McCain's Support for Nuclear Power is Right and Good Politics

As President Bush injected himself into the presidential campaign by calling for increased domestic oil drilling, McCain called for developing 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030.

Drilling for more oil is just delaying the inevitable. Nuclear power, on the other hand, will probably become a key source of energy as oil becomes more difficult to extract in the quantities that the world economy requires. My wild guess is that there's less than a 50% chance alternative energies other than nuclear can provide enough energy. It is most likely that alternative energy technologies will be used to store energy produced from nuclear sources.

I wonder whether President Bush and McCain coordinated this. President Bush tried to lay the blame for higher oil prices on Democratic policies. The attacks might draw regressives, who want to pretend like we can keep consuming our present levels of oil indefinitely, toward the Republicans. McCain's comments appeal to some progressives who realize that nuclear power may be the best option. This siphons some progressives away from Obama, whose support for nuclear power is tepid compared to McCain's.