Nuclear aggression
U.S. nuclear warheads, especially on America’s full fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, already outnumber those of Russia and are, in fact, up-to-date (U.S. Must Grow Its Nuclear Force – Dec. 23).
It was the United States that unilaterally abrogated the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and got us into a potential arms race in the first place; anyone who ever believed that the U.S.-constructed (not just “backed”) European Missile Shield with its forward ends in Romania and Poland was aimed at Iran and not at Russia should give their head a shake.
The shield badly skews the nuclear balance in Europe and its presence is precisely why Russia has to upgrade, when it cannot afford it. The U.S. already is spending more on armaments, including on its nuclear force, than Russia and China put together. Someone better mute Donald Trump and his team soon or the entire world is in danger of a nuclear conflagration.
“No nukes, no Trump” – protest rally in New York
Protesters rip Trump’s nuclear views during Midtown rally, drawing support and criticism from tourists, Daily News, NY JEFFERSON SIEGEL, 27 Dec 16, Crowds of Midtown tourists found themselves mingling Monday night with people protesting President-elect Donald Trump’s recent comments on escalating the nuclear arms race.
The demonstrators found they were noticed as well.
Chanting “No nukes, no Trump,” and holding candles in empty milk containers, several dozen protesters were both encouraged and excoriated by the passing mobs during the demonstration from about 4 to 6 p.m…..
On so many levels, from conflicts of interest to some of the people he’s chosen for cabinet positions that seemed to have espoused bigotry and hatred in the past,” said Joseph Lalli, 60, of the Bronx, “a man like Trump does not appear to have the temperament that is suitable to be the president of the most powerful nation in the world.”……http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/protesters-rip-trump-nuclear-views-midtown-rally-article-1.2924869
“Frightening news” says Noam Chomsky, about Donald Trump’s tweet on nuclear expansion
Donald Trump’s nuclear expansion tweet ‘one of the most frightening things’, says Noam Chomsky The US and Russia already own more than 93 per cent of nuclear warheads in the world, The Independent, Rachael Revesz @RachaelRevesz Friday 23 December 2016 One of the world’s most famous scholars said he was “frightened” by Donald Trump’s tweet on “strengthening and expanding” nuclear capabilities in the US.
Noam Chomsky, professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said Mr Trump’s tweet was “one of the most frightening things I’ve seen recently”. “Putin’s is bad enough,” Mr Chomsky told the Huffington Post, “but at least it has a defensive cast. It’s about Russia’s borders, not Mexico’s.”……..
Mr Trump’s tweet, limited to 140 characters, did not give national security experts and advisers much reassurance for anything other than his preference for heated rhetoric…….
John Noonan, a Republican national security expert who advised presidential candidates Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney, wrote on twitter: “But imagine having to turn launch keys not knowing if we were under attack or it if was b/c foreign leaders said a mean thing on twitter.”Mr Trump has done little to assure his critics that he has the presence of mind and the steadiness to make a quick decision regarding an imminent nuclear threat……..http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-nuclear-expansion-tweet-noam-chomsky-weapons-arsenal-twitter-a7491921.html
Even without subsidies Wind & Solar Are Cheaper Than Dirty Energy
Low Costs of Solar Power & Wind Power Crush Coal, Crush Nuclear, & Beat Natural Gas [this article on original is full of excellent charts and maps], Clean Technica, December 25th, 2016 by Zachary Shahan “……..
Wind & Solar Are Cheaper (Without Subsidies) Than Dirty Energy
The first point is the very basic fact that new wind power and/or solar power plants are typically cheaper than new coal, natural gas, or nuclear power plants — even without any governmental support for solar or wind.
Not only are they typically cheaper — they’re much cheaper in many cases. [good charts on original]
……..A study led by the former head of the Harvard Medical School found that coal cost the US $500 billion per year in extra health and environmental costs — approximately 9¢/kWh ($90/MWh) to 27¢/kWh ($270/MWh) more than the price we pay directly. To fool yourself into thinking these are not real costs is to assume that cancer, heart disease, asthma, and early death are not real.
