“Counting on new nuclear reactors as a climate change solution is no more sensible than counting on an un-built dam to create a lake to fight a nearby forest fire.”

— Peter Bradford, former U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission member

Like coal, natural gas, and oil, uranium is a nonrenewable resource. Consequently, is uranium being depleted faster than we think? With all the talk of building and investing in so-called next generation nuclear reactors, is enough uranium available to meet this proposed new demand in addition to sustaining current demand? Some U.S. Senators are proposing that more nuclear energy is the answer to address our climate change and energy troubles.

U.S. Senators Jim Webb, a democrat from Virginia, and Lamar Alexander, a Republican from Tennessee, do not support the current cap-and-trade legislation, but these Senators are throwing their support behind nuclear power and carbon-capture-and-storage technology. Furthermore, “Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who is working with Democrat John Kerry on the bill, highlighted how France now derives 80 percent of its energy from nuclear power and is presently constructing a next-generation reactor, said to be the most advanced in the world.” More on dwindling uranium supplies from the Physics arXiv Blog:

The world is about to enter a period of unprecedented investment in nuclear power. The combined threats of climate change, energy security and fears over the high prices and dwindling reserves of oil are forcing governments towards the nuclear option. The perception is that nuclear power is a carbon-free technology, that it breaks our reliance on oil and that it gives governments control over their own energy supply.

That looks dangerously overoptimistic, says Michael Dittmar, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich who publishes the final chapter of an impressive four-part analysis of the global nuclear industry on the arXiv today.

Perhaps the most worrying problem is the misconception that uranium is plentiful. The world’s nuclear plants today eat through some 65,000 tons of uranium each year. Of this, the mining industry supplies about 40,000 tons. The rest comes from secondary sources such as civilian and military stockpiles, reprocessed fuel and re-enriched uranium. “But without access to the military stocks, the civilian western uranium stocks will be exhausted by 2013, concludes Dittmar.

It’s not clear how the shortfall can be made up since nobody seems to know where the mining industry can look for more.

That means countries that rely on uranium imports such as Japan and many western countries will face uranium .shortages, possibly as soon as 2013. Far from being the secure source of energy that many governments are basing their future energy needs on, nuclear power looks decidedly rickety.

And from PhysOrg.com:

New York Times energy reporter Matthew Wald, writing in Technology Review, said new reactors would be unable to pay for themselves because of the massive cost of construction and competition from emerging alternatives that could affect the energy price. Wald compared the costs per kilowatt of capacity of nuclear ($4,000), coal ($3,000) and natural gas ($800), which makes the nuclear option a big financial gamble. The future cost of fossil fuels is unknown, and could also affect the nuclear industry’s viability.

Energy efficiency standards and renewable energy options are better solutions than the nuclearization of energy sources. From Los Angeles Times:

If the U.S. wants to help stop global warming, nuclear power is not the way to go, according to a new report released today.

The Environment California Research & Policy Center concluded that launching a nuclear power industry nearly from the ground up is too slow and expensive a process. Energy efficiency standards and renewable energy options are better solutions, researchers said.

.       .       .

But even if the nuclear industry managed to build 100 reactors by 2030, the total power produced would reduce total U.S. emissions only 12% over the next 20 years, which Environment California deemed “far too little, too late.”

The $600-billion upfront investment necessary for the 100 reactors would slice out twice as much carbon pollution in that period if invested in clean energy, according to the report. And given the costs of running a power plant, clean energy could deliver five times as much progress per dollar in lowering pollution.

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I would argue that most conservationists and environmentalists understand that we live in a world with limited resources (so unlimited growth is impossible); otherwise, they probably wouldn’t be conservationists or environmentalists in the first place. Since we live in a world with limited resources, small changes in behavior—in the aggregate—in addition to policies that bring about big changes are important in alleviating our propensity to increase entropy—or the unavailability of energy to produce work, thus goods and services. Consequently, extracting energy from renewable resources, consuming or using less goods and energy, thus generating less waste, are important in conserving energy within a closed system (e.g., Earth). However, this concept isn’t commonly or aggressively distributed by the media, politicians, or in our school systems.

