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BL: Obama says carbon tax necessary to 'force' investment into alternative energy.

(that part was in his speech, but oddly enough not in the article below)

Obama Says Expanding Nuclear Power Will Add Jobs (Update1)

By Roger Runningen and Daniel Whitten

Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said expanding U.S. nuclear power production will add jobs and help with the goal of relying more on clean energy sources.

In announcing government approval of an $8.3 billion loan guarantee to help Southern Co. build a nuclear power plant in Georgia, Obama said the U.S. “can’t keep on being mired in the same old debates” over nuclear power because energy production affects the nation’s economy and security,

“Whether it is nuclear energy, or solar or wind energy, if we fail to invest in these technologies today, we’ll be importing them tomorrow,” the president said in a speech in Lanham, Maryland, a Washington suburb.

Obama, appearing at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 26 headquarters, used a speech on energy, jobs and government investments to kick off a week-long White House effort to focus on economic concerns of voters, which will be a top issue in November’s congressional elections.

The administration this week is marking one year since passage of stimulus legislation that was aimed at bolstering the economy and reducing the jobless rate, which stood at 9.7 percent last month. White House chief economist Christina Romer says the jobless rate is likely to hover around 10 percent, on average, this year.

Construction Jobs

Obama said building the Georgia plant will create thousands of “well-paying, permanent jobs in the years to come.” The loan guarantee comes from an existing Energy Department program and isn’t part of the stimulus.

No new nuclear plants have been licensed since the 1979 nuclear accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. Obama used the occasion to call on Congress to pass energy legislation that would increase production of fossil fuels while also encouraging development of wind, solar and other renewable energy sources.

While nuclear energy has “serious drawbacks,” including finding a means of safely storing waste, Obama called it a “necessary step” toward U.S. energy independence.

As part of the White House effort to highlight initiatives to create jobs, Vice President Joe Biden is in job-strapped Saginaw, Michigan, today, touring small businesses, a job training facility and a solar project funded by stimulus funds. Members of Obama’s Cabinet will fan out to more than 35 communities across the country this week.

Stimulus Critics

Republican lawmakers have been critical of the stimulus, saying it hasn’t created as many jobs as promised and the spending has contributed to the deficit, which is forecast to hit a record $1.6 trillion this year.

Public and private forecasters ranging from the Council of Economic Advisors to Moody’s Economy and IHS Global now say the Recovery Act is responsible for about 2 million jobs nationwide, administration spokeswoman Amy Brundage said.

Obama has said energy development, education and cutting health-care costs are three central elements of his plan to put the U.S. economy on firmer footing.

Southern Co., owner of utilities in Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi, will get the federal loan guarantee to build two nuclear reactors in Georgia, the first support awarded under a five-year-old law. The project will generate about 3,000 jobs, said Carol Browner, White House energy coordinator.

The Department of Energy has authority to dole out $18.5 billion in loan guarantees, and the administration put Atlanta- based Southern at the top of a short list that also includes Constellation Energy Group Inc., NRG Energy Inc. and Scana Corp.

Obama has proposed tripling the loan guarantee to $54.4 billion.

To contact the reporters on this story: Daniel Whitten in Washington at [e-mail]; Roger Runningen in Washington at [e-mail].

Last Updated: February 16, 2010 11:59 EST