John Funk, The Plain Dealer CLEVELAND, Ohio -- America's energy future is at a crossroads, a top executive with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said here Tuesday. Unless more power plants, including wind turbines and nuclear reactors, are built now, the nation will "pay the piper."
Karen Harbert, chief executive of the U.S. Chamber's Energy Institute, said the legislative deadlock over climate change and tougher environmental laws, along with "a cascade" of more stringent regulations and a "litigation stampede" has stymied many projects.
Harbert appeared at a conference sponsored by the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the EWI Energy Center and its Nuclear Fabrication Consortium, a manufacturing advocacy group headquarter in Columbus.
She has been stumping across the nation since March with the chamber's message of "energy reality," in an effort to educate the public that the nation has waited too long to build new power plants and new infrastructure.
"Policymakers must consider the long-term consequences of action -- and inaction-- on energy policy," she said. "America is in need of more sources of energy, more energy infrastructure and more jobs.
"From the fallout from the oil spill in the Gulf to proposed EPA regulations on carbon dioxide emissions, it is critical that the policy decisions made today do not hamper our ability to address our energy challenges tomorrow."
In an interview, Harbert said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is taking too long to approve the construction of new nuclear reactors. There are about two dozen reactors proposed, at one stage or another in the approval process. Most are years away from construction.