Tuesday, April 26

This morning all the pages were recognized and given a Certificate of Excellence (just so it's official).  Naturally, they saved the best for last - I swear it had nothing to do with that fact that it was in alphabetical order.

The nuclear energy bill, HF 561, came up for debate today.  There are countless amendments and amendments to amendments (got that?), all of which will be debated.  It was made clear in the opening statements that the bill does not give permission for a nuclear plant to be built, and it does not give permission for energy rate increases.  All it does is grant the Iowa Utility Board the power to give these permissions.  Democrats argued that not all the research has been completed and submitted and that the legislature should wait until it has all the information instead of "rushing."  The Republicans argued that the citizens of Iowa are tired of the legislature constantly "stalling" on issues and that at some point it needs to "take action".  An example was given of President Clinton (I think) declining to drill for oil in the mid 90s because it could take as long as twelve years to set up infrastructure etc. And here we are.

Many of the utility companies support the eventual construction of a nuclear power plant. Why? Because the coal-fired plants in Iowa, as well as the other, smaller, sources, literally will soon not be able to produce enough energy, especially during peak hours.  While wind & solar energy can and should be encouraged and expanded, this cannot physically produce enough power either.  It's really not a question of whether more energy is needed - it's a question of how to provide it.