Sarah Palin might have a tougher time keeping an eye on Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin if John McCain wins the election.
McCain plans to build 45 new nuclear power plants by 2030. Palin affirmed her support for nuclear power in the CBS News interview that aired last night:
Also tapping into the nuclear, the clean coal, to biomass, geothermal, tides, waves, all those things that we have as alternative energy sources, it’s gotta be an all-of-the-above approach to energy independence.
Over on Wonk Room, Daniel Weiss, director of climate strategy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, points out that the U.S. imports 90 percent of the uranium used in nuclear power plants, and Russia is the No. 1 supplier. He also notes that most of the key components of nuclear plants are currently built overseas [PDF]. So much for “independence.”
Another Palin quote, also from last night’s CBS interview:
And it’s why we should have started 10 years ago tapping into domestic supplies that America is so rich in. Alaska has billions of barrels of oil and hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of clean, green natural gas onshore and offshore … Of course ramping up supplies domestically is a key to that. But so is weaning ourselves off the hydrocarbons.
Since oil is a hydrocarbon, it would be hard to simultaneously increase use of domestic supplies while weaning ourselves off of them.
McCain has said that in his administration, Palin — who’s made patently false statements about energy — would head up energy policy. And in an NPR interview this morning, McCain said, “I already have turned to Gov. Palin, particularly on energy issues, and I’ve appreciated her background and knowledge on that and many other issues.”
Weiss has more on her various energy and climate fumbles in last night’s interview.