For example, I find the complacency of relying on fossil fuels and the subsequent impacts of relying on fossil fuels extremely worrying. During the 2008 presidential elections a hot topic was offshore drilling. An alarming number of Americans believed (and many still do) that offshore drilling was an appropriate remedy to our energy woes. However, what happens when we exhaust offshore energy supplies? Therefore, shortsighted policies do nothing but exacerbate the problem. Consequently, save the offshore supplies for when we really need them, because to me, a smarter policy is modernizing the grid, utilizing as much renewable energy as possible, and getting gas-guzzlers off the road. Investing in appropriate technologies is important too. Furthermore, although the markets can foster change, the markets often bring change too late. Therefore, the federal government has a responsibility to drive policy. That policy should reflect the maximum sustainability that’s possible to achieve with current technology and resources. Considering the various competing interests, such a policy would be difficult to hammer out but certainly not impossible.

I believe utilizing more nuclear power has its problems as well—the biggest being nuclear waste. Drought is also the Achilles’ heel of nuclear power, so like coal-fired power plants, nuclear power relies heavily on water resources. Furthermore, I believe nuclear power is a lazy remedy to our energy woes. Nuclear power should be a tool to solve our energy crisis, but it shouldn’t be pursued aggressively.

Our current paradigm of development is undeniably unsustainable, and it’s unsustainable because we use energy unsustainably.  This behavior results in less energy for future generations and high energy prices.  Certainly, the economy of the United States can absorb high-energy prices but only to a particular amount and for a certain amount of time. Driving your family around in an inefficient vehicle such as an SUV might make you feel safe, but what type of world are you leaving your children?

For instance, when we burn coal it turns to ash, so the same amount of energy contained before the coal was burned can’t be extracted from the ash. The same applies when we extract crude oil and produce diesel, gasoline, kerosene, petroleum gas, or the many other products we create from crude oil. After these products are burned, the energy they contained before being used can’t be recaptured. Furthermore, burning these products produces pollution. Likewise, consuming food and drink provides fuel for our bodies, but the end product—or the waste—is essentially useless. Rusting iron and steel illustrates the entropic process as well.

The concept that unlimited growth is impossible, and we are limited by how much energy is available reflects the Second Law of Thermodynamics, especially the concept of entropy. More from Tushara Kodikara at Scoop.co.nz (emphasis added):

However, a litany of environmental problems, including destruction of the ozone layer, climate change, acid rain, deforestation, overpopulation, loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, desertification, floods, famine, overfishing, hazardous wastes, expanding landfills, fresh water depletion and the depletion of nonrenewable resources, to name a few, are symptoms of the shortcomings of the current economic system.

The planet is approximately in a steady state. Neither the mass nor the surface is growing or shrinking and the flows of energy inwards and outwards are roughly equal. Energy and matter enter the economy as inputs, are turned into goods and services, and leave as wastes. This flow is known as throughput.

Steady state economics draws from the work of Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen’s The Entropy Law and the Economic Process (1971). This explains how the second law of thermodynamics can be applied to the economy. In a closed system such as the planet, where the energy balance is around zero, the availability of useful energy decreases. Production of economic goods transforms matter-energy from a state of low entropy to a state of high entropy. Entropy is a measure of the disorder within a closed system.

The second law implies that matter can only be recycled a number of times and that energy can be recycled. However it takes more energy to do the recycling than the amount of energy being produced. The law also implies that creating order by means of producing goods will create greater disorder elsewhere in the environment. Therefore the entropy law puts a limit on how much we can produce. Therefore unlimited growth is impossible.

The planet’s interdependence has its limits too, and in turn limits growth. The environment provides vital services such as non-renewable resources which excessive economic growth exhausts. Forests, for example, can be considered as floating lakes. They hold topsoil in place, preventing erosion; help absorb rainwater, thereby preventing flooding; and they also remove carbon dioxide, produce oxygen and many other important ecological services. Deforestation removes all of these services.

However, in neoclassical economics, this forest can be turned into books on the topic of the ecological services of trees and people can go to the library and learn about the ecological services trees provide. This economic theory treats factors of production as substitutes; natural capital can be replaced by human capital or physical capital. If there is less of one (such as labour) it can be replaced by another (machinery) and you can still get the same output.

Before the industrial age, when the economy was small compared to the ecosystem, physical capital was the limiting factor. Fish in the sea were abundant. The number and capacity of fishing boats determined the catch size. Today however, Daly argues, the factors’ roles have changed—the economy has become very large relative to the ecosystem—making natural capital the limiting factor. The depleted fish stock in the sea will determine the number of fish that can be taken as opposed to the technologically advanced fishing fleet.

.       .       .

Until recently, the world economy had been growing, and yet we still have extreme poverty. It should be obvious that what actually grows is the reinvested surplus, such as profits and the benefits of growth go to the owners of the surplus, who are not the poor.

