That feels kind of all-or-nothing. Environmental issues are part of the problem destabilizing societies. Overall, the poisoning of the environment is much worse and much less contained with fossil fuels than with nuclear power. Distant future societies might have no knowledge of nuclear storage sites and a few people might even die before they realize they need to stop breaking into the underground barrels. But a lot more people will die from the environmental havoc that we’re causing with fossil fuels. And they can’t just stay away from the barrels to avoid that one.
Just to be clear, I think wind and solar (and geothermal where appropriate) are the best ways to get off of fossil fuels. They’ve gotten a lot cheaper than nuclear so it doesn’t make much sense to build new reactors. But it also doesn’t make much sense to shut them down if nuclear waste is the only issue.
Just like a financial portfolio, our energy ecosystem is only safe if it’s well and proper distributed. Excess energy can be stored, or simply routed to ground, programs that incentivise energy use during unexpected peak periods already exist, there’s absolutely no reason not to over-plan and engineer it just to avoid shit like what goes down in Texas almost every year…
I like your thoughtful take and that you didn’t leap to the assumption that I support fossil fuels. Renewables are the way, and we had renewables (windmills and such) before we had electricity.
That feels kind of all-or-nothing. Environmental issues are part of the problem destabilizing societies. Overall, the poisoning of the environment is much worse and much less contained with fossil fuels than with nuclear power. Distant future societies might have no knowledge of nuclear storage sites and a few people might even die before they realize they need to stop breaking into the underground barrels. But a lot more people will die from the environmental havoc that we’re causing with fossil fuels. And they can’t just stay away from the barrels to avoid that one.
Just to be clear, I think wind and solar (and geothermal where appropriate) are the best ways to get off of fossil fuels. They’ve gotten a lot cheaper than nuclear so it doesn’t make much sense to build new reactors. But it also doesn’t make much sense to shut them down if nuclear waste is the only issue.
I agree but also think that we should build both nuclear and renewables. Because we dont have much time left.
Just like a financial portfolio, our energy ecosystem is only safe if it’s well and proper distributed. Excess energy can be stored, or simply routed to ground, programs that incentivise energy use during unexpected peak periods already exist, there’s absolutely no reason not to over-plan and engineer it just to avoid shit like what goes down in Texas almost every year…
Of course. Why wouldn’t we use both?
I like your thoughtful take and that you didn’t leap to the assumption that I support fossil fuels. Renewables are the way, and we had renewables (windmills and such) before we had electricity.