NBC Mines Obama’s Exelon Ties
16 February 2008 5:27 pm by Taylor Marsh
Obama hasn’t been around long on the national scene, but Obama
Inc. has been humming along since his ego took flight. NBC finally took
a look, though barely scratching the surface of the bill Mr. Obama helped to
water down for his big money contributors, Exelon.
Mr. Obama scolded Exelon and federal regulators for inaction and introduced
a bill to require all plant owners to notify state and local authorities immediately
of even small leaks. He has boasted of it on the campaign trail, telling a
crowd in Iowa in December that it was “the only nuclear legislation
that I’ve passed.”“I just did that last year,” he said, to murmurs of approval.
A close look at the path his legislation took tells a very different story.
While he initially fought to advance his bill, even holding up a presidential
nomination to try to force a hearing on it, Mr. Obama eventually rewrote it
to reflect changes sought by Senate Republicans, Exelon and nuclear regulators.
The new bill removed language mandating prompt reporting and simply offered
guidance to regulators, whom it charged with addressing the issue of unreported
leaks. … ..
Of course, when talking about Exelon, it’s really important to include David
Axelrod, Obama’s main campaign man. Mark Penn is also tied to the nuke giant. No one is shocked.
I’ve said before, neither Obama or Clinton are strong enough
on pushing back on the nuclear energy industry, which I don’t think should be any part
of our energy independence plans. The problematic challenge of nuclear waste is one issue, but jobs are too. There are thousands and thousands of green collar jobs waiting to be created through alternative energy, which the nuclear energy just can’t offer, especially considering the down side. However, Obama appears more aggressively interested in considering the nuclear energy option.
Barack Obama says nuclear power should be explored as an energy option. Hillary Rodham Clinton says she’s “agnostic” on whether more nuclear plants should be built.
But Hillary Clinton never at any time lied to constituents
to get their votes, telling tales about her record, which is exactly what Barack
Obama did just this year.
Those revisions propelled the bill through a crucial committee. But, contrary
to Mr. Obama’s comments in Iowa, it ultimately died amid parliamentary
wrangling in the full Senate.“Senator Obama’s staff was sending us copies of the bill to review,
and we could see it weakening with each successive draft,” said Joe
Cosgrove, a park district director in Will County, Ill., where low-level radioactive
runoff had turned up in groundwater. “The teeth were just taken out
of it.” … ..… .. The rewritten bill also contained the new wording sought by Exelon
making it clear that state and local authorities would have no regulatory
oversight of nuclear power plants. … ..
The kind of bill Obama sanctioned and authored for his big money contributor Exelon is a slippery slope to no man’s land. But the most troubling aspect for me is that he would lie to voters about his involvement in watering down a bill that benefited his contributors. That’s a question of character.
