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you know every so often I go "I should talk about why building identical designs of nuclear reactor on public finance is good, actually" and then I watch the status quo of the environmental movement in the UK currently screaming blue murder over an electric railway and just
climate change is an energy problem and an infrastructure problem.
energy, in that 85% of it worldwide comes from fossil fuels.
infrastructure, in that without massive physical changes we're locked in to that
energy, in that 85% of it worldwide comes from fossil fuels.
infrastructure, in that without massive physical changes we're locked in to that
the way to fix this is with massive public works programes and an end to years of political dithering (Hinkley Point C should have been built thirty years ago, as a SNUPPS unit like at Sizewell B) not shaming people for being trapped in the world that's been built as it is
there's a really nasty puritanical streak - eco-austerity, I'd call it - in some Green circles where it becomes entirely about personal choices (which matter to a degree, but I digress) and sacrifices rather than what vast corporations and governments get up to in our name
a few of us choosing to use hemp shopping bags and cycle everywhere isn't going to stop priceless ecosystems being torn up for lignite mining if the physical infrastructure - humanity's life support system as it stnads - does not change
so yeah. that means vast projects like Hinkley Point C are good, actually (the financing thereof.... less so - just use public money, damn it) because they actively displace the coal and oil and gas infrastructure that's destroying the world, rather than just using it a bit less
and tbh the austerity lens wears a bit thin when you're talking about the substantial chunk of humanity which doesn't even have access to reliable electricity or running water.
what are they supposed to sacrifice, exactly? their lives?
what are they supposed to sacrifice, exactly? their lives?
bad-faith concern trolling about, say, Kenya's civil nuclear program sticks in my craw - as if somehow people living on the continent of Africa are stupid and incapable of managing the tech? reaaaally?
frankly I have more respect for eco-fascists who just say the quiet part loud
frankly I have more respect for eco-fascists who just say the quiet part loud
and as ever when you come to a fork in the road marked "dignity and prosperity for all" and "solving climate change" - turns out there's no fork at all.
you can and should do both. and that means making some pretty vast changes to the built environment.
that's how it is.
you can and should do both. and that means making some pretty vast changes to the built environment.
that's how it is.
anyway nuclear power is good actually and so are renewables (except biomass and biofuels - greenwashed ecological devastation, frankly) and with 85% of global energy coming from fossil fuels there's a damn big cake to split.
focus your efforts on fossil fuels, not each other
focus your efforts on fossil fuels, not each other
