Strickland Outlines Energy Plan for Ohio

From the Post:

...his plan seeks the development of new sources of energy: clean coal, new nuclear power technologies, wind, water and the sun. He wants 25 percent of the power produced in Ohio to come from such sources.

The goal is to bring stability and predictability to Ohio's electric power industry. That in turn will attract new jobs and keep existing ones here, Strickland said. "Other states are, in fact, outperforming us," Strickland said in announcing the plan Wednesday.

Erin Bowser, executive director or Environment Ohio, a nonprofit advocacy group, said her group would have liked to have more of an emphasis on "clean" renewable energy, such as wind and solar power.

"Because we have lumped coal and nuclear power into this plan, we are continuing to not give the lift we need to renewables to develop," she said.

Ms. Bowser may have a fair point, but Strickland is correct that Ohio needs to step up and develop a more progressive and technologically advanced energy policy.

Wind power in particular can make a substantial contribution around Lake Erie, which is pretty much the only part of the state with consistently exploitable wind. But my feeling is that, wherever wind can be exploited, it should be.

Nuclear power is controversial, but my take is that it is "conditionally good," by which I mean that it's a good idea only if there is a high level of oversight, regulation, and transparency. Companies will do what they can get away with to reduce costs and increase profitability. It's human nature. The only way to prevent it is to keep them under constant scrutiny. So I think that's a necessary condition for nuclear power to be a viable option.