Aug 24, 2009

Udall, McCain: Nuclear power must be part of solution to global warming


ESTES PARK — Bipartisan political leaders strolled through Rocky Mountain National Park this morning studying beetle-kill trees and changing vegetation patterns — and agreed that nuclear power must be part of any comprehensive climate-change legislation.

U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, an Eldorado Springs Democrat, and Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona are holding a formal hearing in Estes Park today concerning global warming and its impact on national parks.

McCain called on President Barack Obama to come forward with a climate-change proposal to get the discussion started in Congress.

McCain said he would not support legislation without a nuclear component.

"I agree with Sen. McCain that nuclear power has to be part of the mix," Udall said. "It's clear that if we want to respond to climate change, nuclear energy has to be part of the solution."

McCain and Udall weren't in the park long, but Ben Bobowski, chief of resource stewardship for the park, made sure they saw the impact beetles are having on lodgepole pines. The two also viewed willow trees, which are vulnerable to changes in their environment.

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