Green Options

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For all the minorities in this country who have raised pluperfect hell about their past or current situations, the American Indian has been the quietist, and I wonder why.

Before you write me nasty emails, I’m not minimizing the concerns of minorities in this country: they have their issues and the right to use their voices, and that’s good.

But think for a moment about the original settlers of this land, the American Indian.

They did just fine for centuries, sustaining their cultures with the fruits of the land, picking fights and having wars, just like we all do.

Then, came the white man (no emails please, because that’s what happened), who invaded the natives’ birthright, confiscated their tribal lands, transferred them to reservations and literally forgot about them. Many of those Native Americans to this very day are without electricity and running water, in some cases, living in dirt poor conditions, and they languish without raising their voices.

How incredibly sad.

Nuclear power – an abundant source of carbon free energy, or a dangerous and expensive power source with huge risks to our health and environment?

Britain may not have much choice in this matter as its government seems determined to take the nuclear route in an effort to bring Co2 emissions in line with its reduction pledges and mitigate its dwindling North Sea oil and gas supplies.

Announcing plans to enter into a technology partnership with France, the UK government proposes replacing its 24 aging reactors - which currently provide 20% of the nation’s electricity - with a new set of nuclear power plants which will double Britain’s nuclear power generating capacity. In doing so, Britain hopes to become a “world leader in nuclear technology”, according to Energy Secretary John Hutton.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) plans to hold two public hearings next week on a request to extend the operating license for reactor 1 at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant.

The afternoon and evening hearings are set for Tuesday, March 4, in Middletown, Pennsylvania.

As we skate dangerously close to cut-off time, and this writer gets the distinct impression that he’s beginning to mix metaphors - the big question then: how does the UK feel it views environmentally pressing questions?

Looking to members of the website generous.org.uk I asked them what they felt. Commenting on my earlier blog concerning biofuels, Andrew Fleming gives a full and well-informed account of his personal views. Over to Andrew then:

“Biofuels are not a simple answer - until all the starving are fed, I would prefer that we feed the poor, rather than fuel the rich. It is not a simple question. If we do not alleviate climate change which is happening, then we will lose more land from active crop production due to global warming.

I was reading some recent headlines about Yucca Mountain, claiming the federal government will face heavy penalties and judgments if the project isn’t finished. Read beyond the headlines my friends, “we” fund the government, the money comes from our pockets, and it isn’t chicken feed.

The latest estimates are, that if Yucca Mountain isn’t finished until 2017, “we” will owe the utilities an estimated $7 billion in penalties, provided by law, because the repository isn’t finished. Bump completion time up another 3 years, and the bill goes up to about $11 billion.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission reports that a nuclear plant worker in Vermont was suspended after testing positive for drugs; the worker blamed the test results on brownies served at a party that he didn’t know were laced with marijuana.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

I never thought I’d consider nuclear power a desirable solution to climate change until I read James Lovelock’s latest book, “The Revenge of Gaia: Earth’s Climate Crisis & the Fate of Humanity” (see my previous post on the issue here).

Though I’m still not 100-percent convinced, Lovelock’s arguments are factual, rational and highly persuasive. So

[…]

The former scientific advisor to Tony Blair - the man who urged our then prime minister to take global warming seriously, has come out and stated that he feels many green campaigners are actually a liability.

Sir David King has been quoted as saying: “There is a suspicion, and I have that suspicion myself, that a large number of people who label themselves ‘green’ are actually keen to take us back to the 18th or even the 17th century.

It doesn’t matter which UK news source you choose. It’s a story that overshadows all others today.

Britain has decided to return to nuclear power in a big way. No matter that one of our former environment ministers was interviewed earlier and stated categorically what an absolutely ill-advised decsision this is. Gordon Brown’s government have today made the nuclear decision official.

One of the arguments for this decision is that the government states that it will help them tackle CO2 emissions.

Yet, according to experts, the reduction in emissions will be a hideously pathetic … 4%. That’s no argument for nuclear.

The British government manipulated its public consultation proceedings on plans for new nuclear power plants to ensure “particular and limited answers,” according to a new report from the Nuclear Consultation Working Group.

Government officials say new nuclear facilities are needed to replace others going offline over the next two decades and […]

Our lawmakers have agreed to increase funding to guarantee up to 80% of loans for nuclear expansion. 17 companies are reportedly planning construct up to 30 new nuclear power stations.

I decided to dedicate my first official Planetsave podcast to the nuclear industry and the threats to our safety that come with it. Several links are mentioned in the podcast, and they are listed below.

Before we start, let me call your […]