CommentsTHE DOCTOR IS IN - Contrary to current popular media groupthink and echo chambers, no one in their right mind wants to live in an unhealthy environment.
However, inasmuch as there are rightful concerns about utility companies cutting costs for profits, there are also rightful concerns about "green energy and politics" being used more for economic and political gain than to improve our quality of life.
1) DWP bills to climb sky high. Thanx to Jack Humphreville for this piece.
2) California power prices to soar during this heat wave. Thanx to Reuters for this piece.
3) Now, "check" this one out: California lawmakers voting to keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant open for five more years. Thanks to to Taryn Luna of the L.A. Times for this piece.
Like it or not, Nuclear Power is the most reliable energy source top get us off of fossil fuel energy production, as per the U.S. Department of Energy.
Are there rightful concerns about nuclear energy? Of course.
Are there rightful concerns about fossil fuel energy? Of course.
Are there rightful concerns about solar energy? Actually, yes--it's too doggone expensive for the average taxpayer, and the panels only last so long without servicing or replacement.
Are there rightful concerns about wind power? Actually, REALLY yes--it's not cost-effective in the slightest, kills lots of birds, and has little role (if just about any) in a scientifically-focused energy policy for our state and nation.
We can talk conservation, electric cars (for the rich only, and their batteries are anything BUT environmentally-friendly), "green energy" and the like, but:
1) We're overdeveloping without enough infrastructure to handle current development.
2) We're clustering development in our big cities, which leads to traffic and carbon production aplenty billowing into the air.
There ARE answers to a cleaner California, but these are too "common sense" and left-brained for many in our indoctrinated Legislature and electorate to follow:
1) Underground our infrastructure
2) Don't overpopulate California
3) Stop overdevelopment while telling the rest of us to conserve to allow for that overdevelopment
4) Educate people on science, and not theology, when it comes to energy policy
5) Most of all, GROW UP and not demonize the only way out of our energy mess: Nuclear Energy.
If you like high energy prices, and if you like brownouts and energy outages, and you hate your fellow humanity, then keep our current dysfunctional and scientifically inaccurate policies up.
But if you want lower energy prices, hate brownouts and energy outages, and love your fellow humanity, then it's time to do what's right for ourselves and our children: stop the paranoia and start the science.
Going nuclear on energy policy for the 21st century means Nuclear Energy.
It's the best hope we've got for a modern quality of life, and for both sustainable energy and its associated costs.
(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband to a wonderful wife and father to two cherished children. He was termed out of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) twice after two stints as a Board member for 9, years and is also a Board member of the Westside Village Homeowners Association. He previously co-chaired the MVCC Outreach, Planning, and Transportation/Infrastructure Committees for 10 years. He was previously co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee, the grassroots Friends of the Green Line (which focused on a Green Line/LAX connection), and the nonprofit Transit Coalition His latest project is his fictional online book entitled The Unforgotten Tales of Middle-Earth and can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)
