Democratic leaders say climate change legislation will be one of their top priorities for the next Congress. How will efforts to curb greenhouse gases be affected by the continuing Wall Street jitters and the potential recession?
-- Margaret Kriz, NationalJournal.com
25 responses: Paul Portney, Cal Dooley, Rhone Resch, Linda Stuntz, Randall Swisher, Jonathan Pershing, Jon Wellinghoff, Larry Schweiger, David Kreutzer, Chuck Gray, David Parker, Margaret Kriz, Dave McCurdy, Jon A. Anda, Mark Bernstein, Eileen Claussen, Fred Krupp, Tim Profeta, Jon A. Anda, Carl Pope, Thomas Gibson, Jay Apt, Bill Kovacs, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., Rob Stavins
In the last decade, Americans have been buying increasing numbers of computers, plasma televisions, and video games, forcing utilities to provide greater amounts of electricity. A June report by the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration predicted that the nation will need 30 percent more electricity by 2030. To meet that demand, utility companies have been scrambling to build new electric power plants -- 30 new nuclear plants and more than 100 coal-fired power plants are now on the drawing board. But will those plants get built?
If the nation slides into a recession, electricity demand could plummet. And without radical increases in consumer electricity rates, the effects of volatility in the stock market might curtail electric companies' ability to finance their construction plans.
Will the nation's economic downturn dampen the availability of private funding at reasonable cost for new nuclear power plants, wind and solar projects, natural gas and clean coal facilities, and expansion of the interstate electric grid?
-- Margaret Kriz, NationalJournal.com
24 responses: David Parker, Bill Kovacs, Josephine Cooper, Mindy Lubber, Robert Socolow, David Parker, Frances Beinecke, Kevin Knobloch, Carl Pope, Larry Schweiger, Jon Wellinghoff, Linda Stuntz, Jeff Sterba, Skip Bowman, Dr. Mark Allen Bernstein, Thomas Gibson, Jonathan Pershing, Randall Swisher, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., Bill Kovacs, Hal Quinn, Jay Apt, Rob Stavins, Jim Rogers
