Do you support adding nuclear power and offshore drilling incentives to climate legislation?

Maybe it's time for a change as there is limited supply of oil in the earth and global warming reduction is priority 1.

Nuclear energy is probably the best long term alternative for fossil fuel and is cost effective, non polluting and very safe. Even the French believe in it.!!

Truthfully, clean energy is even a joke- the most optimistic outlook is that it could replace 20% of the energy we get now from oil. Nuclear is out of the question once you look at cost, time, energy, and that pesky nuclear waste problem. Offshore drilling? How absurdly stupid is that? Climate change? Hello?

If given a choice between a carbon tax and cap-trade, I'd take the former. We certainly can do better with development of clean, renewable energy than we do now and doing so, would create clean jobs as well.

Getting past the 60 vote issue likely requires compromises that make no sense, but seem to have the senators' ear/pocket. It's really hard to do sensible energy-environmental policy in a system where industries contribute so much money and have so much influence from the money they make.

While I doubt that we are smart enough to transcend the political to achieve an effective climate change reduction before it bites us even harder, it shouldn't keep us from trying.

12000 years ago glaciers reached the midwest and receded back on their own.Eons ago,the midwest was an ocean,we still find seashells at times.Antartica,where we drill deep to research past climates,was once a garden of eden,tropical paradise.Man had nothing to do with any changes,it's Mother Nature.Only an idiot could think they can change Mother Nature.

I firmly believe in more nuclear power - where it makes sense to build the plants. Certainly not near volcanoes, fault lines or in any location that is susceptible to meteorological upheaval or terrorism. It looks like nuclear fusion is a far distant dream, but we know how to use the atom to deliver huge amounts of energy all over this country. Everyone talks about the nuclear waste problem, but that issue has largely been solved with new reprocessing techniques for used fuel rods. We should be getting at least 60% of our electric power from clean nuclear energy. We even have the capacity to build small nuclear power plants based on the technology that has been used to power our submarines for decades. Hell, we could even tie up a few of the older models along our coastline in selected, protected areas to provide power to the grid. As for the costs of new construction, that could very easily be solved by building plants in protected and isolated areas of our National and/or state forests. In this economic quagmire we are in, think of all the jobs they could provide.

As for global warming - well - I think the jury is still out on that. I certainly don't believe that co2 emissions are the primary culprit. And what can we do about global warming? Not blooming very much. Carbon taxes and cap and trade is such political BS. The best thing that could be done is to restrain the growth of human population. Nobody wants to touch that issue - so there you have it. We ride along with whatever the good old earth and Mother Nature wants to do. Do you know of anyone who has been able to control the weather, much less be able to forecast it accurately?

It's funny that they say the ice melting will raise global ocean levels. With all the ice that's already melted you'd think the ocean would have risin already. I've been going to the beach for 30 years and it's still in the same place. Someone explain that!

So many negative comments. It's to bad that all we do is @!$%# about how this and that idea won't work. I believe that if you did some research you would find that nuclear power has come a long way in what it would cost to build a new plant and produce electricity, and no air polluting produces! Offshore drilling does nothing to help anyone except big oil companies. There are so many good ideas out there to help make this earth a better place to live and yet everyone is worried about how that will hurt big corporations! They want you to think that so that they do not have to invest in clean tech, and can keep on making easy money off you and me.

Why don't we think of what were doing to ourselves by putting all these pollutants in our air and water. Do people really think that putting so much pollution in our ecosystem will not harm us. I find that thought to be very ignorant. I hope we all, very soon, realize that we must act now to save ourseleves (our children and grandchildren) from living in an environment that does not support life. Remember the earth will go on even when we are gone!!!

I know i kind of rambled on but i think if we take out the corporations needs and consider the human needs we would make decisions that made more sence.

In the late 70's, it was the ice age coming. Today it's warming. Weather experts say it's a cycle. Al Gore and many other politicians are making millions off of it.

All I know is my mom has $86.00 left over SSI on the 3rd day of each month. Tell me how much more tax should she pay? Tax a business, she gets to pay higher prices. Period.

Hello Washington!! Were tapped out~! Please don't make me open fireplaces to keep warm this winter.

I am at a loss here...

Apparently this issue is only interesting to... 9 people and I respectfully submit that a lot of those posts are... poorly or incompletely thought out.

One person is apparently well-schooled in the promise of and recent advances in nuclear power. He/she stunned me with the very lucid reference to nuclear sub technology! Then comes the Glenn Beck-esque statement, "As for global warming - well - I think the jury is still out on that." and my esteem is ruined.

The jury is NOT still out on that.

The jury - read that word as "scientific community" - came in a long time ago.

The simple fact of the matter is that the "verdict" was not the decision that people wanted to hear.

It was upsetting to the established order of things and the problem required intelligent, long-term planning that would not have a "pay off" in monetary terms for a very long time - if ever. Intelligent, long-term planning was a problem because it is never amenable to the sound bites that are a staple in politics and also requires the setting aside of both petty and real differences for the betterment of all. The no-pay-off-in-monetary-terms issue was a deal squasher for most of those whose entire identity is so tied up with their net worth that they will stoop to nearly any level rather than lose any potential nickle or dime.

