In his recent State of the Union address, President Obama called climate change "a fact," yet it was pretty shocking to me not to hear him actually map out a game-plan to drive down the country's carbon output. Sure he alluded to capping carbon on power plants and he even talked about increased natural gas, but the lack of focus on wind, nuclear, and geothermal was a bit puzzling. Additionally, Obama's failure to make a stance on the Keystone XL Pipeline or even allude to the controversial public solidifies that the country's energy policy needs GPS.
It seems pretty ironic the President acknowledges the reality of climate change but would be ok letting the Keystone Pipeline advance. Therefore, the "all-of-the-above" energy concept is flawed and may need to be seriously reevaluated. If it's not, you can bet the U.S. will not be able to meet its 2020 carbon goals. In fact, we'll likely miss those targets by a mile if we don't boost nuclear power output, something that would clearly benefit a company like Exelon (EXC -0.29%), the largest fleet operator of nuclear power plants in the U.S.
Nuclear power does carry its own risks, but technology is easing concerns regarding waste and even safety. With that said, the country would still need to proceed with much caution on that front like any other commitment to a given power source. So in the spirit of the Super Bowl, the all-of-the-above energy plan resembles a Hail Mary pass. The problem is, at this rate, the U.S. doesn't have the arm strength to come near the end-zone and win the battle on carbon.
