Energy policy continues to be a hot topic in Washington.
On Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed repealing rules that limit greenhouse gas emissions from coal and natural gas power plants in an effort to unleash American energy.
We spoke with West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito, who believes those rules would have functionally shut down every coal or natural gas plant because the standards weren’t achievable with current carbon capture technology.
Capito says if the U.S. wants to become the world leader in artificial intelligence, we’ll need as much energy as possible, but notes that our progress on nuclear power faces big hurdles.
“The licensing for new, small, modular reactors and advanced nuclear is so slow that you’re now looking into the 2030s before you’re ever going to see one of these things built. The President said today he’s going to shorten the permitting time for nuclear and we’re going to work to make that happen.”
SEN. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO (R-WV)
Capito says currently, coal, natural gas and nuclear energy provide most of the country’s base load power, with renewable energy adding to it.
She also believes we’ll see new rules from the EPA in a year or two, and she expects them to be a more gradual shift toward the renewable sources.