Windfarms Stir Up Controversy

Fox News ^ | 8/5/2002 | Alisyn Camerota

[StriperSniper]

Figures you would know Montgomery. ;-)

[Libertarianize the GOP]

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[gunshy]

Can you provide a source for this claim?

[Nik Naym]

Mr. Burns,

Please tell us about the environmental damage caused by the three mile island nuclear accident. (Hint: You can't-there isn't any)

Also, are you aware that only old commie designed nuclear plants were built like Chernobil, with NO containment or back up safety systems? We don't build power plants like they did.

Heck, even the FRENCH design, build and operate nuke plants safely, and in large numbers. And they can't even build a decent automobile!

You can build all the nuke plants you want, right in my back yard for all I care. They are only feared by the ignorant.

Nik

[Age of Reason]

Nuclear power is too dangerous, coal pollutes, wind power spoils views, and oil makes us hostage to the mideast.

Let's import another gazillion immigrants while we're at it, since we're not running out of electricity or fresh air or views.

But if we do, there's always human-generated electricity: human-sized hamster wheels connected to generators.

But no American would want the job of running around inside a giant hamster wheel. Good thing the illegals are here to do the work Americans won't do.

[Age of Reason]

They are only feared by the ignorant.

The White Star Line probably said that about people who were too scared of drowning to take the unsinkable titanic.

[Mr. Burns]

I wasn't arguing against nuclear power, just pointing out that, like ALL energy sources, it has its risks and drawbacks. I believe that it is one answer to our energy needs, but the attitude that accidents only happen poorly built Soviet plants is one that is asking for trouble.

It CAN happen here, be it through hidden design flaws, carelessness, and of course terrorism. If a Russian spy can become a director of the FBI counter intelligence (Robert Hanson), a terrorist mole could work his way into the control room of the plant.

There is also the issue of the movement and storage of the radioactive by products. I wasn't saying that we shouldn't use nuclear energy, just responding to Coloradan's comment that nuclear accidents would never happen.

[doc11355]

Chernobyl, Three Mile Island...

The last time I checked, more people were injured in the back seat of Ted Kennedy's car than were injured at Three Mile Island. Or, at least so said the bumper sticker at the time...

[Nik Naym]

Nor am I saying accidents will never happen. However, we can not deny that nuclear power has a very safe track record, has NOT caused major environmental damage (when handled properly, as we do it here) and it is one of our best options for energy.

I do not fear nuclear power. I currently live within the 5 mile emergency response zone of a nuclear plant. I would be very comfortable with having another ten reactors built around me. The risks are manageable. The record of nuclear energy in this country speaks for itself. We owe it to ourselves to revive the nuclear power industry. Sadly, I doubt we ever will.

Nik

[cinFLA]

and solar is out because making the cells generates toxic waste from the processing chemicals. Hydroelectric is out because damming the rivers floods wildlife habitats (and gorgeous gorges). Geothermal is out since putting plants in national monuments like Yellowstone would harm the natural beauty. Wave power harms seals and sea lions, while burning garbage releases toxins in the air.

Tell me, how are the liberals supposed to heat their frappucino lattes?

They say no problem! Solar is good.

[cinFLA]

TMI: A good example of what happens to the environment when a serious accident with multiple screw-ups in succession are done in an American plant: a tiny amount of radiation leaks, no injuries, no fatalities, no serious damage to the environment. Compare that to the cost of a single tanker leak, or a single well fire. Nuclear power is much safer than any other technology, but the environazis just won't have any of it - despite the fact it is the best thing we could possibly do for the environment.

Besides, Post-TMI was used to upgrade existing plants and new plant designs and procedures to address those problems. Present designs are even less suseptable to accidents.

[Nik Naym]

Perhaps you are confusing RESPECT with FEAR. Wise people will respect the risks invovlved in nuclear energy. Those risks are manageable, as has been demonstrated for decades in this country. The potential benefits far outweigh the potential risks.

Downright fear of nuclear energy is based on ignorance. The very same people who will agonize over having a nuke plant nearby will think nothing of driving around without a seatbelt in traffic, or smoking, or a dozen other, riskier things.

Another factor involved in the irrational fear of nuclear energy is the lack of knowledge about radiation. People do not understand it, so they fear it. Don't forget, we live in a land where people once thought that microwave ovens made food radioactive, and where many still belive cell phones will kill you because they emit "radiation", where many people think that irradiating food somehow will contaminate it with nuclear waste.

By the way, comparing nuclear energy to the Titanic is a handy diversionary tactic, nothing more.

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

Nuclear power is out of the question because of extreme risk to the environment, despite the fact such an accident has never happened.

Chernobyl, Three Mile Island.....

Chernobyl was a problem because of the total incompetence of the communist organization from the cause to the response of the event. My recollection of Three Mile Island is the staff released a small amount of radioactive contaminates into the atmosphere from which no one died. The Irony of American power production is that tens of thousands have died from black lung disease, mineshaft cave-ins, and airborne carbon pollution from the burning of fossil fuels. The near non-existent deaths of nuclear fuel production pales in comparison to fossil fuels. It makes a mockery of common sense or any form of argumentation to point to Three Mile Island as proof of the evils of nuclear power.

[brat]

Cape Cod and the whacko might want to check with Calif. where their wind farms have been a major non-supplier of power. They sound good but do not work well. Does anyone remember the stats on their power output???

[Twodees]

The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound says they're not opposed to wind farms. They'd just like to be able to tell the developers where to put them.

There's a joke in there somewhere.....