Author: myriad

Nuclear energy is not the answer

[cross-posted at European Tribune]

I am extremely disappointed by the tone of the debate over at Eurotrib with regard to nuclear power, that resulted from the thread about the Nobel Peace Prize going to the IAEA.

It was largely promulgated by those who are gung-ho for nuclear power. Branding those with serious concerns as `extremists’ is 1) pathetic and 2) right up there with framing tricks used by the neoconservatives. Blegh. Oh yeah – and total bullshit.

No, I don’t agree with Greenpeace’s rather ridiculous criticism of the IAEA. I am not a fan of Greenpeace in general, and think they have rather lost their way – although I am not of a mind to throw out their many earlier achievements just because the organisation now raises serious concerns for many.

That notwithstanding, what a ridiculous straw man, to use the fact that Greenpeace is against nuclear power to dismiss all other concerns about a proliferation of nuclear power as a process; and worse, to dismiss serious questions about whether nuclear power can actually contribute significantly enough to reducing greenhouse emissions to be worth pursuing.

Let’s go through some actual facts shall we?

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On who gets to speak, and who is heard

I do not know
what will happen after I die
I do not want to know.
But I would like the Potter to make a whistle
From the clay of my throat.
May this whistle fall into the hands
Of a cheeky and naughty child
And the child to blow hard on the whistle continuously
With the suppressed and silent air of his lungs
And disrupt the sleep
Of those who seem dead
To my cries.

Anonymous, Baxter Immigration Detention Centre, Australia.

This diary is dedicated the voiceless and powerless around the world.

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