From a reader: Look at the footprint of solar panels it takes to produce the same amount as a nuclear plant, then tell me what’s better for the Earth!
Needless to say, I’ve heard this a great many times over the years. The subject is a bit complex.
While it’s true that nuclear offers far better energy density that solar (and wind), this is one of many criteria we use to determine the best resource(s). We might rank our presidents on the basis of how few wars the Unites States was fighting during their tenure in office, yet there are dozens of other important criteria: economic strength, lessening the gaps between rich and poor, etc.
Another way to look at this subject is to look at competing resources in a certain region. The central part of the U.S. has incredible wind resources; a normal day in the Nebraska grid-mix offers 70% wind.
If human civilization is to avoid environmental collapse driven by climate change, nuclear is going to be absolutely necessary, but only partially due to energy density; nuclear boasts high reliability and capacity factor, as well as low operating expenses.
In all, the world needs to hope that nuclear advances quickly; we won’t do well without it.
Thanks for the comment.
I wouldn’t say that the burden of proof lies on religion. No one knows how the universe got here.
The Big Bang was an event in which there was no chaos, no “entropy,” as we say in thermodynamics. How did all this orderliness get there 13.87 billion years ago? No one knows. This is an issue in cosmology which is quite likely to outlast human civilization on this planet.
I’m an atheist for a few reasons, one of which is that saying that God created the universe doesn’t get us any closer to an understanding of the cosmos, if only because it raises the question: Who made God?
More to the point, there are hundreds of moral reasons to disbelieve in God. Each year, 9 million children will die unbaptized on this planet before their fifth birthdays. In the bible, we learn that God punishes them all with an eternity of torture in hell. To what sort of weirdo does this make sense?
At left we have another good reminder that our cognitive biases can render us incapable of thinking critically.
Some of us believe anything we want to.
This piece from Robert Reich reminds us of what a big ask it is of the American people to vote for Republicans in the midterms.
Sure, there are many hateful morons who love detention centers for people with brown skin, or believe that America is going communist, or that our elections are rigged (unless they are won by Republicans). Yet it seems unlikely that any of these positions of extreme ignorance will win the day.
Unfortunately, Trump knows this. That’s why we shouldn’t be surprised if he tries to cancel the midterms or rip up the Constitution and nationalize them.
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