Earth Equity News

Recipient of Nuclear Loan Guarantee Spent $16.5 to Defeat Climate Legislation. By Shannon McCaffrey, AP, February 17, 2010. "President Barack Obama's award of $8.3 billion in federal nuclear loan guarantees to Southern Co. has angered environmentalists who say the president is embracing the energy powerhouse that worked aggressively to defeat a key climate change bill championed by his administration. The Atlanta-based company had nearly twice as many climate lobbyists as any other company or organization during last year's debate over cap and trade legislation, according to the Center for Public Integrity. The company hired 16 outside firms to supplement their stable of in-house lobbyists and spent $16.5 million on Capitol Hill lobbying in 2009. The company maintains the report overstates their lobbying role… As the nation's largest generator of electric power, Southern Co. has a lot to lose in the climate bill. A majority of its plants are fired by burning fossil fuels, like coal and oil… The energy behemoth was a leading contender to receive the administration loans because the two new reactors at Plant Vogtle in eastern Georgia were the furthest along in the pipeline, having already received Georgia Public Service Commission approval. Their application for a license to build and operate the reactors is pending with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, one of 13 such applications the agency is considering… The first of the two reactors is scheduled to go online in 2016 and the second the following year."