The foolishness of the "jury is still out" position can be shown with a simple game.

Get a revolver with six chambers for bullets. Load 4 chambers with bullets. Close the cylinder and spin it so that you cannot tell if a bullet is beneath the firing pin...

... You may be thinking that this is Russian Roulette...

It is not.

Line up all of the newborn babies you can find. If you have or are related to any children, be sure to include them. Throw in everyone you love. Aim the gun at the heads of the boys and at the little wombs of the girls. Pull the trigger.

After all, the jury is still out as to whether there's a bullet under the firing pin and it should be just fine to keep pulling the trigger until we hear from the jury. Right?

I support developing renewable sources of energy for several reasons:

1. Unlike oil and coal, renewable energy will never run out.

2. Renewable energy will reduce our dependance on foreign countries for energy.

3. Renewable energy will help stablize our ALL aspects of our economy. We will no longer be at the mercy of big oil companies and "high prices at the pump". And will no longer see the price of food and other goods jump like they have in the past whenever the price of oil, gas and diesel fuel has jumped.

4. Development and increased use of renewable energy will create new jobs and further economic recovery.

5. Depending on the sources of renewable energy used, it will reduce air and water pollution; and reduce the effects that man has on climate change. It can lessen the impact of natural disasters - and reduce the economic costs associated with such disasters.

There are other benefits for switching to renewable energy as well, I just touched on the biggest ones.

Whether a person believes in "man causing global warming or not", the fact remains that the world will run out of oil - and we will ALL be "up the creek" if we don't have renewable energy to use BEFORE that happens.

In the meantime, we already know from experience that most sources of renewable energy produce FAR LESS pollution than oil does, and that's another benefit to switching to renewable energy! Afterall, we ALL need clean air, clean water, and food to survive - and that includes the Republicans and the oil company CEO's.

The republicans have an opportunity to approve a meaninful bill right now, and I hope they accept the proposed compromise which DOES give them some of the things they have said they want and STOP the fillibuster which does NO ONE any good except the big oil companies.

If the republicans continue to oppose any type of meaningful renewable energy/pollution reduction bill, they will find themselves losing more seats in the next election.

Using Nuclear power and collecting our own fossil fuels to reduce foreign dependance is long overdue in the U.S. While yes, Nuclear and Offshore Oil rigging may not be the most eco-friendly tact - we have to take hits somewhere. For the immediate moment, we need to reduce reliance and promote a sense of stability - then we can talk going with long term and very low effect to the environment.

The technology applied to nuclear reactors has vastly improved overtime in efficiency and environmentally (France is over 80 percent nuclear power alone). Most renewables will not be valid sources of energy until a legit green market sets in to help reduce the extreme upfront costs.

Montreal Protocol was an absolute success. Kyoto Protocol unfortunately went overboard with some countries emission requirements and over-relaxed for others. In the end, I think only about 5 countries met or exceeded goal emission reductions to date. That is why the US did not take it on - we'd be screwed (I even saw it, and I'm fairly new to environmental law and international coalitions). Bush had a more paced program set up for the US shortly after (Same overall emission goals, but a more sensible timeline).

I do hope what happens in Copenhagen is more sensible this go round (Not just the US, but the whole spectrum).

I read these comments and thought only one person was going to look in more than one direction .Rick was the only person to refer to renewable energy .Then he got off track,by finger pointing at the republicans .This isn't a government problem .
I don't care what party you follow .I don't care if you think there is or isn't global warming .We're going to have to find more power to keep us running as a nation , as a world .
Give me somewhere to work out of .Give me a couple of engineers,and researchers ,a patent lawyer to make sure we're not stepping on anybodies toes .
I'll show you some renewable energy ideas that will change the world .Most of them
I can't find anyone working on .The ones I do find ,don't see what they have before them .Their thinking very small scale .
I hate it but when we reduce our need for oil ,the cost of oil will go way up $20.00 to $30.00 a gallon for gas will be cheap .The same for natural gas and coal
I'm not here to joke with you ,I do have several ideas that I do think could change the world .Maybe 5 to 15 % or even more of the renewable energy we need for the future.
Yes I've traveled enough to know what I'm saying .

RON

My personal opinion is that human beings are simply too lazy, greedy, short-sighted, and ornery ever to do anything like the right thing with an issue as complicated as climate change.

When I was a kid everyone was worried that we would destroy ourselves with nuclear weapons, but we managed to avoid that because a nuclear war was so obviously idiotic. Climate change is relatively slow, subtle, and complicated, so we cannot agree that the problem even exists, much less what to do about it. Thus, evolution is quite likely to throw us on the scrap heap sooner rather than later.

We are a hair's breadth from destroying our own habitat, and most folks have no idea how extreme things have gotten. We are not just taking a dump where we sleep. We are soaking the sheets in gasoline, and then smoking in bed. We will get exactly what we deserve., because Mother Nature does not reward stupidity. We've had our chance and we are blowing it. End of story.

Our climate is fine. Nuclear and off-shore energy should be options always. There is no such thing as global warming.