President Bush has widespread support for his energy plan among the NH Congressional delegation. But enviromental groups object to its call for more power plants.
BUSH REAX DARMAN
5/17/01
LEAD: President George Bush addressed the nation today/yesterday, to talk about his administration?s new energy plan. The state?s congressional delegation is mostly supportive of the President?s initiatives, but environmental groups in New Hampshire are critical of much of its content. N H P R?s David Darman has more.
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In his national address, President George Bush said his plan tackles the problem of the nation?s long-term energy needs. And the president said the plan comes just in time to address current high gas prices and electricity shortages.
03 my administration has developed a sand national plan to help meet our energy needs this year, and every year. If we fail to act on this plan, prices will continue to rise 03 11
The Bush plan calls for the development of new, domestic oil fields, new gas pipelines, new power plants, and much more. Members of New Hampshire?s Congressional delegation, who, like the president, are Republicans, are supportive of his approach. Congressman Charles Bass says it has the ingredients for long-term success.
18 I?m looking for a balanced plan, that obviously looks to multiple sources of energy production. Not only oil and gas, but also other alternatives; solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, possibly nuclear, and coal. 18 17
Bass and other members of New Hampshire?s delegation said they were happy to support the President?s policies, since they say the Clinton administration had no plan during its entire tenure. Despite this solidarity, the president did mention in his speech that he would support plans to drill for oil in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. That?s one place where solidarity in the delegation breaks down, since Senator Bob Smith has gone on record against drilling in the refuge, as he told N H P R back in March.
007 I do oppose drilling in the artic wildlife refuge because I believe that ultimately ?the offset of taking that oil is too high a price for the environment. 0024
Other members of the delegation did not join Smith in outright opposition to the proposed drilling. Congressman John E. Sununu, who, some political insiders say is likely to challenge Smith next year, said he thinks drilling in public lands needs to be reviewed on a ?case by case? basis.
Sununu was more forthright in his support for President Bush?s call for new nuclear power plants, the first that would be built in the U.S. since the 1970s.
13 23 the nuclear power industry has proven the degree to which it can produce energy stably, cleanly, with zero emissions, and as everyone understands, the technical issues of dealing with nuclear waste are well understood, its really just a political problem, eh, football in Washington. 13 43
Sununu?s confidence in handling nuclear waste does not sit well with the state?s environmental community. Katherine Corkery of the New Hampshire Chapter of the Sierra Club says the construction of new plants would just aggravate a problem in the industry that just won?t go away.
05 nuclear waste is the most dangerous material produced by humans. Neither the u.s. nor any other country has developed a safe way to dispose of it. And we?vee learned that an accident at a nuclear reactor or during transportation of nuclear waste can be deadly. 05 17
The President and New Hampshire?s Congressional delegation were mostly in sync during and after his address. But officials in Washington and in New Hampshire were puzzled by a White House statement that warned the state faced imminent blackouts. That statement was widely reported in the media, but it turned out be a false alarm. The state actually generates an excess of electricity.
For N H P R news, I?m DD
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