SamhainRising wrote:
Shock! Glenn Beck is a moron and always will be, news at 9:00. Chernobyl was awful,the loss of life was truly tragic and it is absurd and unconscionable for Glenn Beck to downplay its significance. But then again, he's a professional idiot so what did we expect?

Glenn Beck's typical idiocy notwithstanding, this thing is nowhere near as bad as Chernobyl and won't be. My girlfriend went to Chernobyl a mere twelve years after the disaster, and described to me first-hand the desolation and devastation left behind, and showed me truly haunting photos of the abandoned schools and playgrounds. [Here are some 360 panos someone else made: http://www.360cities.net/search/]

But Fukushima is no Chernobyl. The scale of the disaster is incomparable -- comparing Fukushima to Chernobyl is akin to comparing Columbine to the Holocaust. They're both bad, but worlds apart in the severity. Far be it from me to prevent people from panicking, but this helpful graphic may add a bit of context to your interpretations of the disaster. It contains several citations, of course, because it is never wise to rely fully upon secondary sources.

As I said before, I give a considerable portion of my meager paycheck to GreenPeace and similar organizations, so I don't doubt that their hearts are in the right place. Having said that, I think their positions on energy are unrealistic and unlikely to result in any positive improvement in the short or long term. At this juncture, the best-case configuration of solar and wind energy can cover at most 30% of our nation's power consumption, the remainder will be offset by either coal power or atomic energy. The issue right now is the optimal centers of wind power production are so far removed from major population centers that even low-impedance transmission lines can carry a laughably small amount of energy from places like Montana, Wyoming and Colorado to cities like New York and Los Angeles. So all of these 1.5Mw GE turbines being set up in the west barely make a dent. And what about the nuclear energy everyone loves, solar power? Panels that don't have a HORRIBLY low photovoltaic performance rating (under 40%) are too expensive, take up too much space, and require the use of tons of environmentally unfriendly ingredients and create horribly toxic byproducts.

Let's say we do exceed the estimated "best-case scenario" by around 15%, though, and are able to offset 45% of our nations power usage. Short of strict power rationing -- which is actually a good idea -- the remainder will come from somewhere. At this point, the two options are greenhouse-gas [and radiation!] emitting traditional coal power plants, and the undeniably safer -- while imperfect -- nuclear plants. So by all means, jump on the "OMG ATOMZ!!!"  bandwagon, but that's really not doing any favors for health or the environment.

Disclaimer: I WANT green power. Really. World governments should be pouring TONS and TONS of money into the development of high-efficiency green power sources, and we're not. I'm confident that, if we did this for 15 or 20 years, we'd have a solution that would render the need for coal OR nuclear power obsolete. We're just not at that point yet.

I don't see anyone comparing  the Japan situation to Chernobyl, just some people saying that the worst case scenario could play out to be as bad as Chernobyl. Given the (ongoing) crisis and lies coming from those in control, it seemed that a worst case scenario could not have been totally ruled out. Currently it does seem worse than Three Mile Island.

Yes, presently, with all emphasis and money going to coal, natural gas and nuclear (due to their lobbies' power over our elected officials), solar and wind have not seen the advances they should see in order to evolve into being able to provide us with more and more of our electricity. Which is why we should be funding it more.

The fact that one mistake at a nuclear plant can lead to such disaster is evidence that this form of energy is beyond our present capabilities (plus we can't store the waste). The record of mistakes, accidents and cover ups at nuclear plants is actually VERY scary. The cover-ups and criminality in the industry alone is fucking alarming as hell.

The public is largely unaware of the risks involved with nuclear power, the crimes and cover-ups inherent to this industry, and unaware of the record of incompetence that has led to some near-disasters already (one look at the Wikipedia entry for the International Nuclear Event Scale provides just  a handful of examples- that in itself is quite alarming).

Fukushima was increased to a Level 5 event by the Japanese government a few days ago (they had been downplaying the disaster all along prior to this). Chernobyl was a Level 7 event. In reality I'd say Fukushima looks more like a 6 (or at least 5.5).

The problem here is inaction. While the fossil fuel industries rake in all the money they can before it's too late (peak oil or accelerated and obvious-even to idiots and deniers- global meltdown), they are stalling development of green alternatives (as is nuclear, as well). SOMEone with balls needs to step up and do something and fund green alternatives, but money controls elected officials, and these dirty energy industries are the wealthiest there are, so this won't happen until the people start a real revolution.

About Glenn Beck- yes, most people with a functioning brain know he's a lying, insane cartoon character, but many do not. The only way these people in power, who allow these corrupt industries to control our lives and future, are able to maintain that power is due to the mindless supporters who vote against their own best interests - spurred on by the likes of Beck.

Sean


Last Edited By: LAM Mar 21 11 3:39 PM. Edited 1 times.