Nuclear energy will not halt the climate crisis

Nuclear energy will not halt the climate crisis – Lorna Slater. Last
week’s UK budget was a bleak day for our climate. Throughout his speech the
Chancellor kept referring to his ‘four Es’, but he forgot about the
most important E of all: our environment.

Renewable energy is the cheapest
and cleanest energy available. And we have a huge potential to generate
even more of it. But you wouldn’t know it from listening to Downing
Street. Watching the Chancellor, I felt like we’d gone back in time 20
years. This is a UK government that is aware of the damage being done but
is still choosing to double down on fossil fuels and planning even more
drilling.

It is also boosting investment in nuclear power and unproven
technologies. One of the most concerning announcements was for the launch
of a so-called “Great British Nuclear” scheme.

By classifying nuclear
power as an “environmentally sustainable” energy source, the Chancellor
could allow nuclear giants to access the same support and investment
incentives as renewable energy projects. Nuclear is not a viable or green
option. The production of new nuclear power is extraordinarily expensive
and will take years, if not decades, to become operational.

The Chancellor’s plan is for nuclear power to provide a quarter of the UK’s
energy by 2050, but that would be far too late. We simply don’t have time
to waste on it. Instead of hinging our bets on an unstable and money
haemorrhaging scheme to boost nuclear power, our focus should be on using
the green technology that is already available and providing the best
possible pathway to net zero.

Edinburgh Evening News 21st March 2023

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/opinion/columnists/nuclear-energy-will-not-halt-the-climate-crisis-lorna-slater-4071397

March 24, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized

1 Comment »

The Solutions Project, (thesolutionsproject.org), Rocky Mountain Institute, (rmi.org)if you visit their websites they will inform you of the plans and the renewable energy technologies that we have now to transition to a renewable energy economy with just wind, photovoltaic, hydroelectric, and geothermal power. If you throw in conservation, using more energy efficient appliances, machines, mass public transportation, retrofitting of buildings and homes., pumped storage hydroelectric power, hydrogen fuel cells, smart grids, microgrids, tidal, ocean currents, battery and iron-chromium flux capacitors and biomass energy, there is more than enough capacity to meet our energy needs everywhere on the planet. The only thing lacking is the political will because both the nuclear and the fossil fuel industry have bought the votes of our elected leaders from most political parties in most countries on the planet. Profit addiction, the quick fast buck and the environment be damned, is the ideology and philosophy of these companies. How much profit is enough? Contrary to the propaganda of the nuclear and fossil fuel industry, “we will not starve and freeze in the dark,” nor “wreck our economy,” by switching to renewable energy now.

Comment by paulrodenlearning | March 24, 2023 | Reply