Energy Talk
Tomorrow, CNN will be airing a two hour documentary about nuclear power, and will follow that up with a half hour with Anderson Cooper, discussing some of the questions, issues, topics raised in the documentary. I encourage those who have the opportunity to watch it.
I'm not going to push you to watch this particular CNN documentary. But I will urge you, once more, to read up on the subject with some honest brevity and attentiveness, and most of all with an open mind.
On November 7th at 9:00 PM EST, CNN will air a documentary called "Pandora's Promise". The movie talks about how nuclear energy has developed and the changes in opinion former opponents of nuclear energy have undergone over the years.
Nuclear power is not a panacea to the energy issue. The ability to step from electricity to a weapon is the most cringe worthy aspect among a number of others. Not least of those is the problem of nuclear waste.
Nevertheless there is promise, which is what it appears this documentary will try to show. Every month that ticks by is one less month we have to address the cliff we continue to barrel towards. Despite an increasing majority of people believing in human driven global warming and climate change, distressingly little has been done to address it. That means that there will need to be bolder, faster reaction than would otherwise have been needed several years ago.
I do retain my belief that solar energy is the single most impressive solution for the long term energy paradigm. The fact that solar is such a potentially clean energy production source, and has one of the highest energy potentials of any clean source, makes it a true heavyweight.
At the moment, however, the scale of development needed to make a substantial impact on the existing energy portfolio is very, very, large. The process of attaining that scale will likewise be lengthy. It will take a lot of time, money, and effort to roll out existing solar technology at a scale large enough to drive down fossil fuels as a significant percentage of our overall energy use.
Changing behaviors, while also a part of the solution, is similarly difficult. Efforts to change people's behaviors are usually received negatively. Even suggesting people eat healthy and get exercise is enough to get some angry, advice that applies to virtually everyone and is only intended to help you live a longer, fruitful, life. As such, however, it can take a very, very, long time for behaviors to change at an appreciable level. Gas prices go up, people drive less. But rather than take those measures to heart and repeat them all the time, as soon as prices drop somewhat, people start driving more again.
Given these facts, we need to make a move that will help us get where we need to go. At the moment, nuclear power seems the most viable option.
We need to move forward with solar energy with greater urgency. In the meantime, however, we need a cleaner source of energy so we can keep up with the environmental degradation we are already experiencing. Nuclear energy is far from perfect. But it is very powerful, in multiple senses of the word. The physical footprint of a nuclear power plant is much smaller than that of a solar power plant of equal output, and is much cleaner than oil or coal. It is not the answer to our problem, but nuclear energy can be critical as a stop-gap on the way there. It is a part of the formula needed to solve this difficult calculus.
So, please watch the CNN documentary if you can. But if you can't, or rather not, then please read up some more on the subject. It's important for all of us.
I'm not going to push you to watch this particular CNN documentary. But I will urge you, once more, to read up on the subject with some honest brevity and attentiveness, and most of all with an open mind.
On November 7th at 9:00 PM EST, CNN will air a documentary called "Pandora's Promise". The movie talks about how nuclear energy has developed and the changes in opinion former opponents of nuclear energy have undergone over the years.
Nuclear power is not a panacea to the energy issue. The ability to step from electricity to a weapon is the most cringe worthy aspect among a number of others. Not least of those is the problem of nuclear waste.
Nevertheless there is promise, which is what it appears this documentary will try to show. Every month that ticks by is one less month we have to address the cliff we continue to barrel towards. Despite an increasing majority of people believing in human driven global warming and climate change, distressingly little has been done to address it. That means that there will need to be bolder, faster reaction than would otherwise have been needed several years ago.
I do retain my belief that solar energy is the single most impressive solution for the long term energy paradigm. The fact that solar is such a potentially clean energy production source, and has one of the highest energy potentials of any clean source, makes it a true heavyweight.
At the moment, however, the scale of development needed to make a substantial impact on the existing energy portfolio is very, very, large. The process of attaining that scale will likewise be lengthy. It will take a lot of time, money, and effort to roll out existing solar technology at a scale large enough to drive down fossil fuels as a significant percentage of our overall energy use.
Changing behaviors, while also a part of the solution, is similarly difficult. Efforts to change people's behaviors are usually received negatively. Even suggesting people eat healthy and get exercise is enough to get some angry, advice that applies to virtually everyone and is only intended to help you live a longer, fruitful, life. As such, however, it can take a very, very, long time for behaviors to change at an appreciable level. Gas prices go up, people drive less. But rather than take those measures to heart and repeat them all the time, as soon as prices drop somewhat, people start driving more again.
Given these facts, we need to make a move that will help us get where we need to go. At the moment, nuclear power seems the most viable option.
We need to move forward with solar energy with greater urgency. In the meantime, however, we need a cleaner source of energy so we can keep up with the environmental degradation we are already experiencing. Nuclear energy is far from perfect. But it is very powerful, in multiple senses of the word. The physical footprint of a nuclear power plant is much smaller than that of a solar power plant of equal output, and is much cleaner than oil or coal. It is not the answer to our problem, but nuclear energy can be critical as a stop-gap on the way there. It is a part of the formula needed to solve this difficult calculus.
So, please watch the CNN documentary if you can. But if you can't, or rather not, then please read up some more on the subject. It's important for all of us.
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