Editorial: Bursting the bubble of hydrogen plan

Thursday, June 19, 2003 | 8:48 a.m.

This week Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is seeking the support of European nations to forge an international partnership to develop hydrogen as an alternative source of energy, produced in part from nuclear power plants. This self-contradictory plan, which would use a polluting form of energy to make a clean form of energy, doesn't make sense environmentally.

Proponents of nuclear power tout it as being clean, but people know better -- especially the residents of this state. After all, Nevada's Yucca Mountain is the potential burial site for 77,000 tons of nuclear waste, one of the deadliest substances known to man. The White House may believe it can reverse its tarnished environmental record by supporting the development of hydrogen power as an alternative fuel source, but the way the administration is going about it shows just how little respect it has for the environment. Instead, the administration should concentrate on developing hydrogen from truly clean sources of energy, such as solar power.