President right about nuke power … I’ll keep Friday morning open

With President Barack Obama on his way to Las Vegas, I've admittedly struggled to find "something good to say" about our president.

As you all know, I think he's got all the wrong instincts on fiscal constraint, taxation, national security, not to mention Las Vegas. When you add all that up, that's endless entry points from which to criticize.

But the president is right about one thing: If we're going to meaningfully move away from foreign oil as a country, we're going to need a revitalization of the nuclear power industry in America. We're also going to need to build clean coal plants. We simply can't do it with windmills and solar panels.

So, for the president to step out and advocate for a new generation of nuclear power generation, thus breaking from the Luddite tradition of his far-left political base, I give him big points for bravery.

When he campaigned for president, Mr. Obama said repeatedly this:  "I will set a clear goal as president."  "I will tap our natural-gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology and find ways to safely harness nuclear power."

I'm not sure how all that squares with his position on Yucca Mountain. If we are going to build more nuke power plants, we're going to have to solve nuke waste. If the Yucca hole isn't the answer, then what is? Might the Nevada Test Site, with a re-tooling of Yucca, be the answer? Reprocessing waste there, maybe? That would be quite a jobs coup.

I'd love to explore this with the president on your behalf. But so far he's avoided visiting with the Las Vegas Review-Journal's editorial board.

If any of you run into the president this evening (and I know a couple of my loyal readers will) tell the president to drop me a line. Sherm@lvrj.com. I'll keep Friday morning open.