Al Gore deserves much credit for making people aware of the dangers of climate change. Through his book, his documentary and many speeches and writings he is a man on a mission. Just this week he once again wrote another Op Ed piece in the NY Times, however with the bottom falling out of the US economic tub, where will the resources will come for this immediate action? More interesting is what solutions he has left out of his plan.
Gore suggests many actions that should be taken - mostly renewable energy and conservation. He even goes on to suggest small things like encouraging composting, which offer only a tiny benefit. The one really big feature lacking throughout his plans is any mention of nuclear energy. This technology has matured tremendously since Hollywood and its Luddites allies branded it as dangerous and a threat to humankind. After Three Mile Island, fear of the China Syndrome took hold, if there was an accident it would burn a hole right through to China! Jane Fonda had made her last big contribution to the environment - too bad it boomeranged around her neck.
Instead no further plants were built and the fully completed $6 Billion Shoreham plant was mothballed by none other than Mario Cuomo who refused to approve its emergency evacuation plan, preventing it from obtaining an operating license and killing the project. The citizens paid a heavy burden in increased utility bills to flush a brand new plant down the toilet, but perhaps the biggest loser has been the environment. Instead of the sinister forces of unseen radiation from nuclear power, localized around nuclear plants, we have let loose a force that is changing our world from pole to pole. Yet, today nobody knows exactly how dire the implications are for our civilization and our planet. The fact that all the feedback loops and other effects are not known is even more terrifying.
Instead of improving our nuclear infrastructure we have pumped hundreds of millions of tons CO2 into the air, emissions that never would have happened without the fear mongers and insipid politicians. Since coal fired plants in the west also result in mercury in the fish we eat, we can thank Mario for the increase in mercury in our fish as well. Instead of zero greenhouse gas emission nuclear plants instead we got more coal, oil and gas fired plants.
Today 2/3s of our power is from fossil fuels and over half of that is from coal. Looking back at the Shorham plant and the output of typical coal burning plants, the 2,045 MegaWatt Shoreham plant would have produced the equivalent of a couple of big coal plants pumping out an equivalent 14 Million tons of CO2 and 82,000 tones of Sulfur Dioxide a year. So over the time since its closing in 1989, Mario's executive action has personally injected 266 Million Tons of CO2 into the atmosphere to achieve the same electrical generating capacity. Since the Shoreham fiasco essentially stopped all nuclear projects in the country, Mario can claim credit for injecting multiple Billions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. In fact, compared to Mario, George Bush and his energy cronies are pikers in the global warming hall of shame.
Today France produces 77% of its power from nuclear plants. They want to get 100%. Many countries around the world are planning new plants. Here in the "Greatest Nation" we have deadlock. We want the power - just not the plants to produce it, nor the electrical grid to deliver it. We are still deadlocked by these "environmentalists" who oppose one of the biggest tools in our arsenal to stop global warming. By all means windmills and solar are great ideas, but we should use all the tools available to us.
So Al, you should learn from George Bush and not be so stubborn and pigheaded. Otherwise you might earn the distinction now owned by Mario CO2 Cuomo, the man responsible for the biggest increase in greenhouse gases in history.
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