Cash in on the President’s Big Mistake

When Barack Obama became the most powerful man in the world just five short months ago, he knew he would have plenty of important people to thank.

After all, no one is elected president alone. It takes power to make power — Obama knows this. He enlisted the help of influential party leaders, strategists and sponsors to help grab the presidency. Now it's time to repay the political favors.

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Enter Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The Nevada Democrat recently announced a small victory for himself and his constituents. It seems that the good senator managed to convince President Obama to remove funds for a small scrap of desert in southern Nevada from the 2010 federal budget.

It may not seem like much, but this parcel of land — a little more than an hour's drive from Las Vegas — has been the center of attention for Nevada lawmakers and residents for some time. And the attention isn't because of gold, oil or any other valuable commodity…

The Mountain That Could Have Solved Our Energy Problems

The section of Nevada desert in question is the location of Yucca Mountain. More specifically, we're talking about the site of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.

Yucca Mountain is on federal land — right next door to the fabled Nevada test site where nuclear weapons were detonated above and below ground during the Cold War. For the past several decades, federal money has been allocated to develop Yucca Mountain as the nation's main safe keeper of radioactive waste generated by nuclear power facilities. To date, the government has spent more than $9 billion studying and developing the site.

Now it looks as if plans for a national site for reactor waste storage have been derailed. It all comes down to Reid's "favor" from the new commander in chief…

The Senate leader has been fighting the Yucca site for years. And now that Reid is in a position with considerable influence, it is doubtful the Yucca Mountain project will move forward for many years to come — if ever. Anti-nuclear activists and Nevada residents have mounted a ferocious battle against any nuclear waste storage in the area.

So what does this mean for nuclear power plants?

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Without a national storage site available—and no plans on moving forward with a new site in the foreseeable future—nuclear power plants will have to continue to safely contain spent radioactive waste in their own storage facilities.

The Cards Are Dealt in Nuclear Power's Favor

Contrary to what we see happening with the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, nuclear power remains one of our most promising energy sources of this century.

First, nuclear is a carbon-neutral power source. Environmental Protection Agency rule changes are causing problems for coal-fired power plants as we type. Carbon caps stand to force the dirtiest plants to pay big money to upgrade or close down operations entirely. Meanwhile, nuclear power's only immediate byproduct is steam. According to the EPA, two-thirds of the power in the country is generated by fossil fuels like coal and natural gas. We as a nation could easily cut back on these carbon-producing sources with more nuclear plants. The only environmental concern is the radioactive waste…

Then there's the fact that nuclear power is a proven, effective large-scale source of electricity. Yes, efforts are being made in the alternative energy field. But even with aggressive expansion, alternatives like solar will lag far behind traditional forms of power generation. Wind power, for example, is expected increase only 5% in the next decade…

On the other hand, nuclear power technology is proven and ready for expansion. In fact, it may be the only way we can meet our growing electricity demand issues…

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