John Edwards Rejects Nuclear Power

John Edwards said he does not favor nuclear energy during Monday night's debate, citing cost, time, and waste management concerns. His answer seemed eerily similar to the Bush administration, where policies were formed around pre-conceived opinions instead of letting science lead the way.

Edwards proposed wind, solar, and cellulose-based biofuels as alternatives that we should focus on -- which may well be the current scientific consensus -- but rejecting nuclear energy outright seems premature. Nuclear fusion, for instance, is a promising future alternative.

Of the three Senators who were allowed to respond, Barack Obama gave what may have been the most pro-science answer by saying "we should explore nuclear power as part of the energy mix." While he doesn't outright say he would fund nuclear research, his answer appears to say
"let science decide."

Hillary Clinton's response was mixed. She began by claiming agnosticism on nuclear energy, but never really answered the question. Instead of saying she opposes or supports research into nuclear power, she said
"if we think nuclear should be a part of the solution," then let's figure out what to do about nuclear waste first.

QUESTION: Hi, my name is Shawn and I'm from Ann Arbor, Michigan. There is a scientific consensus for man-caused climate change, and I've heard each of you talk in previous debates about alternative energy sources like solar or wind, but I have not heard any of you speak your opinion on nuclear power. I believe that nuclear power is safer, cleaner, and provides a quicker avenue to energy independence than other alternatives.

I am curious what each of you believe.

COOPER: Senator Edwards?

EDWARDS: Wind, solar, cellulose-based biofuels are the way we need to go. I do not favor nuclear power. We haven't built a nuclear power plant in decades in this country. There is a reason for that. The reason is it is extremely costly. It takes an enormous amount of time to get one planned, developed and built. And we still don't have a safe way to dispose of the nuclear waste. It is a huge problem for America over the long term.

I also don't believe we should liquefy coal. The last thing we need is another carbon-based fuel in America. We need to find fuels that are in fact renewable, clean, and will allow us to address directly the question that has been raised, which is the issue of global warming, which I believe is a crisis.

COOPER: Senator Obama?

OBAMA: I actually think that we should explore nuclear power as part of the energy mix. There are no silver bullets to this issue. We have to develop solar. I have proposed drastically increasing fuel efficiency standards on cars, an aggressive cap on the amount of greenhouse gases that can be emitted.

But we're going to have to try a series of different approaches.

The one thing I have to remind folks, though, of -- we've been talking about this through Republican administrations and Democratic administrations for decades.

And the reason it doesn't change -- you can take a look at how Dick Cheney did his energy policy. He met with environmental groups once. He met with renewable energy folks once. And then he met with oil and gas companies 40 times. And that's how they put together our energy policy. We've got to put the national interests ahead of special interests, and that's what I'll do as president of the United States.

(APPLAUSE)

COOPER: Senator Clinton, what is Senator Edwards -- why is he wrong on nuclear power?

CLINTON: First of all, I have proposed a strategic energy fund that I would fund by taking away the tax break for the oil companies, which have gotten much greater under Bush and Cheney.

(APPLAUSE)

And we could spend about $50 billion doing what America does best. It's time we start acting like Americans again.

We can solve these problems if we focus on innovation and technology.

So, yes, all these alternative forms of energy are important. So is fuel efficiency for cars and so is energy efficiency for buildings.

I'm agnostic about nuclear power. John is right, that until we figure out what we're going to do with the waste and the cost, it's very hard to see nuclear as a part of our future. But that's where American technology comes in. Let's figure out what we're going to do about the waste and the cost if we think nuclear should be a part of the solution.

But this issue of energy and global warming has the promise of creating millions of new jobs in America.

COOPER: Time.

CLINTON: So it can be a win-win, if we do it right.

(APPLAUSE)