BY JOHN STOSSEL
Last week on Earth Day, politicians and activists will shout more about the “climate crisis”.
I don’t think it’s a crisis. COVID-19, malaria, exploding debts, millions of poor children dying from diarrhea – these are real crises.
However, global warming can become a real problem. It is therefore particularly absurd that Earth Day activists seldom mention the fastest form of energy to reduce greenhouse gases: nuclear power.
When France switched to nuclear power, it achieved the world’s fastest reduction in CO2 emissions.
In America, nuclear growth nearly stalled 40 years ago after an accident at the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania.
The partial meltdown did not kill anyone. It would probably have been forgotten if Hollywood hadn’t released a nuclear scare movie called “The China Syndrome” days ago.
“People saw it and freaked out,” complains Joshua Goldstein, author of “A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change (Using Nuclear Power).”
One of the people who is still freaking out is solar activist Harvey Wasserman. “I live in fear of the next accident,” he says in my latest video.
His anti-nuclear argument basically won in most parts of the world. Nuclear power plants are decommissioned.
Why? I ask Mr. Wasserman. No one was injured on Three Mile Island.
Mr Wasserman replied that after the accident he went to nearby houses and people showed him “their tumors, their hair loss, their lesions”.
“It’s a bunk,” I tell him. “It has been investigated. People lose hair and get cancer, and they attribute it to Three Mile Island, but that’s not true. “
“To have been there,” replies Wasserman, “it is my clear claim that people were killed.”
Actual scientists disagree. In fact, they find less cancer near Three Mile Island than in other parts of Pennsylvania.
But what about Fukushima? That was more serious. The unsuspecting media quote Greenpeace claims today that Fukushima’s radiation could “change our DNA!”
Also bunk. “There was increased radiation, but everything was at this low level below what we think is safe,” explains Goldstein.
The low radiation in Fukushima was hardly a threat. What killed people was the panic reaction.
“Everyone freaked out and ordered a massive sudden evacuation. It caused suicide, depression … The fear of radioactivity really killed people. “
One nuclear accident, Chernobyl, killed, and its radiation can kill thousands more.
But Chernobyl was built by socialists who please the dictators. No Chernobyl-like facility will ever be built again. And even after the Chernobyl death, nuclear energy’s safety record is better than that of coal, oil and natural gas.
“But what about the nuclear waste!” shout the activists.
“It’s a little problem,” says Mr. Goldstein. “All of the nuclear waste from all American reactors in 60 years would fit in a Walmart.”
While the anti-nuclear movement has halted nuclear construction in most of the West, “other places are building them like crazy,” says Goldstein. “China connects a nuclear reactor every two to three months.”
America could be ready soon … one. It took Georgia Power Co. six years to get permission to build a facility. Regulation is so difficult that 15 years later it still doesn’t work.
Mr. Wasserman is proud to have played a role in this. “If you want to accuse us of increasing the cost of building new nuclear power plants by calling for more regulation, I plead guilty.”
He claims that countries can supply themselves with solar panels on the roof and wind. Technology improvements have lowered their prices, but what if the wind isn’t blowing? Or is the sun not shining?
Store energy in batteries, answers Mr Wasserman. “We have a great technological and industrial revolution in battery capacity.”
Mr. Goldstein scoffs in response: “The idea that a miracle battery will come and save us is completely untested.”
In contrast, nuclear energy was tested. It could reduce greenhouse gases and provide reliable energy if we just didn’t fear it so much.
“The whole regulatory system is insane,” concludes Goldstein. “We’re regulating this source of energy like it’s the most dangerous thing out there, and it’s actually the safest!”
John Stossel is the author of “Give Me a Break: How I Unmasked Hucksters, Cheats, and Scammers and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media”. For more creators and cartoonists from the Creators Syndicate, visit www.creators.com.
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