By Selwyn Duke
While many stress that we must become energy sufficient, relatively few are truly serious about it. I know this because achieving such a state isn’t that difficult; it just requires one to accept reality and reject ideology.
It also doesn’t require the development of some futuristic technology. Life isn’t a movie (cinematic "gore" is less destructive), and entertaining fanciful ideas about theoretical technologies that can supplant fossil fuels will only prolong the enrichment the sheiks.
As for today’s technologies, precious few are viable. Even the sunniest sane optimist couldn’t think solar energy was practicable, and rhetoric about wind being a savior is a lot of hot air. And what of drilling for more oil? There is no excuse for not doing so, and President Bush’s lifting of the offshore-drilling ban already seems to have lowered prices. Yet, our most logical solution lies with a technology that Bush can’t pronounce, one so miraculous that you could call it futuristic technology today.
I speak of nuclear energy.
I have an engineer friend who studied nuclear engineering, and he would tell you that it’s the cleanest technology ever developed. Not only is this true, but it’s also incredibly efficient and relatively inexpensive. To place this in perspective, consider that Britain’s new class of nuclear submarine, the Astute, can operate for 25 years without being refueled! Yes, the technology is the closest thing to an energy miracle we’ve seen, and only an insane nation wouldn’t exploit it to its fullest
Of course, it’s relatively easy for environmentalists to block the embrace of this technology because people hear the word nuclear — or "nucular," as the president would say — and see visions of an apocalypse. (As to this, the magnetic-resonance-imaging machine {MRI} was originally named "nuclear magnetic resonance," but it was realized that the term "nuclear" frightened people.) Conjured up are images of Chernobyl or the "Incredible Shrinking Man," and everyone screams NIMBY (not in my back yard). But France derives 70 percent of its electricity from nuclear sources, and we have no excuse for not at least matching that nation. Every watt that we don’t generate via hydroelectric or low-sulfur coal should come from a nuclear power plant (this would also make electric cars a bit more realistic). We need oil for our vehicles right now, but for little else.
Nuclear power. Know it, love it, embrace it. No matter how you pronounce it, it works.
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