Marathon Pundit

Monday, June 29, 2009

Nuclear: Low carbon energy

Funny, I don't believe there is any mention of nuclear power in the recently passed cap-and-trade energy tax bill.

It is a low carbon fuel, and most of the electricity in the Chicago area--where I live, where Rep. Mark Kirk lives, where President Obama lives, comes from nuclear power.

The Christian Science Monitor takes a look at nuclear, which should be key component of our energy policy:

France generates nearly 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear power. It's also one of the world's largest providers of nuclear technology and expertise. Since 2008, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has signed multibillion-dollar nuclear deals with the UAE, Qatar, Algeria, Libya, and Morocco.

At the same time, France is promoting nuclear as a form of renewable power because it emits low levels of carbon dioxide. When the European Union defined its long-term target for renewable energy production last year, it tried to include nuclear power in the definition of renewable energy, a move that was rejected by EU members.

France is also advocating to power the Mediterranean region using "low-carbon technology." IRENA supporters worry that under French leadership, the agency will support both renewables and nuclear options together.

If it's good enough for France, if it's good enough for Chicago, then it's good enough for the rest of America.

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politics

news

Welcome Red State readers

Thanks for the link, Red State. The cap-and-trade Tea Party post is one down from this one.

Time to run 18 miles...if this is my last post, you'll know why.

UPDATE 8:30pm CDT: And welcome Michelle Malkin readers. She points out the irony of Kirk hosting a job fair three days after voting for that job killing cap-and-tax bill.

Oh...other than suffering a little stiffness, I'm fine. Yes, I really did run 18 miles this afternoon.

UPDATE June 30: Welcome Instapundit readers.

Cap-and-trade Tea Party at Rep. Mark Kirk's office

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) is one of the eight "cap-and-tr8ters" who crossed the line and voted for the Waxman-Markey Bill, generally known as cap-and-trade, but in fact is a national energy tax.

Today at Noon a Tea Party protest took place at Kirk's district office in Northbrook. It was a floating crowd--some came during their lunch hour--but the peak attendance was thirty--a huge number considering the event was announced just yesterday afternoon and received no mainstream media coverage that I know of.

Everyone I spoke with, with the exception of myself Anne Leary of Backyard Conservative, lived in Kirk's Chicago North Shore district, and Leary and I live within a mile of Kirk's corner of the state.

After a few minutes outside waving signs on Skokie Bouleverd, Leary and I, accompanied by couple of other protesters, took an elevator up to Kirk's office. A polite staffer named Eric met with us for twenty minutes--we all expressed feelings, negative ones, about Kirk's vote. Most of the conversation centered around the hassles that Waxman-Markey will add to selling a home--which is already an ordeal. Are you ready for an energy audit before placing your home on the market?

Are you looking to buy a home? The energy audit and other costs will make that house more expensive.

While we were in Kirk's office--the phone rang...and rang...and rang. A few calls were about a Kirk-sponsored job fair taking place today in Palatine--that's where the Congressman is spending today--but most of the calls must have been about Kirk's cap-and-trade "Yes" vote.

"I'll let the Congressman know" was the reception's curt reply to each one of those calls.

And North Shore residents will continue to let Kirk know.

Three hours later...I'm sure the phone is still ringing.

Tuesday at Noon there will be another Tea Party protest at the Schaumburg office of Rep. Melissa Bean, who claims to be a Blue Dog Democrat. Turnout should be bigger at this one--there's been more time to get the word out, and many more people work in that area. Bean's office is at 1701 E. Woodfield Road, Suite 200.

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Northwest Chicago Suburbs

This afternoon--5pm Eastern--Marathon Pundit on Bloglines Radio

Listen in at 5:00pm Eastern Time, 4:00pm Central, and hear me for a full hour on Bloglines Radio. Filling in for usual host Duane Lester is Patriot Games' Stephanie Davis.

I'll be dispensing blogging tips: How to write, what to write--and most importantly--how to get noticed in the blogosphere and make a difference.

Click here and listen.

Bloglines is part of the RFC Network.

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Wilmette, Illinois' Obama campaign sign

The needs of the blog--more about that in about an hour--took to me to Northbrook, Illinois this afternoon. On the way home I drove south on Skokie Boulevard, where I found another Barack Obama ~~economic stimulus~~ campaign sign, this time in the fashionable North Shore suburb of Wilmette.

You can find it just south of Hibbard Road.

It's fitting that the Obama reelection campaign has placed a sign in Wilmette. It's where Tony Rezko, his first political sponsor, lived until moving into Chicago's Metropolitan Correctional Center.

The sign is a couple of miles west of the Rezko mansion, the site of a key 2003 Senate campaign fundraiser for then-state senator Obama. He was viewed as a longshot candidate at that time.

Related posts:

Morton Grove, Illinois' Obama stimulus "campaign sign"
Des Plaines, Illinois' two Obama stimulus "campaign signs"
Obama stimulus "campaign sign" in downtown Chicago
Park Ridge, Illinois' Obama stimulus "campaign sign"
Illinois "Obama campaign signs" make Sen. Coburn's waste list
Illinois' Obama campaign signs ranks #3 on Hannity's Waste 101 list
Obama's 2012 reelection campaign and stimulus sign in Libertyville
Obama stimulus campaign sign in LaSalle, Illinois
Obama signs, Obama signs, everywhere Obama signs
Lincolnwood's Obama stimulus "campaign sign"
This stimulus project has been brought to you by the perpetual Obama campaign

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SCOTUS reverses Sotomayor in affirmative action case

I haven't been able to say this much lately: There is good news out of Washington this morning:

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.

New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results, the court said Monday in a 5-4 decision. The city said that it had acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities.

The ruling could alter employment practices nationwide and make it harder to prove discrimination when there is no evidence it was intentional.

Meanwhile, the confirmation hearings for Judge Sotomayor are scheduled to being on July 13, one week after the Senate returns from its July 4 week long break. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Friday wrote a letter to the White House complaining that Sotomayor has not turned over all of the material requested by the panel.

There's more--specifically 300 boxes more. Sotomayor was a board member of the left- wing Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund, which favors affirmative action, among other things.

While appearing on Fox News Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), addressed that:

And with regard to Judge Sotomayor, I think the key is just to finish the job. For example, just a day or so ago, we discovered that there are 300 boxes of additional material that has just been discovered from her time working with the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund.

But the Democrats want to use their "hurry up offense" to get Sotomayor confirmed--allowing less time for Senators to review her record than what was allowed for the two most recent Supreme Court nominees, Justice Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts.

Both men were George W. Bush appointees.

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law