"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." ‑ 1 Corinthians 13:11
When we were young and immortal, life came in the shades of black and white. We sexed, drugged and rock and rolled, all with the conviction that the universe had blessed our way with some sort of good housekeeping seal of cosmic approval. As we got older (and our livers got older) many of us throttled down or twelve stepped our way to a less bumpy life.
My generation was maybe the most self righteous of them all, the boomers. We had to stop them, whoever they were. Our parents never discussed sex, politics or religion. Our sacred cows were a different breed of cattle. And one thing we were assured of was that nuclear power was bad. Lately I have been cautiously sounding out others of my ilk and wayward temperament and I am astounded that many of us want to give it a second look.
I read an article today about the environmental pressure that the energy drilling industry is putting on the Colorado River. Link to it here. One out of 12 americans depend on it for their drinking water and it is in jeopardy. Now uranium mining is as potentially catastrophic as oil or gas, but much less raw material is required and perhaps the negative effects can be more carefully contained.
We all have a footprint, like it or not - maybe there are a handful of Berkeley students living in trees off the grid, but we all contribute to the mess we have made. And we must find the best way out. Didn't a wise man once say that you shouldn't let the perfect become the enemy of the good? No one wants another Chernobyl, and there is a terrible waste disposal question but Nuclear Power looks like the best solution we currently have. Certainly better than drilling in our national parks and wiping out our drinking water. Solar and Wind are not going to take care of our massive need for energy by themselves. I wonder how many decades it would take to permit a new plant?
I am not a scientist and certainly no expert, but I know that the French have done some very innovative things with encapsulating spent nuke fuel in glass. We haven't built a new plant in decades. We need to seriously consider it again and not be afraid to start a national dialogue. Take responsibility and let's find a solution.
2 comments:
wow, nuclear-there's gotta be a better alternative...careful how you be quotin' Scripture, bub...
And what pray tell is the better alternative, Sir Grumpster? Something achievable in the minimum ten years it would take to site a new nuke plant in the lower forty. By the way, we are having a small soiree at the gallery saturday night, celebrating some pagan ritual - you might drop by for a minute or two and entertain the heathens. Seven o'clock - bring mead or some suitable alternative. might meet a few fellow bloggers, we can put you on exhibit.
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