Rep Michael Burgess response
Uploaded by MichaelCBurgessMD on Jan 25, 2012
This week Dr. Burgess provides an update from Washington and responds to President Obama’s State of the Union address.
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President Obama’s state of the union speech Jan 24, 2012
President Obama c/o The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on what is going on out here.
The Heritage Foundation website (www.heritage.org ) has lots of good articles and one that caught my attention was concerning your State of Union Speech on January 24, 2012 and here is a short portion of that article:
What about nuclear energy, Mr. President? – Jack Spencer
The President insists that he wants to build an economy using American energy resources to create American jobs. Nuclear energy might be a good place to start. America would need approximately 50 new plants over the next 30 years just to maintain the percentage of our electricity that is currently produced by nuclear power. Each of these plants requires around 2400 workers to build and then another 700 are required to operate each plant. Then there are all the workers needed to manufacture the plant components, to produce the fuel, and to manage the waste.
The President, at least rhetorically, understands the potential of nuclear energy. It creates jobs and produces the clean, domestic energy that he claims to want. But when it comes to policies to allow an expansion on nuclear energy, this Administration has fallen short in two regards.
First, like with most other energy related policies, his nuclear energy policies consolidate power in Washington and reject the value of the free market. He wants his bureaucrats to pick what technologies go forward and then to decide which projects get financed.
Second, with his decision to abandon the Yucca Mountain project, the President has moved the nation further from a nuclear waste solution than it has been for three decades. By killing Yucca without any back up plan, the President has introduced immense uncertainty into the long-term viability of American nuclear power.
Despite his best efforts, the President cannot subsidize nuclear energy into success. To allow nuclear energy to move forward, the President must fix how the nation manages its nuclear waste, develop a more efficient regulatory regime for nuclear energy, and allow market forces to determine what technologies move forward. Only then with the U.S. realize the full potential of nuclear energy.
Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your committment as a father and a husband.
Sincerely,
Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6hwnApaoDM
