Energy

The world cannot let the March disaster at Japan’s Fukushima power plant scare it into forgoing the benefits of nuclear energy -- a cheap, reliable, and safe source of electricity. Still, writes a former U.S. undersecretary of energy, the United States does need to update its safety standards and reform its handling of nuclear waste.

Bringing Libyan crude oil back to market will ease world prices and provide much-needed funding for Libya's new government. But getting the pumps flowing again will not be easy.

Clean energy was supposed to create jobs while reducing energy insecurity, global warming, and the U.S. trade deficit. But Washington's policies have encouraged quick and easy projects that cannot compete with conventional carbon-based sources.

As Japan's ongoing nuclear crisis shows, older reactors are the most vulnerable to failure. Aging nuclear plants pose a risk in the United States as well, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission must enforce up-to-date safety standards more forcefully -- or risk the possibility of a disaster.