One can measure the dedication of the climate-change crowd in how they approach the zero-emissions technology of nuclear power.  Some have realized that the only practical way to replace coal as a source for electricity is to invest heavily in nuclear power.  Others, such as Harry Reid and his allies in the Senate, have done their best to shut the door on that path away from coal, which calls into question their motives in forcing cap-and-trade schemes onto the US.

Investors Business Daily rips Reid and the administration for blocking the use of Yucca Mountain for safe fuel reprocessing, which would allow for an expansion of electrical production by nuclear power:

Killing the storage facility for the spent fuel rods produced by the nation’s nuclear power industry has long been a dream of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama. Last week, the Senate granted their wish, voting to deny the resources needed to complete a review necessary for Yucca Mountain to open.

“This is a major victory for Nevada,” said Reid, who is up for re-election next year. “I am pleased that President Obama has lived up to his promise to me and to all Nevadans by working with me to kill the Yucca Mountain project.” …

We need the jobs nuclear power can provide, and we need the energy. The Energy Information Agency projects that by 2030, U.S. electricity demand will increase by 45%. Since nuclear power currently supplies 20%, the U.S. will need to have 35 additional nuclear power plants just to meet future demand. But without Yucca Mountain it won’t happen.

Yucca Mountain is not a “dump” and what would be stored there is not “waste.” It is in fact our country’s best renewable resource. Used nuclear fuel retains upwards of 90% of its original energy.

Since beginning operations, France’s La Hague facility has safely reprocessed over 23,000 tons of used fuel — enough to power France, which gets 80% of its electricity from nukes, for 14 years.

Michael Ramirez has a great cartoon for today on the subject:

The most hypocritical part of the Democratic energy policy is their insistence on developing electrical and hybrid cars requiring recharges from electrical outlets.  Even without converting our vehicles to electricity, we will increase our electrical demands by 45% over the next 20 years.  If we’re going to hobble the coal industry and keep nuclear power off the grid, it’s hard to see how we can even maintain current production, let alone provide for the normal growth in demand and the energy to run individual vehicles on top of that.

Reid and his allies claim that other technologies will replace coal and nuclear for mass production of electrical energy by that time, but we’ve been hearing that since the 1970s — longer than it will take us to get to 2030.  Nuclear power is here now, used by nations like Japan and France to produce the bulk of their electricity without incident, and several generations of technology safer than the 1970s version of nuclear power that we use today.  Only a fool eschews extant, successful technology for a dream of what may come tomorrow, especially when the choices are not mutually exclusive.

Ramirez has a terrific collection of his works: Everyone Has the Right to My Opinion, which covers the entire breadth of Ramirez’ career, and it gives a fascinating look at political history.  Read my review here, and watch my interviews with Ramirez here and here.  And don’t forget to check out the entire IBD site, while individual investors still exist.