{"id":1256,"date":"2005-06-07T13:05:00","date_gmt":"2005-06-07T13:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sustainablog.greenoptions.com\/2005\/06\/07\/global-warming-as-a-golden-opportunity\/"},"modified":"2005-06-07T13:05:00","modified_gmt":"2005-06-07T13:05:00","slug":"global-warming-as-a-golden-opportunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/global-warming-as-a-golden-opportunity\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Warming as a Golden Opportunity"},"content":{"rendered":"
From truthout via Gristmill<\/a>, an op-ed by environmental editor Kelpie Wilson<\/a> further analyzing the nuclear power vs. renewables dichotomy that the nuclear energy industry has put forward and which journalists are eating up. Wilson does a very nice job of detailing broad economic and environmental costs of nuclear power, and also of deconstructing the rhetoric of the nuclear industry. She also does a very nice job of noting that, at another level, this is a debate between centralized and decentralized power supplies — wind and solar energy will likely serve us better in a localized sytem of power delivery vs. the massive national grid system we now have. Wilson even uses the various energy sources as metaphors for larger questions of governance:<\/p>\n But the real choice is not between a high-powered but dangerous nuclear future and a solar-powered, modest granola lifestyle. We will never build enough nukes to replace the immense legacy of stored sunlight that is fossil fuels. We are inevitably headed toward a different, decentralized, low energy future. If there is a human impulse toward imperialism, there is an equally strong human impulse for democracy, and I am optimistic that the future will offer fewer opportunities for despots and more for democrats.<\/p>\n The real choice then is this: Do we saddle our descendents with the poison forever of nuclear contamination in our attempts to hang on to a doomed lifestyle? Or do we start learning to live lightly on the planet now, and spare the children? <\/p><\/blockquote>\n This is an important point, one that doesn’t get mentioned enough (though I wish she’d left out the “spare the children” bit, as it plays into stereotypes of the “granola lifestyle” she mentions). Ultimately, I think this may come down to a question of framing. What if those of us who support renewables started using a “self-reliance” context vs. something like the “big government” label (it would be hard to argue that nuclear energy doesn’t benefit from massive government subsidies)? “Neighborhood energy,” anyone?<\/p>\n Got to get the dog to the groomer — I’ll be back later.<\/p>\n Technorati tags: nuclear power<\/a>, renewable energy<\/a>, economics<\/a>, politics<\/a><\/p>\n