Sens. Webb, Alexander Craft Climate Bill Aimed at Alternative Fuels

Sens. Jim Webb, D-Va., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., have collaborated to introduce an alternative climate-change bill that would double DOE loan-guarantee authority to $100 billion, E&E News PM reported. The legislation would also make available $7.5 billion over 10 years for "mini-Manhattan" projects focused on developing carbon-capture and sequestration technology, advanced biofuels and batteries, solar power, and reprocessing and recycling spent nuclear fuel.

Their plan would include federal support for Generation IV reactor designs, nuclear work force education, and reactor lifetime extensions and increased efficiency. The senators' goal was "to double nuclear production in 20 years," according to E&E News PM.

Webb and Alexander said they do not support the Kerry-Boxer climate change legislation because it includes a cap-and-trade program. Webb said: "This is an issue that cries out for not only bipartisanship but constructive leadership. We are discussing what in this area can be achievable and measurable. This is where we focused our energy, a fairly simply constructed piece of legislation. This is something we can move forward whether or not people vote for the other one, and it's something we can move forward now."

Wrote the World Climate Change Report [subscription required] newsletter: "The senators denied that their legislation is an attempt to force Democratic leaders to accept a much larger role for nuclear power in order to get climate change legislation through the Senate." Alexander said: "This isn't an amendment to a climate change bill."