuclear hacks that Obama has placed on the Nuclear Regulatory Commision. [National Review Online]