Today, the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee included a $25 billion preemptive bailout of the nuclear industry, in the form of loan guarantees for new reactors, in the Energy and Water Appropriations bill.
"It is interesting that a $25 billion preemptive bailout for the nuclear industry appeared in the Energy and Water Appropriations bill shortly after it became a campaign issue for Congressman Chet Edwards," said Ben Schreiber, of Friends of the Earth Action. "It's enough to ask whether the House leadership is risking $25 billion of taxpayer money so one House seat stays in the Democratic column. Politics should never trump public safety or wise stewardship of taxpayer dollars, but it's not clear that's the case with this $25 billion of potential radioactive pork."
The inclusion of a $25 billion nuclear bailout in the House Energy and Water Appropriations bill is not the first time that the Department of Energy Loan Guarantee program may have been used to reward House Democrats. Last month, a $9 billion preemptive nuclear bailout was included in the House Supplemental Appropriations bill for projects in Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Whip James Clyburn's districts, while money to prevent teacher layoffs was stripped from the bill.
"Are House Democrats treating the Department of Energy loan guarantee program like a campaign credit card?" asked Friends of the Earth Action's Schreiber. "What we know for sure is that they have let important priorities like energy efficiency and teachers die on the vine, while putting taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars if the nuclear industry defaults on its loans. This nuclear bailout will also endanger public safety due to the vulnerable nuclear waste storage processes, inadequate nuclear security and continued reactor design flaws it will promote."
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