Ladies first, Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is quoted as being "agnostic about nuclear energy." Most of her remarks tend to be toward pushing a clean/renewable energy policy and making the Unites States the "world's clean energy superpower." She promises
- The United States will have more than half a billion solar panels installed across the country by the end of Hillary Clinton's first term.
- The United States will generate enough clean renewable energy to power every home in America within ten years of Hillary Clinton taking office.
Next up is business-mogul-gone-politician Donald Trump. Regardless of your views on him, if he's elected his policy will have an effect on the jobs in the nuclear community. The good news is he's fairly pro-nuclear. He supports nuclear energy and reforming the permitting process, which is bogged down with red tape and bureaucracy. He is cautious though, saying,“we have to be careful” because nuclear power “does have issues.” He also makes a good point, saying: “I’m in favor of nuclear energy, very strongly in favor of nuclear energy. If a plane goes down people keep flying. If you get into an auto crash people keep driving.” He is, however, much more in favor of natural gas driven energy systems, saying we have Saudi Arabia x 100 but we don't use it.
So there you have it, the two most likely (maybe, probably, at this point, totally speculative) presidential candidates. One with a fairly uncertain future and the other claiming all sorts of good things for nuclear power's future. Open minded debate is more than welcome. Hopefully you voted in the primaries and you intend to vote in the presidential election, it's your civic duty. Remember, people sacrificed and continue to sacrifice their lives for this opportunity.
Also, anyone else notice how we refer to Hillary Clinton as Hillary but not Donald Trump as Donald? Aside from Former President Clinton, I don't really think it would be that confusing...
-Michael
(I tried to find a funny campaign picture for Hillary but failed, feel free to post one in the comments)
Sources:
-Clinton: https://www.hillaryclinton.com/briefing/factsheets/2015/07/26/renewable-power-vision/
-Trump: http://dailycaller.com/2015/09/07/donald-trump-on-his-nuclear-doctrine-democracy-promotion-and-why-he-refuses-to-use-term-supreme-leader/
-Both: http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/20/heres-where-the-2016-candidates-stand-on-nuclear-power/
I read an article yesterday where the views on nuclear power of all the candidates were reviewed. I'm at least glad that the two leading candidates for presidency are not anti-nuclear, like Bernie is (he even wants to deny life extensions to existing power plants). It's very unlikely that Bernie will win since he needs landslide wins through the remaining of the campaign, so lets hope that doesn't happen lol. I think Trump is more pro-nuclear than Hilary is, and Hilary just doesn't want to loose votes by saying she's against it.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. The directives from the White House have as big of an impact on the industry as supply and demand do. Having an anti-nuclear Executive head would mean bad things for our job value as well as overall trying to make a positive impact on society. I agree with your comment on Hillary, though. It's a big political game to gain supporters and because she has no views now doesn't mean shes trying to build voters and not piss any off by saying one way or another.
DeleteI think it is good that the two presidential candidates mentioned are pro nuclear. I am curious to see what kinds of things whoever becomes president does when referring to the nuclear industry. It would be awesome to advance in nuclear technology.
ReplyDeleteEnergy policy is always a big debate so seeing that breakdown and debate will help us figure out what direction we're headed. If not, looks like I'm jumping shit to medical physics!
DeleteAs much as it makes me absolutely sick to watch all these horrible things happen at his rallies and protests, Trump would be good for nuclear. In no way do I support his campaign or anything that he has done to rally the (inept) masses, us nukes might benefit from his presidency in this respect. As much as it sucks to think about, with the way things are going, we might need to think about the positives.
ReplyDeleteA really shitty, self-centered question to tie along with this:
Would you rather your local sports team win every single championship for the next 10 years, or would you rather personally have $10?
As much as it makes me absolutely sick to watch all these horrible things happen at his rallies and protests, Trump would be good for nuclear. In no way do I support his campaign or anything that he has done to rally the (inept) masses, us nukes might benefit from his presidency in this respect. As much as it sucks to think about, with the way things are going, we might need to think about the positives.
ReplyDeleteA really shitty, self-centered question to tie along with this:
Would you rather your local sports team win every single championship for the next 10 years, or would you rather personally have $10?
I agree, it's as much a popularity contest as it is a smear campaign. The last 2 elections have gone that way. I remember the smear campaign against McCain in 2008 about his age, he was 71. I haven't heard a thing about it in reference to Sanders who's 74.
DeleteThe simple answer is that I'd I'd like my sports team to win, but it goes beyond that. The details to that question are that you don't know who's coaching the team and you don't know what it means if you take the 10$. I'd like to think my team has a coach that isn't Sandusky-level screw-up and wins more than half the time. Plus I get 10$ and can use it to buy beers at the losing games.
This is kind of leaving out my personal qualifier of who and why I think I would rather potentially receive orders from to die in the name of my country which plays a large factor into my job future.
I'm really glad you took your political post in a direction that has to do with nuclear! It was really interesting to read about each candidate's stance on nuclear. What bothers me about Hillary is that everything she promises is so cryptic, and I think she does it so that she can change the interpretation of it based on who she is talking to or debating with.
ReplyDeleteExactly, but Trump has his own problems in that area. He used to be a Democrat and has been known to go back on things he's said or change their context to change their meeting. I'm going to have to do a lot more research into both to make sure I'm well educated when the time to vote comes.
DeleteI like this article as it is straight forward and not biased on political issues. I am concerned as being someone not in the military, I need to worry about jobs.
ReplyDeleteI tried to keep it informative and balanced, that way at least when you're reading it you didn't affect the way you ready it aside from your own political alignment, thanks Ethan!
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