Krauthammer v. Bush energy plan

Conservative WP columnist Charles Krauthammer hates the president's "energy independence" plan, too. For slightly different reasons than some of us, as revealed in his column today.

"Energy Independence?
A Serious Plan Requires Taxes, ANWR and Nukes" (WP)

Eeek! The gas-tax hike that he discusses in the column, of course, is a solution that would probably work to cut gasoline consumption, and one that Krauthammer can write about without getting branded a tax-hiking Communist. (Even Schwarzenegger came under fire last year (SF Chron) for proposing such a thing.) ANWR--well, we've been through this.

The nuclear energy thing, though, is a matter for some discussion. The need to swiftly ramp down greenhouse gas emissions to avoid catastrophic consequences has given nuclear energy a new following, even among some environmentalists and their supporters. I won't rehash my personal issues with nuclear power here (see posts Nukes are not green, Because nuclear energy wasn't scary enough yet, and I just can't stop writing about nukes), but it's gonna be interesting to see how the debate over nuclear power as a "clean" energy solution to global warming and other ills shakes out.