Mark Twain is attributed as saying in his own inimitable humorous, acerbic and somewhat cavalier manner: “Everyone complains about the weather ― but no one does anything about it.”
Let’s do something about it. Now. Today. Right here in America.
If the far-left really wants to put America on the path to zero carbon emissions, there is one ― and only one ― way to do it right now.
Go to 100% nuclear power electricity generation by 2033.
Adopting Twain’s somewhat glib way of stating the obvious, a non-scientific, apolitical person might look at the whole issue of energy and the environment this way:
“I don’t know much about chemistry, global warming or politics ― or care about them really. All I want is heat and A/C for my home at the cheapest possible price and have food delivered somewhere nearby so I can feed my family.
As long as I can get to and from work easily without having to sit around for hours charging up my car battery, especially if I am in the middle of nowhere heading to the beach for a vacation, I don’t care where energy comes from.
I really don’t want anyone insulting me or my intelligence by saying I am too stupid to understand why we need to shut down every carbon energy source to address what they consider to be an “existential threat” to mankind.
If President Joe Biden and Energy Czar John Kerry think global warming is such an “existential threat,” why don’t they organize a mass demonstration in Tiananmen Square and “demand” the Chinese communists stop issuing permits to build two new coal-fired plants every week as they are doing today? America could cut its carbon emissions to zero and it won’t mean a thing unless China and India at least stop increasing their carbon output each year.
Please don’t even think about sending more of my taxpayer money to clean up their mess! China has stolen enough US jobs and technology and put enough of my friends out of business to be able to pay for their own cleanup and not get our money to do it for them through the Paris Accords.
Nuclear energy doesn’t produce any carbon dioxide or anything which can be claimed to damage the ozone layer or foster global warming. If C02 is what you are worried about, nuclear is your answer.
France has the cleanest air in the world partly due to the fact prevailing winds come from the Atlantic Ocean but also because 83% of their electricity comes from nuclear power plants.
If France can do it safely, America can do it safely. Ever hear of a Chernobyl in France? Mais non.
If you hate Big Oil companies, support nuclear power. They would be out-of-business as soon as every car, home and business hooks up to a nuclear energy power source. No more Exxon Valdez oil spills. No more BP oil drilling platforms exploding in the Gulf of Mexico.
America going 100% nuclear means never having to think about what OPEC does with their oil production ever again. Going full-bore nuclear would dry up American money going to any foreign nation with oil reserves. Malcontent Islamic fundamentalist-led nations such as Iran would no longer be able to fund terrorist activities around the globe if democratic nations go nuclear.
Westinghouse Electricity recently announced plans to start building smaller nuclear reactors, the AP300, at a cost of $1 billion per unit which could provide energy for the needs of 300,000 households annually. The Shearon Harris nuclear plant near Raleigh began operation in 1987. It cost over $5 billion in today’s inflation-adjusted dollars to build.
The new nuclear plants would be a bargain by comparison.
Offer a full tax deduction in the first year to power companies that build each reactor. Once the cost of a reactor is fully amortized, the cost of producing the energy is darn near zero. We just need to make sure our political leaders stop selling our US uranium supplies to Russia like President Obama and Hillary Clinton did.
If you are worried about where to store spent nuclear fuel, let’s ask Elon Musk to ferry spent nuclear fuel into outer space in his SpaceX rockets. Heck, if anyone can figure out how to land spent rocket boosters on a 300 x 160-foot drone boat in the ocean, they sure can figure out how to dispose of spent nuclear fuel by rocket. Launch them off islands previously used for atomic tests such as Bikini Atoll if you are worried about fallout ― there have been 2121 atmospheric, subterranean and underwater nuclear weapon tests since 1945 and we are still here, aren’t we?”