Another argument of those who oppose the steady-state economy and think that the current system is the answer is that of technology being able to solve our problems. We shouldn’t worry about peak oil, as electric cars will become cheap and viable for everybody. However, there are a couple of issues here. There is a limited amount of platinum available in the world. This is an important component for the vehicle’s battery. There is not enough platinum to produce enough cars to replace the current petroleum-based vehicle fleet on the planet.

This blind faith that technology will solve all our problems is just that, blind faith. These solutions will be far more expensive than the preventive measures available. These solutions may in fact cause more problems rather than solving the current environment problems.

The most important point is that petroleum isn’t just used for fossil fuels. It is also an important chemical feedstock used in just about every produced good. It is literally the lubricant for the world’s economy. Under the current economic system, a substitute should be able to replace this vital feedstock. However, this substitute is not forthcoming.

Photo source for attribution here and here. The authors or licensors of these images do not endorse my work or me and their images are protected under an attribution license.

Exergy image found here.

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Here is an interesting energy diagram:

Via the Energy Information Administration

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Nuclear energy in the news:

1. Proposed West Virginia bill would lift ban on nuclear energy
2. Two nuclear power plant bills advance to Oklahoma House floor
3. Senate panel backs nuclear energy for Utah
4. Georgia nuclear bill tops first hurdle in House
5. Iran plans test run of nuclear plant
6. Great amounts of carbon are emitted during the construction of nuclear power plants and during the “decommission of the waste.”
7. “The nuclear power industry and the nuclear arms industry are conjoined twins, locked forever in a deadly embrace, and cannot be separated.”
8. NUCLEAR POWER: “Leapfrog” nuclear power technology developed by US government laboratory
9. Five U.S. nuclear plants make DOE loan short-list
10. Nuclear Regulatory Commission adopts 1 million year rule for Yucca Mountain

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Environmental News Picks presents a summary of news regarding the environment, conservation, science, politics, and other interesting subject matter. The Conservation Report does not endorse any content found in these news picks, but the information is provided to put readers on notice of the various different beliefs and viewpoints. Comments, corrections, and suggestions are very much welcomed. Send your news tips and picks: .

ANIMALS: Meet the world’s only immortal animal

AUTO INDUSTRY: Report: Toyota developing solar powered green car, Take a test ride — inside: ‘Green’ cars will go for a spin in basement ‘forest’

BIOFUELS: Continental Airlines to Make Algae Biofuel Test Flight

BIRDS: Google Sightseeing: Flocking

CARBON: New Cement Absorbs More CO2 Than Production Emits

CLIMATE CHANGE: Climate Change Forcing Penguins North?: Warm ocean currents may have confused some 2,500 penguins from Argentina’s Patagonia region that washed up — dead and alive — on Brazil’s northern coast.

COAL: Billion-gallon sludge flood could change utility: Storage reviewed after retention pond for coal waste burst

DEFORESTATION: Malaysia Uses Satellite To Fight Illegal Logging: Report

ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT: Federal Government Sued by California over Gutting of Endangered Species Act

ENERGY: Flat-screen TVs to face energy-efficiency rules in California

EVOLUTION: How did turtles get their shells?

FISHERIES: Seattle group fined nearly $450,000 by NOAA for fisheries violations

GREEN CONSTRUCTION: 10 best ideas for greening your home that you’ve never heard of

HEALTH: Mouthwash linked to cancer

HYBRID TECHNOLOGY: New Honda Hybrid Contender Challenges Champ Prius

INVASIVE SPECIES: Great Lakes Facing Wide Alien Species Invasion

LEGAL NEWS: Woman sues for 10M for being denied subway rides with dog

MARINE MAMMALS: Can dolphins survive winter in NJ rivers?, Hungry seal hits bonanza at fish hatchery

NEW SPECIES: New species found in Chattahoochee, Flint river systems

NUCLEARIZATION OF ENERGY SOURCES: Hyperion mini nuclear reactors to supply enough cheap power for a small town

POLITICS: The trouble with Sanjay Gupta

SARAH PALIN: VIDEO: Sarah Palin attacks bloggers, media in new interview

“Environmental News Picks” are made possible with help from Kevin.

