WASHINGTON, DC, February 12, 2009 (ENS) – The Senate-House conference committee has reconciled the chambers’ different versions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, coming up with a $790 billion economic stimulus package. The final version will go to a vote in the House and Senate later this week.

“I want to thank the Democrats and Republicans in Congress who came together around a hard-fought compromise that will save or create more than 3.5 million jobs and get our economy back on track,” President Barack Obama said in an official statement Wednesday night.

While other interests are concerned with issues such as the balance between tax cuts and spending, many environmental groups are relieved that a provision in the Senate’s version that could have been used to fund new nuclear reactors has been cut from the final text.

The conference committee axed a proposal to include $50 billion in federal loan guarantees that could have been utilized by the nuclear and coal industries as well as for renewable energy projects.

Called Title 17, the Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program, the provision would have put aside $50 billion to guarantee loans under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 for eligible projects, to remain available until committed.

Last week, 243 environmental, consumer, and religious organizations and small businesses sent a joint letter to senators expressing their “dismay and anger over the inclusion by the Senate Appropriations Committee of a provision in the economic stimulus bill to provide up to $50 billion in additional taxpayer loan guarantees that could be used for construction of new nuclear reactors and ‘clean coal’ plants.”

“This is a big victory for common sense and the American taxpayer,” said Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear who helped lead the campaign on Capitol Hill to cut the $50 billion from the bill.
“This toxic nuclear pork had no place in a bill designed to put Americans back to work and salvage our economy. Our legislators are to be applauded for getting their priorities right and saying no to yet another blatant attempt to prop up an industry that has never stood on its own financial feet,” said Kamps.

“The nuclear industry has received an estimated $500 billion dollars in public subsidies over the past half century,” Kamps added. “This monumental waste of money had to end. The nuclear energy industry cannot solve the climate crisis and fattening the nuclear calf has deprived real energy solutions like renewable energy and energy efficiency programs from essential support for decades.”

Full story: http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2009/2009-02-12-094.asp