Quote:We paid a billion dollars over 14 years to clean up a partial meltdown at Three Mile Island..  

 

You think the public has any clue the damage Fukushima did? Wait a decade and see how the people who are in that area are doing. Caesium-137 has a 30 year half life. 

 

There are cleaner alternatives which we are only scratching the surface on, but lobbyists and controlling parties in the US will continue to obstruct.

 

Wind power, photovoltaic solar power, hydroelectricity, etc.. would never have the mess that comes with meltdowns, fracking, oil drilling.  

 

Speaking as someone who has actually worked in the field of alternative energy, I can tell you a few things that make 2 of the 3 alternatives that you mention not only not cost effective, but they also cause environmental damage as well.

 

1.  Wind power - It's very inefficient for starters, and relies on a constant wind velocity.  Wind generation actually produces very little in the way of usable power.

 

2.  Solar power - Again it's very inefficient, though not as much as wind power.

 

One of the problems with both technologies is that they require storage for the power generated.  Take for example solar power.  It produces a DC voltage that must be stored somewhere.  That storage is usually in the form of batteries.  The two most common types of batteries are lead-acid and lithium.  The chemical process to not only make, but use and dispose of both types of batteries is not only cost prohibitive, but is also bad for the environment.  Lithium batteries are also dangerous, especially in a hotter climate/environment (recall Samsung cell phones exploding and/or catching on fire recently).

 

The next problem is converting the DC power stored in the batteries to AC power used in the home.  Much of the energy is wasted during the conversion process and that process produces heat.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for finding alternative sources of power, but the government needs to stay out of it.  Obama wanting to "put coal companies out of business" is not the way to go.  Coal, oil and nuclear power infrastructure needs to updated and let the private sector come up with better alternatives.  Subsidizing a losing technology (Solyndra) is not the way to go.  Throwing our tax dollars at losing programs (cash for clunkers) is not the way to go.

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