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ALGAE-BASED FUEL: Colorado Company Takes Algae-Based Fuel to the Next Level

ANIMAL WELFARE: Activists Throw Flour On Fur-Clad Lindsay Lohan

ASTRONOMY: Sun Shows Signs Of Life: Long-Awaited Solar Cycle 24 Starting To Take Off, Cassini Finds Mysterious New Aurora On Saturn, NASA: A Bubble in Cygnus

AUTO INDUSTRY: Reasons to Bail Out GM, Here’s Why We Need A General Motors (GM) Bailout, You F***er

BALLOT INITIATIVES: Mixed Bag for State Environmental Ballot Initiatives

BIG OIL: In secret agreement, Shell nets 25-year monopoly on S. Iraq’s gas, Blow to Brown as BP scraps British renewables plan to focus on US

CHERNOBYL: Chernobyl. 21 years later

CLIMATE CHANGE: Impact Of Climate Warming On Fish: International consensus on the reality of climate change is now apparent: global warming is ascribable in large part to human activities. It is causing rapid deterioration of the environment and is increasing the threat to biodiversity. However, the mechanisms of its impact are still poorly known, particularly in the aquatic environment., Warming Trend Is Steepest in 5,000 Years, Canada Offers Continental Climate Pact, Lemming Numbers Dwindling Under Warming

CLONING: Frozen mice cloned – are woolly mammoths next?

COAL: EPA Blocks Coal Plant, Could Change Power Landscape

DIESEL ELECTRIC HYBRID: Hybrid tugboat may give local ports a green push

ENDANGERED SPECIES: Water restrictions ordered to help California fish

ENERGY MIX OF THE FUTURE: How Floating ‘Energy Islands’ Could Power the Future

FOSSILS: Marine Plankton Found In Amber: Marine microorganisms have been found in amber dating from the middle of the Cretaceous period. The fossils were collected in Charente, in France. This completely unexpected discovery will deepen our understanding of these lost marine species as well as providing precious data about the coastal environment of Western France during the Cretaceous.

FUNGAS-BASED FUEL: Microbes: Fuel of the Future?, Rainforest fungus makes diesel: Colorized environmental scanning electron microscope photo of Gliocladium roseum, an endophtic fungus that produces myco-diesel hydrocarbons.

FUEL EFFICIENCY STANDARDS: New York City’s Green Taxi Program Red Lighted By Federal Judge:

GREEN: Best of what is new in green technology 2008, In Times Square, a Company’s Name in (Wind- and Solar-Powered) Lights: The first eco-friendly billboard is coming to Times Square, entirely powered by the sun and the wind — but there is one small catch.

GREEN CONSTRUCTION: 10 Amazing Buildings Made of Dirt and Straw

HIV/AIDS: AIDS Patient Reportedly Cured, T Cell-based HIV Vaccine Candidate Demonstrates Positive Results: The question of whether or not to continue to pursue the development of T-cell-based HIV-1 vaccines has been a source of controversy following last year’s widely publicized failure of the field’s most promising candidate, a vaccine developed by Merck known as V520.

INAUGURATION TICKETS: It’s time to plan your inauguration trip: Festivities could last 10 days, but hotel rooms, flights to D.C. will be scarce

INVASIVE SPECIES: Scientists: Reverse Age-Old Engineering Or The Great Lakes Suffer

LED LIGHTS: Would You Buy This Funny-Looking Bulb?

LIGHT POLLUTION: Efficiency’s Mark: City Glitters a Little Less: The bright lights of the big city are getting a little bit duller — with just a hint of green.

MARINE CONSERVATION: Sea Snakes Seek Out Freshwater To Slake Thirst

MARINE MAMMALS: Killer Whales Are Discriminating Diners

NATURAL GAS: Does Natural Gas Have an Ally in Rahm Emanuel?

NATURE: Venom Hunt Finds ‘Harmless’ Snakes A Potential Danger, Tiny Radio Tags Offer Rare Glimpse into Bees’ Universe

NANOWASTE: Plants Can Accumulate Nanoparticles In Tissues

NUCLEARIZATION OF ENERGY SOURCES: Mini nuclear plants to power 20,000 homes: £13m shed-size reactors will be delivered by lorry

OCEANS: Mysterious Microbe May Play Important Role In Ocean Ecology: An unusual microorganism discovered in the open ocean may force scientists to rethink their understanding of how carbon and nitrogen cycle through ocean ecosystems., Elusive Microbe Fertilizes Oceans

PESTICIDES: Organic Farmer Murdered After Protesting Toxic Dumpsite: An Indian organic farmer and anti-pollution advocate was shot to death on Monday while in the midst of exposing an illegal dumpsite on his property to the media.

