Patrick Moore Wisely Questions Global Warming Alarmism and Advocates Nuclear Energy
Speaking before an audience in Boise, Idaho last week, Greenpeace Founder Dr. Patrick Moore confirmed that there is no proof that humans are causing global warming, and he wisely advocated a dramatic shift toward reliance upon nuclear power.
In light of the fact that Greenpeace was originally established for the very purpose of opposing underground nuclear testing, it is refreshing that someone in our current “gotcha” political culture acknowledges the facts when they contradict his previous policy agenda. In other words, perhaps even Al Gore will ultimately see the light and disown his silly and self-serving global warming crusade.
Dr. Moore, who today represents the Clean Air and Safe Energy Coalition, believes that the only viable way to reduce America’s reliance upon fossil
fuels and foreign energy sources is to add hundreds of safe nuclear power plants in upcoming decades. Although he acknowledges that solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal and other renewable energy sources can assist in this transition, they simply don’t possess the enormous potential that nuclear energy does, in his opinion.
Naturally, radical environmentalists reflexively accused Dr. Moore of selling out, because their other arguments against nuclear power have evaporated during recent years. So how does Dr. Moore respond to these accusations? He merely points out that his professional and educational backgrounds are in actual science, whereas people whose backgrounds lie in political activism dominate Greenpeace.
And Dr. Moore is correct. The simple fact is that nuclear power provides America’s cleanest, safest, most reliable, cheapest and most independent source of future energy.
Nuclear energy emits none of the so-called “greenhouse gases” that environmentalists claim warm the globe, so one would assume that they would enthusiastically embrace it. But alas, environmentalists continue to irrationally oppose nuclear energy at every turn, oblivious to their contradictory positions.
With 103 reactors in operation across the United States, nuclear power today provides twenty percent of America’s electricity, our second-largest source. By the year 2030, this is expected to expand to twenty-five percent, even as American energy consumption increases. Even France, a nation that those on the left typically wish to imitate, generates over 76% of its electricity through nuclear energy. Despite this, the environmentalist lobby remains unpersuaded.
Additionally, the uranium from which nuclear energy plants obtain their power exists in abundance within the United States, as well as Canada and Australia. Accordingly, nuclear energy allows Americans to reduce reliance upon the Middle East, Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela and other undependable nations such as Nigeria.
Moreover, unlike other renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and hydropower, nuclear reactors do not depend upon unreliable weather or fluctuating natural conditions, rendering it far more reliable. It is also less-subject to skyrocketing commodity prices and foreign suppliers than other energy sources, such as oil or natural gas.
And in terms of safety, a person would have to live next to a nuclear plant for over 2,000 years to receive the amount of radiation created by a single medical x-ray. Nuclear generators are also better-protected against terrorism and other calamity than other plants, as the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that nuclear plants “are probably our best-defended targets.” And despite such overhyped media creations as Three Mile Island, not a single life in America has ever been lost due to a nuclear malfunction or accident.
Nuclear energy also has the lowest production cost of the major sources of electricity, which helps lower everyday Americans’ monthly energy bills.
It thus becomes clear that nuclear power can help alleviate many of America’s increasing energy difficulties. It provides clean, reliable, safe and lower-cost energy, and can greatly reduce America’s dependence upon foreign sources.
Dr. Moore, Greenpeace’s Founder, has seen the light. The only question is when liberals and the rest of the obstructionist environmental lobby will do the same.
