The NEI Afternoon Clip File

Here are some of the news clips we're reading at NEI this afternoon.

Of course, the energy bill is the primary newsmaker today. Here's the Associated Press report:

The bill was approved 275-156. Congress now awaits action by the Senate, probably on Friday. The White House said President Bush looks forward to signing it into law.

...The 1,725-page bill, the product of weeks of compromise between widely different versions approved by the two chambers earlier this year, would provide $14.5 billion in energy tax breaks, much of it to traditional energy companies. It also provides money for promoting renewable energy sources and new energy technologies and measures to revitalize the nuclear power industry.

The Wall Street Journal takes up the nuclear angle:

The energy bill nearing passage in Congress could be the best news the nuclear-power industry has seen in many years. The question now is whether it will be enough good news to produce what the industry and the Bush administration both want: a genuine revival of nuclear power.

While the energy bill is certainly dominating the news, a few other things are worth noting, like the reported Asia-Pacific climate pact:

The US, which has joined hands with India, Australia, China, Japan and South Korea to accelerate development of cleaner and efficient technologies, Thursday said the focus will be on investment opportunities.

"This partnership will focus on voluntary measures taken by these six countries in the Asia-Pacific region to create new investment opportunities, build local capacity and remove barriers to the introduction of clean, more efficient technologies," a release issued by the US embassy here said.

The Bush administration's goal with the pact is to pursue voluntary, rather than mandatory actions:

The Kyoto pact, which the United States has rejected, requires that industrial countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The Bush administration prefers to addresses climate change through voluntary actions and by emphasizing the need to develop technologies that cut emissions and capture carbon.

...The U.S. has been eager to find ways to get China, India and other rapidly industrializing nations to deal with climate change.

White House officials say that one problem with the Kyoto pact is that it does not require China and India, whose growing energy needs also will mean growing greenhouse pollution, to commit to emission reductions.

On a "lighter" note, click here to read about a floating plant -- and we're not talking about a lily pad.

Come back tomorrow morning for more news from the NEI Clip File.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Environment, Energy, Politics, Technology, Economics