President gives energy assessment

And it's remarkably straightforward on the extent of hurricane damage to national fuel supplies

This doesn't sound like President Bush:

Two other points I want to make is, one, we can all pitch in by using -- by being better conservers of energy. I mean, people just need to recognize that the storms have caused disruption and that if they're able to maybe not drive when they -- on a trip that's not essential, that would helpful. The federal government can help, and I've directed the federal agencies nationwide -- and here's some ways we can help. We can curtail nonessential travel. If it makes sense for the citizen out there to curtail nonessential travel, it darn sure makes sense for federal employees. We can encourage employees to carpool or use mass transit. And we can shift peak electricity use to off-peak hours. There's ways for the federal government to lead when it comes to conservation. [emphasis added]

So ongoing concern into the future about hurricane-affected fuel supplies has brought the president to the podium to plead for conservation. This is serious. Of course, Mr. Bush did not let pass this opportunity to hawk nukes:

It is clear that when you're dependent upon natural gas and/or hydrocarbons to fuel your economy and that supply gets disrupted, we need alternative sources of energy. And that's why I believe so strongly in nuclear power. And so we've got a chance, once again, to assess where we are as a country when it comes to energy and do something about it. And I look forward to working with Congress to do just that.

I will surprise some people here by saying that my own thinking about nuclear electric generating plants has changed. I am not reflexively against building new ones, as the president has a point about hydrocarbon supply into the future. Even the most strident anti-nuclear activist should be able to see the level of distruption to the lives of everyone--environmentalists included--that would occur if deep, long-term fuel shortages set in. Now, I do not trust the people the Bush Administration has lined up to build new nukes for one second. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is deeply compromised by the extraneous goal of ensuring profit-grubbing nuke builders like Entergy, Exelon, and General Electric get rich.

For more Deep Blade commentary on Bush nuclear policy please see this post.