South Carolina to sue over Yucca Mountain nuclear dump
By Gary Reese
February 17, 2010 — The first of the suits over President Barack Obama’s new nuclear energy policies is already simmering. South Carolina Republican Gov. Mark Sanford says his state will sue to force Obama to reverse his decision this week to abandon plans to permanently store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Sanford said the White House’s new policy will cost South Carolina taxpayers $1.2 billion. State residents continue to pay utility bill ad-on fees to help finance Yucca Mountain. About 4,000 metric tons of nuclear waste are being “temporarily” stored in the state. Sanford accused Obama of making this new policy as a way to appease Nevada voters so that they will re-elect Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. --The political gridlock that comes from excessive partisanship in Washington was one of the topics addressed in Naples, Fla. by someone who ought to know – former President George W. Bush. He and his brother Jeb, the former governor of Florida, made a rare public appearance together before a friendly audience at the Naples Town Hall Distinguished Speakers Series. President Bush said the best solution to the partisan rancor now paralyzing Congress is more competitive congressional elections. That would force congressmen and –women and their challengers to focus more on pragmatic solutions to problems, he said. The Bush brothers won some laughs from the crowd. Gov. Bush said after he’d left office, a woman encountered him in public and said, “You used to be Jeb Bush.” --Everything’s bigger in Texas, they say, and the current state budget is no exception. States from coast to coast are sucking wind fiscally, but the Lone Star State now expects its deficit to reach at least $15 billion. And like their counterparts in many states, Texas legislators are having an increasingly hard time coming up with ideas that would make significant dents in the shortfall. State agencies have disclosed their cost-savings proposals, but their offerings of five percent cuts would make little significant difference. Even candidates in the high-profile governor’s race seem to be dodging the issue. --Virginia has joined the climate wars. The state’s attorney general is asking the US Environmental Protection Agency to rescind its December 2008 policy position that says global warming is a threat to people. The AG also filed a court petition in Washington, asking the federal appeals court to review the EPA’s finding. Details of the Virginia action are still sketchy. |
