...The U.S. currently gets 50 percent of its electricity from coal and 20 percent from nuclear reactors. Reversing these percentages should become a goal of both global warming advocates and anyone who wants to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil (the latter since a clean, expanded electrical grid could anchor a fleet of hydrogen or electric cars). Contrary to what some critics charge, this would not require massive subsidies or direct intervention by the government. Indeed, the nuclear industry has gone through an astounding revival over the past decade. The entire fleet of 103 reactors is up and running 90 percent of the time. Reactors are making money hand-over-fist—so much so that the attorney general of Connecticut recently proposed a windfall profits tax on them! The industry is poised for new construction, with proposals for four new reactors submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and almost 30 waiting in the wings.The rest of the world is rapidly moving toward nuclear power. France, Russia and Japan are not only going ahead with their own nuclear programs, but selling their technology in the developing world. America, which once dominated this technology, is being left behind. The main culprit is public fear. Nuclear technology is regarded as an illegitimate child of the atomic bomb, a Faustian bargain, a blasphemous tinkering with nature. It is none of these. It is simply a natural outgrowth of our evolving understanding of the universe. The sun has been our prime source of energy throughout human history, but energy is also generated in the earth itself. It is time to avail ourselves of this clean, safe terrestrial energy.
These are the concluding paragraphs of an illuminating lecture delivered by the talented and well experienced journalist, William Tucker, to an audience at Hillsdale College last January. But to really appreciate Tucker's conclusions you have to read the compelling arguments he makes earlier in his speech. So go here and so. Yes, some of you will go on and order Tucker's upcoming book from Bartleby Press, Terrestrial Energy: How a Nuclear-Solar Alliance Can Rescue the Planet or you might investigate a couple of his other titles -- maybe Progress and Privilege: America in the Age of Environmentalism; Vigilante: The Backlash Against Crime in America; or winner of the Mencken Award, The Excluded American: Homelessness and Housing Policies.
But regardless, the essay version of William Tucker's lecture, "The Case for Terrestrial Energy," is an excellent start.
