Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Mike Tidwell Says Get Ready for Katrina on the Potomac

Mike Tidwell paints a gloomy picture in a local newspaper about conditions caused by global warming around Washington, D.C. if sea levels rise by 3 feet: "the Mall, Reagan National Airport and much of Alexandria well below sea level." Mr. Tidwell makes the same mistake of ignoring nuclear power as a solution to global warming in his Sunday Washington Post Outlook article, "We're All New Orleanians Now," that he did when he interviewed AAEA President Norris McDonald on his radio show, right. He simply calls for, "switching to hybrid cars and wind and solar powered electricity and high efficiency appliances."

We agree with him on these solutions. But for some illogical reason he cannot accept nuclear power as a viable solution to providing emission free electricity to very large numbers of people 24 hours a day 7 days a week. We love wind and solar, but they simply cannot provide electricity 24/7. And Americans are a demanding species when it comes to their electricity. Mr. Tidwell's recommendation number 3 to, "switch to clean energy as fast as possible," should include fission power. We promote plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to reduce carbon emissions and nuclear power plants as great emission free sources of electricity to recharge the vehicles during off-peak hours. Great article though Mike.

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