The air, water, and climate effects of natural gas are not pretty either. On the nuclear front, the decommissioning and insurance costs of nuclear power — unaccounted for above — would also put nuclear off the chart.
On the renewable front, costs to overcome intermittency of renewable energy sources (basically, presuming a very high penetration of renewables on the grid) are also not included. Once that is a significant issue (at which point solar and wind will be even cheaper), low-cost demand response solutions, greater grid integration, and storage will be key solutions to integrating these lower-cost renewable sources to a high degree.
Back to Lazard’s assumptions, note that the IGCC and coal cost estimates do not include the costs of transportation and storage.
Given these assumptions unrealistically favoring fossil fuels and nuclear energy, including subsidies for solar and wind is actually an even better way to look at costs of these electricity options. However, if you included historical subsidies as well — coal, natural gas, and nuclear have received a ton (well, many, many tons of subsidies) — dirty energy options would again look worse. In any case, here’s Lazard’s cost comparisons with current subsidies: [chart on original]………
People Can Get Lower Prices But More Jobs With Solar & Wind
Whether American, British, Canadian, Australian, Indian, German, Dutch, French, Spanish, or [fill in the blank], solar and wind power don’t just mean lower prices — they also typically mean more jobs. Much of the price of dirty energy power plants is in the fossil fuel — the physical resource. When we buy that fuel, much of the money goes to the billionaires and multimillionaires who “own” the fuel — the coal mines and the natural gas wells.
Sunshine and wind, of course, are free, but distributed solar and wind power plants have to get built and installed — those are things humans do. When we pay for solar and wind power plants, we pay for human labor, and often help create or support local jobs.
We don’t actually have to choose between low prices or jobs or protecting our air, water, and climate — we get all of those things with renewable energy options like solar and wind energy…….https://cleantechnica.com/2016/12/25/cost-of-solar-power-vs-cost-of-wind-power-coal-nuclear-natural-gas/
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich backs Donald Trump’s aim to build up nuclear weapons
Gingrich endorses Trump’s nuclear arms buildup By POLITICO STAFF 12/25/16
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Sunday supported President-elect Donald Trump’s remarks about a buildup of nuclear weapons, saying the strategy “is exactly right.”……..
Nuclear Regulatory Commission keeping mum on the situation at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station
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Lawmakers concerned with Nuclear Regulatory Commission by Amid a week-long shutdown of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, legislators from Plymouth say their greatest frustration is not with the plant’s latest closure but in trying to get the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to be more forthcoming about the aging nuclear plant and problems identified by their own inspectors.
On Thursday, Dec. 15, after conducting scheduled testing at the plant, a Pilgrim operator found a “small main steam line leak” and the plant’s “operators made the conservative, best practice decision to shut down the plant and repair the leak,” Patrick O’Brien, a spokesman for the plant’s owner Entergy, said in an email. The plant remained offline Wednesday, O’Brien said, as plant workers took “the time/opportunity to do maintenance that can’t be done otherwise when we are at full-power.” The steam line repairs have been completed, he said, and there was no threat to the safety of the plant’s staff or the public. But Sen. Vinny deMacedo and Rep. Mathew Muratore, both Republicans from Plymouth, said they are more concerned about the NRC’s apparent unwillingness to answer questions raised after the Cape Cod Times and other media outlets obtained an internal NRC emaildocumenting safety concerns found at the plant during an NRC inspection earlier this month. The email details problems such as “poor maintenance, poor engineering practices, and equipment reliability problems” at the plant, which can produce 680 megawatts of power using its boiling water reactor…….. a former Plymouth selectman, said the email contained “some alarming information” and the NRC has “not at all” done enough to allay the concerns the email brought to the forefront……. Sen. Dan Wolf of Harwich told the News Service this month that the email “validates” concerns that he said should be taken seriously by those in authority. “What is it going to take for this administration and for public safety officials in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to understand that this is the biggest public safety threat that the citizens of the Commonwealth face?” asked Wolf, a Democrat and possible candidate for governor in 2018. Pilgrim opponents who favor its immediate shutdown have repeatedly called on Gov. Charlie Baker to recommend a shutdown. In turn, Baker has deferred to the federal government given its role as the chief regulator of the nuclear power industry. http://sherborn.wickedlocal.com/news/20161224/lawmakers-concerned-with-nuclear-regulatory-commission |
