Energy Dept. may back up to 90% of clean energy project debt

http://www.platts.com/Nuclear/News/7331374.xml?src=Nuclearrssheadlines1

Energy Dept. may back up to 90% of clean energy project debt

Washington (Platts)--10May2007

The US Dept. of Energy proposed May 10 guaranteeing up to 90% of the debt for
clean energy projects, as long as the amount guaranteed does not exceed 80% of
total project cost.

The department previously proposed covering 80% of just the debt portion of
such projects. Key lawmakers, investment bankers and the nuclear industry have
been urging the department to instead adopt the language of the Energy Policy
Act of 2005, which authorizes the energy secretary to guarantee up to 80% of
total project cost. They said that federal credit backing is crucial to
financing new nuclear plants but that DOE's August 2006 draft proposal equated
to 64% financing guarantees and would not be attractive to investors.

The department also said it may limit the number of commercial projects it
backs to no more than five of the same "innovative" type, and may limit the
time the loan guarantees are effective.

The US actually subsidizes fossil fuels to the tunes of trillions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of liters of blood.

Let me guess, in your bizarre calculus, a guarantee is a subsidy. Is this your bizarre point? Let me guess where it came from, one of Al Gore's speeches, right?

I favor an international 10 trillion dollar investment in nuclear power by outright purchase of reactors (if necessary) in order to build about 5000 reactors. The process might take 30 years or more, but when it was over there would be zero air pollution. During the time of construction in this infrastructure, incredible world wide wealth would be created, creating high level work in operations, construction, engineering, basic science and all of the spin offs. This is exactly the kind of activity that should be subsidized, but is not subsidized, since a loan guarantee amounts to nothing if no one defaults.

And your proposal for doing something about climate change is what?

Oh yeah, I remember, to whine, "I speak for Al Gore! I speak for Al Gore!"

Fifty trillion dollars, 100 trillion dollars, 200 hundred trillion dollars will not cover the cost of climate change and neither such sums make renewable energy work on a scale that matches the scale of the problem.

look for a new job.