{"id":392133,"date":"2010-03-05T07:01:24","date_gmt":"2010-03-05T12:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/papundits.wordpress.com\/?p=32149"},"modified":"2010-03-05T07:01:24","modified_gmt":"2010-03-05T12:01:24","slug":"the-science-is-settled%e2%80%a6on-yucca-mountain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/392133","title":{"rendered":"The Science IS Settled\u2026On Yucca Mountain"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Nick Loris<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lost in President Obama\u2019s rhetoric that the science is settled on climate change, the president is willing to shut down Yucca Mountain without scientific justification. Today, the Department of Energy (DOE) filed to withdraw the application <\/a>for the geologic repository Yucca Mountain that was supposed to begin collecting used fuel in 1998. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 set January 31, 1998, as the deadline for the federal government to begin disposing of used fuel. More than a decade after the deadline, the government has still not settled on a policy for how to do it. The DOE established a blue ribbon commission to explore alternatives to long-term waste storage. The government\u2019s ineptitude to begin proper nuclear waste management should be a reason to remove government responsibilities, not remove Yucca from consideration.<\/p>\n

On numerous occasions (not Yucca specific) President Obama emphasized the importance of objective, transparent science, stressing that politics should not trump sound science.<\/p>\n

President Obama in an Executive Memorandum on March 9, 2009<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of my Administration on a wide range of issues, including improvement of public health, protection of the environment, increased efficiency in the use of energy and other resources, mitigation of the threat of climate change, and protection of national security.<\/p>\n

The public must be able to trust the science and scientific process informing public policy decisions. Political officials should not suppress or alter scientific or technological findings and conclusions. \u201c<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/span>President Obama in a ceremony the same night<\/a>: \u201cPromoting science isn\u2019t just about providing resources \u2014 it is also about protecting free and open inquiry.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Obama after announcing his top science advisors December 8, 2008<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Because the truth is that promoting science isn\u2019t just about providing resources \u2014 it\u2019s about protecting free and open inquiry. It\u2019s about ensuring that facts and evidence are never twisted or obscured by politics or ideology.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time we once again put science at the top of our agenda and worked to restore America\u2019s place as the world leader in science and technology. It\u2019s about listening to what our scientists have to say, even when it\u2019s inconvenient \u2013 especially when it\u2019s inconvenient.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The issues surrounding opening Yucca Mountain are purely politically and not one bit technical. Yucca Mountain is the most studied geologic nuclear materials repository in the world. Studies have found that the Yucca repository could safely hold 120,000 tons <\/a>of waste.<\/p>\n

So we should listen to the science, except when it\u2019s inconvenient to well-connected political leaders. If politicians eager to shut down Yucca Mountain are so confident that the science is on their side, why not allow the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to finish its license review<\/a>? After, all, it\u2019s the NRC\u2019s responsibility to determine the technical feasibility of Yucca \u2013 even if it has been studied countless times.<\/p>\n

Contributing Author Nick Loris<\/a> writes at The Heritage Foundation<\/a> and he is a Research Assistant at The Heritage Foundation\u2019s Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more informative articles at Heritage \u2013 The Foundry<\/a><\/p>\n

Filed under: 111th Congress<\/a>, America (USA)<\/a>, Barry Soetoro (aka Barack Hussein Obama)<\/a>, Blundering Bureaucrats<\/a>, Conniving Politicians<\/a>, Democrats<\/a>, Fear-mongering<\/a>, Infrastructure Problems<\/a>, Liberals<\/a>, Lily-Livered Liberals<\/a>, Limp-Wrist Liberals<\/a>, Political Prostitutes<\/a>, Politics<\/a>, Power Hungry<\/a>, Propaganda<\/a>, Spine Donor Politicians<\/a> Tagged: Department Of Energy (DOE)<\/a>, Heritage – The Foundry<\/a>, Nuclear Regulatory Commission<\/a>, Nuclear Waste<\/a>, Nuclear Waste Disposal<\/a>, Obama Obfuscation<\/a>, President Obama<\/a>, Tony<\/a>, Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Facility<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Nick Loris Lost in President Obama\u2019s rhetoric that the science is settled on climate change, the president is willing to shut down Yucca Mountain without scientific justification. Today, the Department of Energy (DOE) filed to withdraw the application for the geologic repository Yucca Mountain that was supposed to begin collecting used fuel in 1998. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4200,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-392133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4200"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392133\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}