Via Climate Progress : VIDEO: Before Japan disaster, GOP mocked concerns about nuclear safety

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Matters reported Monday that the right-wing media kept pushing for accelerated permitting of nukes and removal of “obstacles” even in the wake of Japan’s nuclear crisis.
Now ThinkProgress has compiled a video of GOP Senators’ “frighteningly blasé and contemptuous attitude towards the severity of nuclear power’s dangers and the regulations necessary to address them”:

Commenting on the unfolding nuclear reactor crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant, John McCain (R-AZ) said recently:
I think what happens now to this power plant as to whether the damage is contained or not will have a direct effect on the future of nuclear power in the United States. Let’s have a little straight talk.
… Not surprisingly, the crisis has also inspired renewed debate over the future of nuclear technology here in America. It’s worth noting that, before offering “straight talk” on nuclear energy, McCain and fellow Republicans — including Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), and Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) — were displaying a frighteningly blasé and contemptuous attitude towards the severity of nuclear power’s dangers and the regulations necessary to address them [as the video shows].
McCain is probably regretting that his views on nuclear safety did not advance sooner beyond “blah blah blah.”
The worst-case scenario seems to be playing out more and more these days, and it remains foolish to downplay the risks.

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