Will Trump rule by fear? His tweets indicate this pattern
Tr
ump’s Nuclear Weapons Tweet is Further Proof He Intends to Rule by Fear
With a single tweet, we can kiss goodbye to the diplomatic years of the Obama administration where consensus and collaboration ruled and America sought to engage peaceably with the international community. BEN COHEN THE DAILY BANTER, 22 DEC 16
Trump’s nuclear comments are ‘nothing special’ , says Putin
Russia’s Vladimir Putin says Donald Trump’s nuclear comments are ‘nothing special’ http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-23/putin-says-does-not-dispute-us-military-most-powerful-in-world/8146200 Russian President Vladimir Putin said he does not dispute that the US military is the world’s most powerful, and that US President-elect Donald Trump’s statement about the need to boost his country’s nuclear weapons capability was perfectly normal.
Mr Trump on Thursday called for an expansion of the United States’ nuclear capabilities, in a tweet that alarmed non-proliferation experts who said that a boost to the US arsenal could fuel global tensions.
Mr Putin told a news conference in Moscow he was surprised by the fuss Mr Trump’s tweet had caused and how it had been linked to his own statements about Russia’s plans to modernise its nuclear arsenal. He said Mr Trump’s statement about overhauling US nuclear forces was “nothing special”.
“[Trump] spoke during his election campaign about the need to beef up the US nuclear arsenal and the armed forces,” said Mr Putin.
Mr Putin said on Thursday Russia’s military was “stronger than any potential aggressor”.
The Russian leader made clear on Friday he did not regard the United States as a potential aggressor.
“I was a bit surprised by the statements from some representatives of the current US administration who for some reason started to prove that the US military was the most powerful in the world,” said Mr Putin.
“Nobody is arguing with that.”
Biggest threat in Asia Pacific region – nuclear North Korea
Speaking on the ABC’s 7.30 program on Wednesday the former prime minister said the nuclear threat was the number one priority in terms of US-China relations.
When asked by host Leigh Sales what the pressing challenges were in our region, Mr Rudd said: “I will give you three: North Korea, North Korea and North Korea.
“It’s to do with North Korean technical capabilities in terms of missile sophistication, missile range, the availability of nuclear material and the ability to militarise that into a warhead.”
The issue was escalating “on a very rapid timescale”, said Mr Rudd, who heads up the New York-based Asia Society Policy Institute.
“Therefore the number one priority in terms of US-China relations, leaving everything to one side, is to reach agreement strategically between the president of China and the president-elect of the US into how this can be arrested.”
Failing that “the alternatives are too horrible to talk about”, he said.
When asked about the “belligerence that Donald Trump is displaying towards China”, Mr Rudd said the challenge was to open a channel between the two administrations as early as possible “so the parameters can be set for One China, for North Korea”.
He said North Korea was a “sort of freight train rolling down the tracks towards us in terms of its nuclear weapons program”.
Year of melting ice, monster storms and Australia’s big wet – 2016
Weird weather 2016: Year of melting ice, monster storms and Australia’s big wet, The Age, 22 Dec 16 Peter Hannam If Santa really lived at the North Pole his sleigh would run the risk of falling through the ice this week, empty or fully laden.
Temperatures in the high Arctic will approach melting point on Thursday, including near the North Pole, a massive 30 degrees or more above average for this time of the year. Wide departures from temperature norms – usually on the warm side – have been a feature for a long while in the Arctic but this year’s extremes qualify the region as home to probably this year’s world’s weirdest weather.
