Rick Perry: Going to make Nuclear Energy Cool Again

[Jimbo101]

ARS Technica

Energy Secretary Rick Perry spoke briefly (Tuesday) afternoon to a group of reporters to address topics in energy. The Trump administration has deemed this week “Energy Week” and has tasked its appointees, including Perry, to pitch what an “energy-dominant America” looks like to the American people.

Perry painted a vision of America’s energy future in broad strokes this afternoon and said that the US would become a net exporter of energy through natural gas and oil exports. The Energy Information Administration has said that the US could become a net energy exporter by 2026. Perry, who has been dismissive of climate change in the past and has close ties to the fossil fuel industry, also called on the US to “reaffirm our commitment to clean energy,” while at the same time embracing fossil fuels.

"That binary choice between pro-economy and pro-environment that has perpetuated—or, I should say, been perpetuated by the Obama administration—has set up a false argument," Perry said. "The fact is, we can do good for both—and we will." Under the Obama administration, solar, wind, and natural gas jobs grew, although coal jobs did fall.

Perry is also a supporter of nuclear energy. “No clean energy portfolio is truly complete without nuclear power,” Perry added this afternoon. Research into advanced nuclear reactors and small modular reactors, he said, would be “a game changer.” The secretary was vague on details about how exactly the Department of Energy (DOE) would boost the ailing nuclear energy industry—this year, major reactor builder Westinghouse suffered a bankruptcy—but he did offer a few ideas. “One of the things we want to do at Department of Energy is make nuclear energy cool again” to young people who might want to study it, Perry said. He later added, “this industry has been strangled all too often by government regulations.”




The Future's So Bright - He's Gotta Wear Shades ! (old file picture)

[underpants]

1. The Mr. Smith glasses are a nice touch

[still_one]

2. I have no problem with that as long as they dispose of the spent fuel rods in his back yard