Posted on 04/14/2007 11:13:26 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Finance chiefs from the G7 industrialized countries have endorsed nuclear energy, an increasingly attractive power source as governments confront global warming and over-dependence on fossil fuels.
The Group of Seven, following a meeting here Friday, described energy diversification as an important priority for both rich and poor nations.
"Diversification can include advanced energy technologies such as renewable, nuclear and clean coal," said the ministers and central bank governors from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.
The group at previous meetings had been unable to agree on a text citing nuclear power, notably in the face of opposition from Germany.
But a steady rise in oil prices, from less than 30 dollars a barrel in April 2003 to nearly 80 dollars last year, as well as increased energy nationalism in producers such as Russia, Venezuela and Iran have managed to change minds.
France, which has long advocated the adoption of an international nuclear power program as a "clean" alternative to fossil fuels, hailed the G7's latest initiative.
French Finance Minister Thierry Breton said he had put "a lot of energy" into getting the G7 to include "nuclear" among potential alternative power sources.
"It wasn't my first attempt but it was the first time it was unanimously accepted," he said.
France gets 78 percent of its electricity production from nuclear sources, against an average of just 16 percent worldwide and 32 percent in Europe, and is home to several major nuclear energy companies, such as Areva.
Nuclear advocates had already gained some ground with a recent resolution adopted by the European Union calling for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 20 percent between now and 2020.
The resolution, adopted by EU leaders at a summit last month, mentioned nuclear power as a legitimate means of meeting the reduction target.
US President George W. Bush in his State of the Union address in January also referred to nuclear energy as a way of diversifying US electricity supply.
But in the United States, where no nuclear plant has been built in the past 30 years, and where oil and coal remain the principal power sources, big energy companies have been reluctant to invest.
They are seeking legal and financial support from the government before going ahead with nuclear projects, which they see as largely governed by political and environmental -- rather than purely economic -- considerations.
The G7 Ministers chat on the steps of the US Treasury building in Washington, DC, 13 April, 2007. The G7 minister's meetings were bogged down with the growing scandal threatening the tenure of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz (L).(AFP/Mannie Garcia)
Ditto.
...CCJ up another buck on Monday....
But in the United States, where no nuclear plant has been built in the past 30 years, and where oil and coal remain the principal power sources, big energy companies have been reluctant to invest."
This is impressive. If France can do it, all industrialized nations, especially and including the US should do it. Just imagine if we would get 78% of our energy needs filled using nuclear power. Then you could watch the price of oil go down to $15.
New!!: Dr. John Ray’s
GREENIE WATCH
Please ping me if you find one I’ve missed.
OKSooner and I are doing the POGW
ping list while xcamel is on vacation.
Please send me a FReepmail to get on or off this Canada ping list.
It is a calculated risk but we can't afford to continue funding the terrorists either.
BUMP
It’s worth noting that we operate close to 2X as many nuclear electrical generating plants as the French (103 vs 58). I couldn’t quickly find data on TWh of production, but I would expect similar ratios.
That said, we need to be building nukes to replace aging nuclear and coal plants.
Cameco is only the most prominent of the Uranium space stocks:
http://www.preciousmetalresources.com/canadian/uranium/marketcaps/?order=desc&sort=MktCap
Use darts to pick your stocks! I’ve been making out like a bandit on DML, NWT, and MZU. Other stocks have done better, but I’m pleased with 100+% annualized return in this sector.
This is impressive. If France can do it, all industrialized nations, especially and including the US should do it.
First of all, let me agree with you.
But... What is amazing to me is that France gets away with this and there are no massive worldwide anti-France nuclear rallys outside of a few kook groups like there are about the big bad nuclear US.
Also, France tends to be a socialist society where the government primarily determines what is going to happen. It is obvious they decided nuclear power is IT! In the US, we have to contend with freedom of speech from an ever increasing bunch of enviro-kooks who are idiologues and not rational. They affect their congressmen and senators, who write the laws.
I think we almost have to slide into the dark ages when the oil pipeline is shut off, the coal fields are silent, and the electric grid constantly goes dead on cloudy, still days and nights because the solar panels and windmills are not reliable before a nuclear plant will be seriously considered an alternative by the majority of Americans.
what was the name of that stupid jane fonda movie?
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