PIRATES: Somali Pirates Seize Supertanker Loaded With Crude

POLITICS: Prop 8 Myths, Fox’s Shepard Smith Disputes Idea That The Media Secured Win For Obama, Senate Dems To White House: Preserve Records (Especially You, Cheney)

POLL: Should Cape Wind be built?

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: California gives green light to high-speed train

RECLAIMED OR RECYCLED WATER: NASA astronauts to drink their own urine: As NASA prepared to double the number of astronauts living aboard the International Space Station, nothing did more for crew bonding than a machine being launched aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on Friday.

RECYCLING: Eat & Drink from Recycled Bottles, Recycling By the Numbers: The Truth About Recycling: Americans haul 82 million tons of trash to recycling centers each year—but that’s still just 32.5 percent of what we throw out. Here’s how much energy recycling saves and how much that’s worth., Is Recycling Worth It? PM Investigates its Economic and Environmental Impact: Americans haul 82 million tons of trash to recycling centers each year. But does it pay off—for the environment or the economy? PM has some real answers.

SCIENCE: New Path Found To Antibiotics In Dirt, Forced Evolution: Can We Mutate Viruses To Death?, Mystery solved: How bleach kills germs, Octopus Family Tree Traced Using New Molecular Evidence, Rock-Eating Bacteria “Mine” Valuable Metals

SEA LEVEL RISE: Mass Relocations Planned as Sea Levels Rise

SOLAR: Mid-East’s Largest Solar Panel Manufacturing Plant to be Built In Dubai, Coating helps solar panels soak up more of the sun

THE MEGAFISHES PROJECT: Giant Prehistoric Fish Rebounding in Canada

WATER POLLUTION: Freshwater Pollution Costs US At Least $4.3 Billion A Year: Pollution by phosphorous and nitrogen isn’t just bad for lakes, streams and other bodies of fresh water. According to researchers at Kansas State University, it’s also bad for Americans’ pocketbooks., Thousands of factory farms will be exempt from needing permits that limit water pollution thanks to a new Bush Administration rule signed today. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency did not adopt improved controls for bacteria and other pathogens that can pose risks to human health and wildlife.

WATER WARS: Atlas of hidden water may avert future conflict

WIND POWER: Pickens Delays His Wind Farm Plan, Largest Wind Farm in World Halted By Credit Crisis, Wind power blights la belle France

YEAR OF THE FROG: Global Warming Link To Amphibian Declines In Doubt

ZOOLOGICAL CONSERVATION: 90 Year-Old Giant Tortoise Mates, Lonesome George, the World’s Rarest Tortoise, Isn’t Ready to Be a Dad, Breeding program may fail to produce progeny for Galapagos’ Lonesome George, VIDEO: Last Tortoise’s Hopes Dim

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Recent developments in nuclear energy will supposedly make it cheaper and safer to use. From mini nuclear power plants that do not contain weapons-grade material or moving parts, to thorium-based nuclear power plants, these new technologies are promising alternatives to today’s monsters. Regarding the mini nuclear power plants, it would be interesting to see exact numbers regarding how much feedstock would be required to run one of these mini nuclear power plants, who will remove the waste, and how much waste would result from these mini nuclear power plants. However, the numbers below look promising.  From the guardian.co.uk, UK:

Nuclear power plants smaller than a garden shed and able to power 20,000 homes will be on sale within five years, say scientists at Los Alamos, the US government laboratory which developed the first atomic bomb.

The miniature reactors will be factory-sealed, contain no weapons-grade material, have no moving parts and will be nearly impossible to steal because they will be encased in concrete and buried underground.

.       .       .

The reactors, only a few metres in diameter, will be delivered on the back of a lorry to be buried underground. They must be refuelled every 7 to 10 years. Because the reactor is based on a 50-year-old design that has proved safe for students to use, few countries are expected to object to plants on their territory. An application to build the plants will be submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission next year.

‘You could never have a Chernobyl-type event – there are no moving parts,’ said Deal. ‘You would need nation-state resources in order to enrich our uranium. Temperature-wise it’s too hot to handle. It would be like stealing a barbecue with your bare hands.’

Other companies are known to be designing micro-reactors. Toshiba has been testing 200KW reactors measuring roughly six metres by two metres. Designed to fuel smaller numbers of homes for longer, they could power a single building for up to 40 years.

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BATS: Deadly Bat Disease Linked to Cold-Loving Fungus: Scientists have pinpointed the fungus linked to white-nose syndrome, the mysterious ailment that has wiped out large populations of bats in the northeastern United States.

