Most "renewable energy" at this point is a joke. It either costs almost as much to produce per unit of energy as is delivered or it outright rapes the planet. You can brag up your green credentials by taking credit for all the dead orangutans you used to tank up on biofuel. Or you can take credit for the human slaves who produce the fuel you burn. You can even brag up the moonscape your Prius helped create. You can pat yourself on the back over how green you are by buying offsets – even if they don't work. Or you can pay for offsets that condemn human beings to a life of serfdom to help pay off your guilt. In the end, there is really only one way that is practical to go if you really are serious about saving the planet and cutting greenhouse gasses. That would be nuclear poser.
And that is being taken off the table by some "environmentalists."
Britain's leading environmental groups are poised to formally withdraw from a government consultation today that will determine whether ministers will be able to push ahead with plans to build a new generation of nuclear power stations.
The coalition which was asked to provide evidence to inform the debate believes the government has failed to fairly reflect the arguments for presentations that will be given to more than 1,100 members of the public that are due to start tomorrow.
The process was forced upon the government by the high court, which ruled in February that a previous consultation was "seriously flawed" and "manifestly inadequate and unfair". At least six groups, including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, WWF and Green Alliance, claim the government is distorting the evidence and say they are considering whether to take the case to court again.
The accusations are damaging because the government is bound by its own guidelines to keep an open mind on new nuclear power stations until after the "fullest public consultation". If the government is forced into a third consultation it could delay major energy decisions being made for at least a year.
Eight meetings are to be held tomorrow in cities around the UK to present all sides of the nuclear debate. More than 1,100 people will be asked to assess the case for and against nuclear power; they will then be asked to vote. The process is being run by Opinion Leader Research (OLR), a market research organisation contracted by the government to convene the meetings.
Concern about the direction of the consultation has been growing within the environmental groups, which were invited by ministers to provide their own arguments. They have now drawn up a document which details their anxiety. Some of their concerns may be outlined to ministers today.
The document accuses the government of "conducting a public relations stitch-up designed to deliver a preordained policy on new nuclear power" and "rushing" a consultation process that its advisers say should take at least nine months.
"The new consultation is no different from the government's previous attempt at a nuclear consultation," it says. "It skirts over the many negative aspects of nuclear power, such as its enormous cost, what to do with all the radioactive waste new build will create, and how little nuclear power will do to help cut carbon emissions and guarantee energy security."
The document continues: "It has become clear that the government has already made up its mind … and that this new consultation is nothing more than an expensive sham. "
More expensive a sham than killing the orangutans in the name of the environment? More expensive than driving native populations into squalid camps so their ancestral rain forest homes can be burned to the ground so palm oil plantations can be grown? When the only option left is for everyone to live in caves, you'd better hope the "environmentalists" haven't already taken the only available ones.
Side note: Pay attention to the Guardian's logo in this article. Their normal red title block is replaced with a green one. We've seen that particular fraud before. "Guardian Red has gone to war!" Old con games never die. They just get recycled by left-leaning newspapers.
Another example of the law of unintended consequences. In the rush to worship at the goracle altar, the greenies never gave a thought to what their actions would cause. What is so wrong with nuclear power? I’d rather eat corn than drive on it, but at this rate, corn will be a luxury item.
You know, I’d love to see the math for either side of these issues. Everything thrown out there is fragmentary pieces, nothing is a complete and total breakdown of all costs and benefits. For example, given that we know what installed solar panels cost, and we know what dumping a barrel of oil into a currently existing fuel plant costs, there should be a point at which we can say “oil at above $X/barrel is more expensive than installing and using solar panels.” but nowhere on the net is such a figure calculated. I’m talking just the generation of electricty for use in a home here, and I realize the issues are complicated, but you’d think by now some thinktank, right or left, would have done the homework and we’d all be able to see it in black and white, in downloadable Excel spreadsheets, with live updated numbers tied to current prices visible on the web, for transit as well as stationary use of power.
Until I see it all laid out, I don’t believe any of it, except that it is getting hotter in here, and GE and BP (biggest producer of solar panels) are spending a lot on ads. Locally a group is working on fusion via cavitation, along with 4 other edu’s with $40,000,000 over five years from the feds. Impulse Devices, Nevada City/Grass Valley, CA.
DD spoke up in high school geography class yesterday when a guy said, “I can’t believe there are people who don’t believe in global warming!” Of course, DD was the lone soul who had actually read books about climate change and energy sources, and was the only person in class who doesn’t believe the GloWarm party line. She was up late last night reading your latest posts for more facts to back up her view. Thank you.
Oh, they want to barbecue me, don’t you know….
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