Open Letter to Charles Hugh Smith

My gmail was spam-blocked by comcast, so pasting it here...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Chad Woolley <thewoolleyman@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 12:39 AM
Subject: Re: "Innovation Comes in Many Forms"
To: Charles Hugh Smith <csmith@oftwominds.com>


I enjoy reading your blog a lot, you are a positive and progressive
thinker.  I know you are busy, so I apologize for the length of this
email.

This email is regarding your post "Innovation Comes in Many Forms":

http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2009/01/innovation-comes-in-many-forms-at-long.html

I think you are missing the mark on you concern over electricity
generation.  Here are the statistics on the sources of electric
generation in the US:

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epat1p1.html

As you can see, Petroleum is a small fraction.  Even though the
problems caused by Peak Oil will be numerous and severe, I believe the
impact on electricity generation will be minimal based on these
numbers.

On other words, you are misleading when you confuse the issues of Peak
Oil with the future of electricity generation in the US.

Even though it does not fit in with the traditional green activist
positions, I believe the Nuclear power is an extremely viable answer
to this problem.  I grew up in Carlsbad, New Mexico where there is a
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) facility for low-level nuclear
waste.  It is fine.  A complete non-issue, other than the local people
employed there for going on two decades, and related economic stimulus
to the town (which is otherwise dependent on the dying tourism and
potash industries).

Since my Peak Oil awareness moment, I've been thinking a lot about
what the future of energy could look like, and discussing the topic
with people.

One of my best friends works for a power company in New Mexico, and he
claimed that nuclear energy was the most viable short and long-term
option, if fuel recycling is allowed as an option.  Why don't more
people talk about nuclear fuel recycling?  It makes nuclear much
closer to a 'renewable' energy source.

Small Reactors - "Nuclear Batteries":
* http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09%2F01%2F05%2F1954234

In Defense of Nuclear Energy:
* http://www.ecolo.org/documents/documents_in_english/Myths&factsLloydMielke01.htm

Solar Panel Toxic Waste:
* http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/08/AR2008030802595.html

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant:
* http://www.westgov.org/wga/initiatives/wipp/

Recycling links:
* http://alsos.wlu.edu/adv_rst.aspx?query=reprocessing&selection=Keyword&source=all&results=10&keyword=reprocessing
* http://www.chemcases.com/nuclear/nc-13.htm


Bottom line, when I look at the downsides of Nuclear, they are
miniscule compared to the alternatives, and for quickly ramping up,
the practical logistics of nuclear are much better than building
billions of dollars of solar panels and windmills which will have
their own environmental impact.

I am not afraid of nuclear waste.  I AM afraid of the the long term
effects of coal mining/burning, acid rain, etc; as well as the
devastating effect of dams on the nation's waterways; as well as the
risk that we simply won't be able to meet our short-term electrical
generation needs with solar, wind - and that these deployments would
cause their own problems.  Nuclear is here, it works, and we have
already overcome the majority of the logistical and technological
hurdles, as you mention in this article.

The only opposition is political, ironically from the green movement
and other like-minded activists, as well as the coal/construction
lobby.  Greens and activists due to knee-jerk reactions (three mile
island was a non-event!) and the coal/construction lobby due to
blatant financial interests.

We really need to think outside the box, and for electrical
generation, I think nuclear is clearly the best short-term solution.
Also, if it enables us to move more quickly and cleanly (than solar/wind) to an
electric-based rather than fossil-fuel-based society, it is a long-term
benefit as well.

Thanks for listening...
-- Chad Woolley