Monday, June 21, 2010

WPR Article | The Realist Prism: Gulf Spill Threatens U.S. Energy Security

WPR Article The Realist Prism: Gulf Spill Threatens U.S. Energy Security The author makes an excellent point that it is more accurate to compare the BP Oil Spill to the Three Mile Island disaster than to Hurricane Katrina, in terms of the effects the spill will have on our future energy policies.

I remember when Three Mile Island happened. That disaster scared hell out of everyone about nuclear power in those days.  Everyone had visions of three-eyed fish in the rivers and fears of mutated children.  As with so many things, our fears were rooted in some fact.  But our fears were so big and so overwhelming that they blinded us to the many good things nuclear energy could offer. If we hadn't have let our fears get the better of us we might have been able to develop a tremendous nuclear program and we might have been far less dependent on oil today. 

The author warns us that we are in the same danger of allowing the fear generated by the spill to negatively affect our ability to make sound energy policy.  We must not allow this to happen.  We must not make the same mistake that we did with nuclear power.  Now more than ever we need to stay focused and visionary.  Our survival depends on it.

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