The Inauguration was on Tuesday, January 20. In President Barack Obama’s Inaugural address, he touched briefly on the hot topic issue of the environment and global warming. He said, “We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.” It is great that he wants to use alternative energy but solar and wind power aren’t good enough. Right now, about 1% of energy in America is provided by wind energy and less than 1% is from solar energy. Even if we double the amounts of solar panels and wind mills, the energy they produce will still be next to nothing. Solar and wind powers are good for the environment but they aren’t advanced enough to provide us with sufficient amounts of electricity.
We need to use more nuclear energy. It is cheap, safe, and clean, and it provides tons of energy. Advances in science now virtually eliminate nuclear waste. There are no downsides to nuclear energy. It is much better for the environment than burning coal and it is much more practical than wind or solar energy.
We need to urge President Obama to develop nuclear power plants to eventually replace the environment-damaging coal power plants that most of our energy comes from.
Information about nuclear power
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ReplyDelete"There are no downsides to nuclear energy." Are you kidding me? Is this a joke? If nuclear capabilities are used for the wrong purposes, nuclear weapons can be created. Second, nuclear power plant malfunctions can be devastating, leading to the loss of life and further environmental degradation.
ReplyDeleteName one downside Luke Perry Quinston, if that's even your real name.
ReplyDeleteDid I say anything in there about nuclear weapons? I think not. I was talking about using them purely as an energy source. Secondly, when was the last time there was a nuclear power plant malfunction?
ReplyDelete彼は正しい。
ReplyDeleteThere is a need for a lot more clean energy, but what if people just cut back? I know it's hard and I admit that i would have trouble doing it too, but it's just a theory. I'm not saying we need to go back and live like cave men, but it's kind of sad to see how dependent people have become on electricity and such things. Maybe if we'd just do a little more things manually a little less energy would be needed
ReplyDelete-storkafork
You're right; harnessing nuclear energy would be a great development in finding cleaner and more efficient energy sources. I think, though, that it would be safer for us to first more fully develop our systems for disposal of nuclear waste before committing to this source. Yes, nuclear waste is *virtually* eliminated with newer technology, but until we can *really* eliminate the waste, we should probably hold back on an alternative energy source that isn't quite desperately needed as yet.
ReplyDeleteMr. Johnson, I do see that nuclear energy could be a potential power source for the United States and I myself have considered it, but Mr. Quinston does have a little bit (but not much) of a point when he speaks about the dangers of nuclear power. After doing research on nuclear energy, I found that it might not be the best idea for a long-term energy source. As of 2007, the US alone can created 50,000 metric tons of reacted fuel rods that still pose a threat. There has bees a proposed set location for the storage of these rods,at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, but the time it would take for these fuel rods to be safe would take 10,000 years.
ReplyDeleteI suggest that you look into the wonders of geothermal energy, harnessing the unlimited supply of heat from our Earth's core to power our world. There are absolutely no harmful emissions, it is sustainable, it has little land requirements, and has a capacity factor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacity_factor) of 90%, versus 75% for coal.
Please look into this fascinating concept, as it is frighteningly overlooked in our society.
I beg to differ with Mr. Johnson, but wind power is a perfectly viable alternative to both nuclear power and to fossil fuels. According to the American Wind Energy Association, the amount of electricity that could be produced from America's wind resources is over twice the amount currently consumed. Wind power is fairly cheap, perfectly clean, and readily available. It should also be noted that, according to the National Geographic Article “Half Life: The Lethal Legacy of America’s Nuclear Waste,” the 10,000 year estimate for how long the containers for the proposed Yucca Mountain storage plant should last is grossly exaggerated; a more realistic estimate is 500 years. The last major nuclear accident was in Japan in 1999. Climate change is not just an issue of the United States, but rather of the whole world, which is why this foreign accident should be taken into account.
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