nuclear-news

Russian State owned Rosatom, which answers directly to the President of Russia (Putin). Thus, it appears more accurate to say Putin Plans. He/it has recently forced an expensive, unwanted, nuclear power station upon Bulgaria through international legal action, and is building reactors in Iran, Turkey, and elsewhere. As Toshiba-Westinghouse’s probable bankruptcy shows, the nuclear industry cannot survive in free markets, even where it gets massive subsidies. The US taxpayer may lose part of its $8.3 billion loan given for reactors. French State owned Areva is undergoing massive injections of money but must answer, somewhat, to the French parliament. Russian State owned Rosatom is unique – it only answers to the Executive, i.e. Putin. Apart from free speech issues, this is the single biggest reason not to be owned by Putin.

From Greenpeace: “Greenpeace protests against the launch of fueling of a nuclear power plant inside the city of St…

Opinion:

¶ “Clean Energy Is Seeing Monumental Job Growth” • Multiple news outlets reported that the budget President Donald Trump plans to submit to Congress will gut or even eliminate two principal DOE research efforts fueling a renewable energy revolution in the United States. That would be an enormous mistake. [US News & World Report]

Wind energy – an economic driver (Getty Images)

¶ “Now there are air-pollution deniers, too” • There are very few people who believe air pollution – specifically “fine particulate” pollution, or PM2.5 – doesn’t cause death. But those who do are getting louder and gaining influence in conservative political circles and inside President Donald Trump’s administration. [Grist]

¶ “Turnbull drives stake through heart of fossil fuel industry” Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced his desire to spend $2 billion on a 2-GW pumped hydro scheme in the Snowy Mountains, in a…

Farmers in Iowa, Kansas, Texas and California’s Central Valley know that the weather is getting worse. They know that droughts are intensifying, floods are more severe, and wildfires are growing larger as the years steadily warm. Coastal dwellers in Nantucket, Virginia Beach, Cape Hatteras, Myrtle Beach, Miami and the lowlands of Louisiana know that the seas are rising. They know that tidal and storm flooding takes more land and property with each passing year. And those who live in the far north, in places like Barrow, Alaska, know that the glaciers and sea ice are melting.

(Harmful impacts to Americans from climate change are on the rise and the number of Americans concerned about climate change has never been higher. Image source: Gallup.)

Americans, in greater numbers than ever before, believe that climate change is real, that it is a threat to them, and that humans are the cause. The…