More trouble for nuclear energy

Sen. Harry Reid was quoted in one news story Thursday, talking about the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste facility:

“In his budget request for 2010, President Obama will announce plans to devise a new strategy to find another solution to deal with the nation’s nuclear waste that does not include storing it in Nevada. . . . Make no mistake: this represents significant and lasting victory in our battle to prevent Nevada from becoming the country’s toxic wasteland.”

Perhaps the president has another good idea for dealing with waste from nuclear power generators, but it's unlikely at this point.

And without Yucca Mountain, or some other reasonable storage facility, the possibility that nuclear power will get back on track as becoming a major contributor to the nation's electric needs diminishes greatly.

BLM boards

Colorado's three Resource Advisory Councils -- for Northwest Colorado, Southwest Colorado and the Front Range -- convened in Grand Junction this week for a combined meeting to discuss a variety of issues. Much of the discussion was process-oriented. How can the RACs get more people involved? What issues should the BLM be bringing to the RACs? How does the agency ensure that the citizens on the RACs are included in pertinent policy issues?

But the RACs are important conduits for public input into BLM decision making. And the three-day meeting this week -- technical as it may be -- is important for the future of that public input.

I sat in for about an hour and a half Wednesday, and caught a revealing discussion about how the RACs and the BLM interact (or don't interact) with the recently formed Colorado Recreation Resource Advisory Council.

Read more in my Sunday column in GJSentinel.com