One of the many reasons why we need to get over our fear of nuclear power (speaking centric to the U.S.) and focus on safety innovation in that area. It could solve the energy and pollution problems quickly and efficiently, making things like this a non-issue.
The whole global warming and climate change problem could be solved (while also stimulating the economy through job creation), but economic and political incentive to not solve the problem thwarts any real progress.
If you're curious or skeptical, it's worth considering the arguments of people like Michael Shellenberger[1] and Alex Epstein[2].
> it's worth considering the arguments of people like Michael Shellenberger
I'm sympathetic to the argument for nuclear energy as part of the answer to global warming, but... Schellenberger? No, sorry, it's not worth considering his arguments for anything. His arguments go like this...
- We don't need to worry about the Amazon burning and being cut down because it's not actually the "lungs of the world"
- We don't need to worry about sea-level rise because the Netherlands
- Burning wood is much worse than burning petroleum, so let's keep burning petroleum
Etc. Schellenberger is an idiot trying to be an iconoclast... and failing miserably because the icons he's tilting at are windmills. Let's leave Schellenberger out of this.
The guy is a troll. The last nuclear power plant built in the US took 40 years to come fully online and has never made money. Meanwhile solar is going through a moore's law like cost reduction and is cheaper than coal in most places.
Geothermal has a much better chance of supplying baseload power than nuclear does at this point.
The whole global warming and climate change problem could be solved (while also stimulating the economy through job creation), but economic and political incentive to not solve the problem thwarts any real progress.
If you're curious or skeptical, it's worth considering the arguments of people like Michael Shellenberger[1] and Alex Epstein[2].
[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2018/06/19...
[2] https://energytalkingpoints.com/energy-q-a/