BEES: Beekeepers protest outside Downing Street: Britain will suffer “agricultural disaster” unless more money is put into discovering what it killing the nation’s bees, the Government has been warned., Bush officials plan to dial back environmental protections, International Pollinator Conference Highlights Importance of Bees: U.S. continues efforts to protect declining pollinator populations , Whither The Honey Bee?, What’s Killing the Honeybees?, Whither The Honey Bee?, Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis

CLIMATE CHANGE: Dried Mushrooms Slow Climate Warming In Northern Forests: The fight against climate warming has an unexpected ally in mushrooms growing in dry spruce forests covering Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia and other northern regions, a new UC Irvine study finds.

DEFORESTATION: Unknown Deforestation Exposed

DEREGULATION: Bush administration gives 10 days for species comments, So Little Time, So Much Damage , Bush team rushes environment policy changes, Bush’s parting moves on the environment, Bush officials plan to dial back environmental protections, To Gut Species Protection, Interior Calls “All Hands on Deck”

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Australia plans electric vehicle network

ENDANGERED SPECIES: Rare, Prehistoric-Age Reptile Found in N.Z.: A rare reptile with lineage dating back to the dinosaur age has been found nesting on the New Zealand mainland for the first time in about 200 years, officials said Friday.

EXTINCTION: Asking ‘Why Do Species Go Extinct?’

FISHERIES: There’s no need for more flawed fisheries data: The National Saltwater Angler Registry that is being touted by some as a vital saltwater management tool cannot be expected to deliver any more accurate information than the present data-gathering mechanism.

HYDROELECTRICITY: 99 Year Old Hydroelectric Plant Coming Back Online

HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT: Minnesota farmers: Wolf ruling threatens livestock

LED LIGHTS: New LED Bulbs Look Weirder, Save More Energy

NUCLEARIZATION OF ENERGY SOURCES: Nukenomics No Longer Add Up – Expert

POLITICS: Hackers and Spending Sprees: Highlights from NEWSWEEK’s special election project

SALMON: Hearings slated on protecting salmon: BANGOR – Two public hearings are scheduled this week on a proposal to designate Atlantic salmon in the Penobscot, Kennebec, and Androscoggin rivers as an endangered species.

SCIENCE: ‘Junk’ DNA Proves Functional; Helps Explain Human Differences From Other Species: In a paper published in Genome Research on Nov. 4, scientists at the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) report that what was previously believed to be “junk” DNA is one of the important ingredients distinguishing humans from other species.

SOLAR ENERGY: Solar Cells Set New Performance Mark

T. BOONE PICKENS: Pickens Plan Reality Check: Energy Freedom or Farce?

WAL-MART: WAL-MART SELLING LEAD PAINT…TO PUT ON YOUR KID’S FACE!

WHALING: Japan Accuses Animal Planet of EcoTerrorism Prior to “Whale Wars” Premiere

WILDLIFE: Hawk Kills Owl At Montrose Beach: Bird Watchers At Fault?

“Environmental News Picks” are made possible with help from Kevin.

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In my opinion, Obama won hands down because of his energy policy. While I don’t believe in clean coal (because it doesn’t exist), Obama won big on energy issues, because his energy policy does not rely heavily on nuclear power or offshore drilling. Obama has a more competent and thoughtful energy policy than McCain, because McCain’s energy policy is an all-of-the-above approach.  Anyone can develop an all-of-the-above approach to meet our energy needs.  

McCain’s all-of-the-above energy approach is poor energy policy, because it’s lazy energy policy, and he uses it to pander voters. Furthermore from tonight’s debate, McCain’s nexus in his all-of-the-above energy policy is the nuclearization of energy.

McCain claimed nuclear energy is safe, because he worked on ships powered by nuclear power. However, nuclear power isn’t safe, and unless you’re a nuclear engineer, I do not believe working on a nuclear-powered military ship makes one an expert on nuclear power.

McCain also claimed that nuclear power is clean. However, nuclear power isn’t clean, because the fuel must be mined, and storing the nuclear waste seems impossible. Furthermore, record droughts in the south have threatened to shut down nuclear power plants. Who knows how climate change will influence future nuclear power operations.  

Obama does favor nuclear power as one component to our energy mix of the future. Wisely, he doesn’t rely on nuclear power or offshore drilling. This is why Obama’s energy policy is more palatable than McCain’s energy policy.  Obama’s policy to export green energy technology for offsetting reliance on coal power is a smart move too.  Furthermore, Obama did well at delegitimizing the policy of offshore drilling as a farce by noting that the United States has only 3% of the world’s reserves, but consumes 25%.

