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McCain Touts Nuclear Energy, Clean Coal

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The Associated Press

Published: June 19, 2008

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Sen. John McCain called Wednesday for the construction of 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030 and pledged $2 billion a year in federal funds "to make clean coal a reality," measures designed to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

In a third straight day of campaigning devoted to the energy issue, the Arizona Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting also said the only time Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois voted for a tax cut was for a "break for the oil companies."

McCain said the 104 nuclear reactors operating across the country produce about 20 percent of the nation's annual electricity needs.

"Every year, these reactors alone spare the atmosphere from the equivalent of nearly all auto emissions in America. Yet for all these benefits, we have not broken ground on a single nuclear plant in over 30 years," he said. "And our manufacturing base to even construct these plants is almost gone."

He said he would set the country on a course to build 45 new ones by 2030, with a longer-term goal of adding an additional 55 in the future.

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