But especially in light of what's happening now, it's based on a non-choice. Nukes are slow to build, soaring in cost and clearly have their own emissions, waste and safety problems. The ancillary costs of coal and oil are soaring out of reach in terms of environmental, health and other negative economic impacts. The "bridging fuel" of gas also faces ever-higher hurdles, especially when it comes to fracking and other unsustainable extraction technologies.
The real choice we face is between all fossil and nuclear fuels,
which must be done away with, as opposed to a true green mix of clean
alternatives. These safe, sustainable technologies now, in fact, occupy
the mainstream. By all serious calculation, solar is demonstrably
cheaper, cleaner, quicker to build and infinitely safer than nukes.
Wind, tidal, ocean thermal, geothermal, wave, sustainable bio-fuels
(NOT from corn or soy), increased efficiency, revived mass transit all
have their drawbacks here and there. But as a carefully engineered
whole, they promise the balanced Solartopian supply we need to move into
a future that can be both prosperous and appropriate to our survival on
this planet.
As we see now all too clearly, atomic technology is at war with our Earth's eco-systems. Its centralized, heavily capitalized corporate nature puts democracy itself on the brink. In the long run, it contradicts the human imperative to survive.
Today we have four reactors on the coast of California that could easily have been ripped apart by a 9.0 Richter earthquake. Had this last seismic hit been taken on this side of the Pacific, we would be watching nightly reports about the horrific death toll in San Luis Obispo, the catastrophic loss of the irreplaceable food supply from the Central Valley, and learned calculations about the forced evacuations of Los Angeles and San Diego.Faced with enormous public demonstrations, the Prime Minister of Germany has ordered their older reactors shut. At very least this administration should follow suit.
The Chinese and Indians, the biggest potential buyers of new reactors, are said to be "rethinking" their energy choices.
As a species, we are crying in agony, to the depths of our souls, from compassion and from fear.
But above all, the most devastating thing about the catastrophe at Fukushima is not what's happening there now.
It's that until all the world's reactors are shut, even worse is virtually certain to happen again. All too soon.
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Harvey Wasserman edits the NukeFree.org website, and is author of SOLARTOPIA! OUR GREEN-POWERED EARTH.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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