Earning it

Posted by David Roberts at 12:11 PM on 13 Sep 2007

Read more about: energy | nuclear power

Another day, another Whitman editorial boosting nukes. At least this one has a slightly better disclaimer:

Christine Todd Whitman is the former governor of New Jersey and EPA administrator. She is the CASEnergy Coalition co-chair. The CASEnergy Coalition is an advocacy group that believes greater use of nuclear energy is critical to a U.S. energy policy.

I guess if my organization was created at the behest of the nuclear industry, with money from the nuclear industry, in order to advocate for the nuclear industry, I would "believe" that too.

For story: Earning it
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Periodically I dig into

the pros and cons of nuclear energy to see if anything new has arrived. The bias and bullshit thrown by the opposing sides is obvious to anyone agnostic on the issue as I tend to be.

I'm pushed toward the center by my desire to save our biodiversity. Nuclear is on par with wind, solar, and geothermal in its low potential to destroy biodiversity. But that is just one measure. It isn't renewable. As the number built grows, the price of the fuel will rise (is rising)dramatically and attempts to find and get at new sources of ore may eventually be as destructive as coal mining is today. If the ore sits under a nature preserve, good luck saving said preserve.

On the other hand, the ores needed to build windmills and solar farms are mined also. So for now, I stick to my position that unless we can improve the technology to eliminate the potential for nuclear weapons proliferation and fuel scarcity, we should leave this dog lie. A few nuclear plants do more good than harm but as their number grows that is likely to be reversed.

In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world

by biodiversivist at 1:40 PM on 13 Sep 2007

NRDC's energy director promoting Whitman?

Ashok Gupta is Natural Resources Defense Council's (NRDC) Air and Energy Program Director. He is also a board member of Clean Air Cool Planet for which he is also Chair of the Program Committee. http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/about/board.php

Clean Air Cool Planet will be hosting a conference, Global Warming & Energy Solutions for which NRDC's Gupta is a member of Conference Steering Committee.
http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/conference_GWS07/index ...

Speaking at the conference is none other than Christine Todd Whitman. I can't see
anyone scheduled whom I'd identify as a critic of nuclear power comparable to the pro-nuke role that Whitman has adopted.
http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/conference_GWS07/progr ...

Looking at past speakers of the group's conferences, I also see a pro-nuclear disposition.

Bill McKibben is also a speaker at this conference, but while I believe he has been against nuclear power in the past, he is not as far as I can tell currently making that position an emphasis of his work, certainly not in the manner that Whitman is advocating for nuclear.

Some might say I'm reading too much into this, but to me in light of other actions by
NRDC, this reflects the pro-nuclear bias by NRDC in spite of their anti-nuke rhetoric.

bernardo issel - http://www.NonprofitWatch.org - bernardo (at) NonprofitWatch.org

by NonprofitWatch at 1:51 PM on 13 Sep 2007

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