Conservation was one important policy component that was lacking from tonight’s debate.  I would like to see both candidates support more energy conservation, since American culture wastes too much.

Tonight, McCain claimed that offshore drilling is immediately needed to reduce the price of oil and for our energy security. Isn’t conserving our mere 3% domestic oil supplies more of an energy security policy than pumping it out, selling it on the world market, and allowing oil companies to profit?  Furthermore, McCain has consitently voted against renewable energy and supported tax breaks for big oil.

More of the same McCain.

Ken writes:

There are several ways to utilize Thorium, which also has potential economic advantages on the front end (more abundant than uranium and no expensive enrichment required). It has already been used in pebble bed reactors both here and in Germany for commercial power production. There is a company, Thorium Power Ltd which is close to marketing a fuel design that not only converts current light water reactors into Thorium burners, but also enables these same reactors to dispose of long term nuclear waste products from other reactors. Another option actively under development in Japan is the liquid fluoride thorium reactor, which they call Fuji II. This one promises to be the most efficient reactor ever built since it can almost completely burn down the input thorium fuel. It can also be used as a nuclear waste ‘garbage disposal’ for all the long lived transuranic waste from current reactors. Bye bye Yuka Mtn!

Tell McCain and Obama to support research into the utilization of Thorium and write you congress people too. Don’t make this a narrow partisan issue, it is far too important, I’m as blue as they get and I fully support nuclear power. Coal is killing the planet, it’s not the CO2 (which is bad), it is the heavy metals. A single coal plant will dump 30,000 pounds of highly toxic mercury into the sky to fall back into the oceans. Just picture that much mercury in five gallon pails. Probably several hundred of the heavy stuff. Then pick up the pails one at a time and dump them into the nearest river upstream of your water source. Get the picture? Repeat for each of the hundreds of coal fired plants across the country. Repeat for Arsenic, Chromium, Uranium and Thorium. Mercury stays around in the environment for hundreds of years so repeat year after year. Ever wonder where all the mercury in tuna comes from? Oh, did I mention acid rain?

Despite my stance on traditional uranium-based nuclear power, I do believe in using and promoting new technology to solve our energy problems – sans major impacts to the environment. If the claims and feasibility of thorium-based nuclear energy are true then thorium-based nuclear energy should be part of the debate.

Here is a reason why we need to move away from dirty energy sources such as coal: Mercury pollution from an unknown source or sources is currently a huge problem in the Great Salt Lake and for waterfowl that feed on the brine shrimp inhabiting the lake.

The new age of nuclear power? What if there was a nuclear reactor with “no possibility of a meltdown,” that “generated its power inexpensively, created no weapons-grade by-products, and burnt up existing high-level waste as well as old nuclear weapon stockpiles,” and “what if the waste produced by such a reactor was radioactive for a mere few hundred years rather than tens of thousands?” Proponents of a new generation of nuclear reactors that are powered by thorium claim these thorium-based nuclear reactors can deliver what uranium-based reactors never could.

John McCain is a snake-oil salesman. His energy policy might sound great to the average American, but is John McCain’s all of the above philosophy, that promotes both alternatives and offshore drilling together, the best policy to meet present-day energy demands? Certainly, it is not the best policy.

I do not trust McCain’s energy policy, because he has a poor record on both environmental and energy issues, which are interrelated. Furthermore, his straight talk approach implies business as usual or the status quo, and his straight talk approach on energy is a farce to falsely comfort Americans from the reality that we live in a finite world with finite resources.

Given McCain’s poor voting record on environmental issues, and his close ties to the oil industry (see how big oil rushed money to McCain after he “reversed his opposition to the federal ban on offshore drilling” at the Washington Post), does McCain really have a new energy policy that is both imaginative and applicable in today’s world? I don’t think he does, because we have heard the same rhetoric from the Presidency of George W. Bush. We haven’t seen any significant policy or infrastructure to meet both energy and climate change demands come from the Presidency of George W. Bush. What we have seen from the Presidency of George W. Bush on energy and climate change is foot dragging. In fact, states have taken the lead in building the renewable energy infrastructure, and the federal government has not. I don’t trust McCain’s energy policy, because I hear and have heard the President make the same pitch. However, I do have some questions for John McCain:

1. What does the McCain energy policy actually do? What are the numbers?
2. Who are the projected winners and who are the projected losers (and please don’t say the American people are winners)?
3. What is the role of renewable energy in the McCain all of the above philosophy towards energy policy? Again, what are the numbers?
4. What is the role of nuclear power in the McCain energy policy? Numbers?