The polar extremes are part of what is highly likely to be declared as the hottest year in records going back to the 1880s. And so, with 2016 eclipsing both 2015 and 2014, the world would have set a new high mark for three years in a row.
Here are some of this year’s outstanding weather and climate events:
Extreme ice melt……..
Early storms……
Extreme heat records…..
Strongest storm……
Big wet…..
Hottest month…..
Donald Trump’s nuclear weapons agenda disturbs even a Fox news host
In a tweet on Thursday morning, Trump argued that the “United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time that the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.”…….http://www.rawstory.com/2016/12/trumps-nuclear-gambit-sobers-up-fox-host-so-were-all-blown-up-just-as-were-counting-our-money/
Northwest’s Only Nuclear Plant Shuts Down Unexpectedly
http://www.opb.org/news/article/northwest-washington-nuclear-plant-cold-weather/ AP | Dec. 19, 2016 Richland, Washington The Northwest’s only nuclear power plant shut down unexpectedly shortly before noon on Sunday.
The shutdown was caused by an equipment malfunction at the Bonneville Power Administration’s substation near the Columbia Generating Station, which is operated by Energy Northwest.
The Tri-City Herald reports that cold weather caused the loss of the 500-kilovolt line connecting the nuclear plant’s main output transformers to the substation.
The power plant’s operating crew successfully stabilized the plant and officials for Energy Northwest say it remains safe.
America’s biggest economic opportunity is in climate action – Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio: climate fight is US history’s ‘biggest economic opportunity’, Guardian, Reuters in New York, 18 Dec 16 Actor and environmental activist tells UN awards ceremony that truth about climate change has spread like ‘wildfire’ despite prominent science deniers Tackling climate change is the “biggest economic opportunity” in the history of the US no matter who holds political office, the Hollywood star and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio said on Friday.
But “the truth” about climate change has spread like “wildfire”, he said.
DiCaprio’s comments, as he received a prize for his work as a global citizen, did not refer to the US president-elect, Donald Trump, by name but were a thinly-veiled reference to his views and nominations of climate sceptics with oil industry ties for cabinet posts.
Earlier this month, 42-year-old DiCaprio and the head of his foundation met Trump and his team, reportedly arguing that support for renewable energy could create millions of jobs.
Trump has suggested climate change is a hoax and raised the possibility of withdrawing US support for a new global accord to reduce greenhouse gas emissions which most scientists believe are driving up sea levels and causing more droughts and violent storms.
“In less than 100 years of our pollution-based prosperity, we humans have put our entire existence in jeopardy,” said DiCaprio, who released his own documentary, Before the Flood, on the impacts of global warming two months ago.
DiCaprio, who won an Oscar this year for playing a fur trapper battling nature in The Revenant, said his documentary was the most viewed “in history … [showing] just how much the world cares about the issue of climate change”.
But he said the battle to address it was far from over, calling on the world to implement the Paris agreement on climate change, which came into effect in November, and to “go further”.
People everywhere are acting to curb the damage to humans, nature and wildlife from a warming planet, DiCaprio said – from putting a price on carbon emissions to buying cleaner cars, eating less meat, and businesses vowing to be carbon-neutral…….. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/17/leonardo-dicaprio-climate-change-united-nations
China wants stronger international cooperation to prevent terrorists getting weapons of mass destruction
Chinese envoy calls for strengthened int’l cooperation on WMD non-proliferation Global Times, Source: Xinhua Published: 2016/12/16 A Chinese envoy Thursday called on the international community to strengthen cooperation and form synergy to prevent weapons of mass destruction (WMD) from falling into hands of terrorists.
Wu said solutions need to be found to peacefully address regional hotspot proliferation problems by political and diplomatic means, and there is also a need to establish a complete international norm on non-proliferation. …..http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1024077.shtml
Nuclear industry confident that Rick Perry as Energy Secretary will boost their industry
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