Fatcats 158, Citizens 36: Critics say the only test to date of the so-called "pebble-bed" nuclear reactor design, in Germany, was an environmentally unclean flop, and note that the reactor has no containment shell, in these days when nuclear plants are A-list terrorist targets. The only U.S. company backing the concept, Exelon Corp., admits to the New York Times that its enthusiasm for the pebble-bed reactor has decreased over the past year, and that its economic viability "may be a lot farther off than it was a year ago."
But, as today's Times reports, Vice President Dick Cheney's energy policy task-force report specifically singles out and endorses the pebble-bed reactor, along with other nuclear power proposals. Could it be because Exelon has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican candidates in recent elections?
Nonsense, says White House spokesperson Anne Womack: the task force consulted "a broad variety of groups, including industry, unions, environmental groups, and consumer groups." Actually, task force members have admitted, make that 158 energy companies and corporate groups, versus 22 unions, 13 environmental groups, and one consumer group — as "fair and balanced" a lineup as any on Fox News.
Perhaps that's why the White House is battling furiously, against not just the press or environmental organizations but the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office, to keep the task force's guest list secret. Administration critic Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) says, "The more we learn about the Cheney task force, the easier it is to understand why the White House is fighting so hard to keep everything secret. The biggest donors didn't just have the best access — it now appears they were allowed to write specific sections of the administration's energy plan."
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