I think McCain is the one who is out of touch with America. Just like the gas tax holiday, McCain is wrong again, because given the world demand for oil, offshore drilling is a drop in the bucket, and isn’t worth the risk. Furthermore, I think his recent attacks on Obama for recommending that properly inflated tires save energy shows he is further out of touch. From TIME:

But who’s really out of touch? The Bush Administration estimates that expanded offshore drilling could increase oil production by 200,000 bbl. per day by 2030. We use about 20 million bbl. per day, so that would meet about 1% of our demand two decades from now. Meanwhile, efficiency experts say that keeping tires inflated can improve gas mileage 3%, and regular maintenance can add another 4%. Many drivers already follow their advice, but if everyone did, we could immediately reduce demand several percentage points. In other words: Obama is right.

More data is here to refute McCain’s claim that Obama is out of touch with America for recommending that properly inflated tires save energy:

Earlier this year, we cosponsored the Alliance to Save Energy’s Drive Smarter Challenge. As part of this campaign we advocated maintaining proper tire pressure as one simple step consumers could take to increase fuel economy and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. It’s more important than you may think. For instance, did you know…

• The Department of Energy estimates that 1.2 billion gallons of fuel were wasted in 2005 as a result of driving on under-inflated tires.

• Fuel efficiency is reduced by 1% for every 3 PSI that tires are under-inflated.

• Proper tire inflation can save the equivalent of about 1 tank of gas per year.

• Proper tire inflation also reduces CO2 emissions.

• Experts estimate that 25% of automobiles are running on tires with lower than recommended pressure, because people don’t know how to check their tires or don’t realize that tires naturally lose air over time.

Below are the voting records of both John McCain and Barack Obama from the League of Conservation Voters. McCain has a voting score of 0%, so between both candidates, who do you trust on environmental and energy issues?

Obama responds to McCain’s out of touch attacks: “It’s like these guys take pride in being ignorant.” Furthermore, Obama actually mentions updating the electricity grid, which is perhaps the most important factor in promoting energy efficiency (and this video illustrates why I am voting for Obama):

On the Net: League of Conservation Voters – The Independent Political Voice for the Environment

Having to rely on the nuclearization of energy sources as a major component to our energy portfolio does not make us carbon serious since the risk of doing so may be foolish instead. As a modern civilization we have a myriad of ideas in addition to policy and technological choices available as alternatives to the nuclearization of energy sources. However, we lack the cohesion and wisdom from our leaders to seriously tackle the issues of energy needs, environmental needs and development. Furthermore, the philosophy of nuclearizing our energy sources or portfolio copiously is naive. I believe an opposite policy that does include nuclear energy (but not chiefly), amongst renewable energy sources in addition to seriously implementing some of our other choices like upgrading the electricity transmission grid is more efficient, imaginative, resourceful, and wiser.

Andrew Sullivan agrees with Republican presidential hopeful U.S. Senator John McCain that nuclearization of energy sources is necessary to being carbon serious. Certainly an argument against nuclear power is the production of bomb making material or the proliferation of nuclear weapons but that argument or main assertion by itself does not take into consideration these issues:

1. Although nuclear power should be part of our energy portfolio major reliance on nuclear power is lazy and misguided.
2. Nuclear power is susceptible to droughts because nuclear power plants require large amounts of water for cooling. Droughts can force nuclear plants to shut down.
3. Nuclear power is susceptible to earthquakes.
4. Nuclear power relies on nonrenewable resources that must be extracted just like oil.
5. Storing nuclear waste is controversial and seems impossible.
6. Electricity produced by nuclear reactors is expensive.
7. Because nuclear power relies on a nonrenewable resource, the cost of electricity is subjected to availability or supply and demand. This problem parallels crude oil availability and fuel prices.
8. The ability of solar and wind energy to compete with nuclear sources is not far behind. Some folks may argue that the competitiveness of renewable resources is already here. In fact, wind energy alone has the possibility of replacing the current output of energy from nuclear sources.
9. The cost of building more nuclear power plants can be invested in a more pressing need: modernizing, rehabilitating, and upgrading the electricity transmission grid.

We need well thought holistic solutions not magic bullets. I believe the policy of nuclearization of energy sources is no better or wiser than Senators Hillary Clinton’s and John McCain’s gas tax holiday.

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