Nuclear Power

We spend a lot of time on Lake Erie, in areas where Davis-Besse nuclear power plant is always looming on the horizon. It becomes just another part of the landscape out there. Over the past few weeks, I have made many trips to Lakeside-Marblehead, looking for Haven, and so took State Route 2 right alongside it. It's captivating up close like that, especially on a cooler day when the steam plume is very large.

(I've considered pulling over for photos of the towers themselves, or the "Don't you dare pull in here, we mean it!" signs next to the driveways, but who knows how tight security is. I'm sure "but I only wanted it for my blog!" gets a nod and a smile from whoever stops to ask what the hell you think you're doing.)

I do think in a lot of ways we've become fairly complacent about these plants in our midst. After all, they did catch the near-disastrous rusting-out mishap by a few inches of steel, before anything really really bad actually happened. (Ok only by maybe a week or so and then only by luck, but it's the thought that counts, right?)

Heard About the Near-Accident at the Ohio Nuclear Plant? I'm Not Surprised By Victor Gilinsky Sunday, April 28 , 2002 washingtonpost.com

And this week's minor little leak probably won't effect groundwater! Davis-Besse Radioactive Leak is Fixed (Hmmm, no mention of its effect of Lake Erie water seeing how the plant is right on the shoreline and all that.)

Either way, I'm still not 100% opposed to nuclear power. There's trade-offs with everything, and short of eliminating 9/10ths of the human population, and going back to fire, odds are we're going to have to do some things that have risk.

What I am opposed to is John McCain's energy policy of "clean coal" and building 45 new nuclear power plants. Now does anything scream "I'm stuck in the last century and that's OK!" more than that? Uh, John, I know in the 70s the general rule was "wind and solar will never work!!!" but you might be surprised to find out how much the technology has changed. Yeah OK, we're nowhere near ending our reliance on fossil fuels, but how about we work towards that goal, rather than away from it?

I could never get it anyhow. I remember the 70s. I remember my parents trading their big ol' Pontiac for a freaking Chevy Citation, and then trying to cram 4 teenaged kids in it. (OK so the plus side of that is then we had an excuse to avoid family outings.) I remember when MPG standards mattered and houses were built more energy efficient as well. So what has happened in the intervening years, besides well, nothing? We've known all along oil, foreign or domestic, is a FINITE RESCOURCE, correct? How come we never seem to have any concern or sense of responsibility for the world we will leave future generations? I'm the poster child for poor planning, but civilization as we know it doesn't exactly hinge upon me.

So, John, I respect that you stayed tough on not drilling the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge, although picking Little Miss Drill and Kill pretty much countered that bit of appeal. I'm not opposed to "clean coal," whether it will ever exist in those exact terms or not. Since we use coal and most likely will continue to use coal, I agree, let's put science to work minimizing the harm that's done. When it comes to nuclear power, how about you tell us all exactly where you plan on putting those 45 plants, OK? Now, before the election, so we can see how quickly voters in those areas race to the polls to vote against you.

As the anti-Obama camp becomes more shrill and angry, they miss facts about their candidate like this one. Yeah Ok I'm stupid or misguided or blindly following a messiah, whatever. I've also waited a long long time for a candidate who is moving ahead, with his eyes on the future, rather than dragging his feet in the dirt, pulling all of us backwards into a past that didn't work all that well the first time.