Obama's Nuclear Ambitions

Reuters news agency is reporting today that President Obama is pushing forward with plans to build two new nuclear reactors in some hopes of jump-starting the nuclear power industry in the United States. This after 3 decades of no new nuke plants being built. I have a couple common-sense observations about this:

First, this is a complete reversal from 2008-campaign-Obama who would not give the time of day to the concept of expanding nuclear power. While this earns him tentative kudos from the conservative side of the political aisle, these kudos can only be tentative because there is no real evidence that he has changed his mind. It may also earn him scorn from the leftist side of the aisle for back-tracking on what has been a long-standing issue for progressives, but somehow I don't think that will be the case, because of my second observation...

Second, I think this is an easy promise for him to make right now. He stated in the State of the Union address and now with this latest proposal that he would authorize loans for the expansion of nuclear power. Seems to me, though, that the actual power to make these loans and make good on the President's words lies with the House of Representatives and Senate. If they don't vote to approve the spending for these loans, the loans will not get made...and I am betting that Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid will work as hard as they can (along with fellow "progressives") to kill these loans. Therefore, Obama can promise one thing with the knowledge that there is not a snowball's chance in hell that it will actually happen. He can be on both sides of the issue at once: like John Kerry!

This may come back to bite him in a year or two, though. If my prediction above comes true (his promises vs. Congress' denial) and the Republicans gain back a majority in the House (and maybe Senate) this November, they may push through the funding for those loans next year and force Obama's hand on the issue. If that's the case, I predict we will see his true colors shine at that time when he whips out his veto pen.