Monday, December 7, 2009
Check Out This Weak Dodge
I was entertained by this bit on NPR the other day. Scott Simon asked Maria Otero, Undersecretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, how it is possible to reach CO2 emissions targets (80% reduction in 40 years) without embracing nuclear energy. She completely dodges the question. Give it a listen or read the transcript on the link. He repeats the question two more times but is unable to squeeze a direct answer out of her as she keeps spouting environmentally friendly buzz words. The administration needs to put up or shut up. If carbon emissions are going to destroy the planet then it is intellectually dishonest to not make a major push for nuclear energy--even if it means offending some of your environmentalist supporters. Wind, solar and energy efficiency alone will not get it done. Period. The enlightened French have embraced nuclear in a big way and you won't convince me that Americans care about the environment more than Europeans. Oh, and props to NPR for actually asking tough questions.
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Awesome. Even when pressed, she wouldn't even say the words "nuclear power."
ReplyDeleteAnother reason why I hate the global warming crowd. They're unwilling to discuss real solutions to the problem. If she really thinks that energy efficiency is going to reduce carbon emissions, I have a few graphs I'd like to show her.
Just for the record, though, France didn't adopt nuclear power for environmental reasons -- they did it to be energy independent. They didn't have conventional resources to produce their own power, so they went nuclear back in the 70's (I think, I don't know the date, exactly).
But also, France hasn't made any movies about nuclear disaster/holocaust. Once you start making movies like that, especially starring Jane Fonda, it gets into the public consciousness in a bad way. It would be like saying, "We're having a hard time cutting stuff these days... I think we should start giving all of our children gloves with knives built into each of the fingers. And also striped sweaters."
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