Environment: Going nuclear
For those of us in Ontario, you may recall several Canadian Nuclear Association ads during the winter and spring of this year that essentially painted nuclear energy as the rosy solution to all of our power woes. The second I saw those ads, I knew that the Liberals, who had been struggling with their promise of eliminating coal-fired power from Ontario by 2007, were going to announce new nuclear facilities in the upcoming months. It was an attempt to cozy us up to the thought of clean, efficient power, and away from those nasty memories of Chernobyl. Lo and behold, just a few weeks ago the provincial government declared that they were the first in North America to invest in building new nuclear power plants in the last 30 years. I really can't say that I'm surprised.
The fact is, Ontario is a very power hungry place. With one of the largest commercial and urban centres in North America, we're bound to be tapping heavily into the grid to quench our insatiable thirst. Deviating from my previous views, I think nuclear is not only the best solution for us, but the only solution in our current situatuon.
Let's consider the alternatives. First, there's coal. It's cheap, it's plentiful, but it's a very dirty fossil fuel to burn. You can thank part of that smog you breathe in everyday to the coal power plants that surround us. We've used it for the past, oh, two centuries? Developing nations such as India or China practically eat it for breakfast and look how their air quality is. Personally, I think it's about time to give it a rest.
Second, we have 'green power', which no one wants. Yep, you heard me. Sure, we all talk like we want to have 100% of our power from renewable, green power, but when that power bill comes in and it's higher than it used to be, do you think people will continue supporting green energy? Not likely.
However, some citizen's attacks against green energy are, frankly, really stupid. I think the most amusing argument I've heard against wind or solar power is that "It's an eye-sore". Hello? As if smokestacks and summer haze aren't?
On the other hand, I think that clean, renewable energy is definitely within our grasp, but only if it's given the investment it deserves. Even aiming to have 5-10% of our power seems like such a hard thing for politicians to handle, that I wonder why they even bother. If you've seen the wind turbine in downtown Toronto, you'll have all of the proof you need to know that it's only a half-hearted effort. They must only turn it on when nobody's looking.
Third, you have hydro-electric [dams]. I don't really lump this in with green power since it's anything but green. To dam a river is to essentially kill any natural balance that it once had. Fish can't return to their natural spawning grounds, so they die. Anything that depends on the fish or the river's wildlife also vanishes. Land up stream from the dam is flooded, harmful chemicals or elements such as mercury accumulate and poison the water... the list goes on. Hydro-electric dams are a modern environmental disaster in themselves. Just look at the destruction reaped by China's new Three-Gorges Dam.
Last, you end up with nuclear. The accidents at Chernobyl and Three-Mile Island, although they are important lessons about what devastation nuclear energy can bring, both lie in the past. Advancements in both reactor design and safety have virtually eliminated the chance of such mistakes occurring in the future. Plus, nuclear plants are clean in that they don't contribute to the smog sitting over our urban centres and low lying areas. They're also far more efficient than coal, more centralized than wind, solar, or tidal power, and also less damaging to local ecosystems than the majority of our other energy sources.
I know many Ontarians have a bitter taste in their mouth from the frequent problems in our old nuclear plants - I was, and still am, one of those people. I'm hoping just as much as you are that the new plants will be efficiently run, reliable, and provide us with the energy that we desperately need and crave.
The fact is, Ontario is a very power hungry place. With one of the largest commercial and urban centres in North America, we're bound to be tapping heavily into the grid to quench our insatiable thirst. Deviating from my previous views, I think nuclear is not only the best solution for us, but the only solution in our current situatuon.
Let's consider the alternatives. First, there's coal. It's cheap, it's plentiful, but it's a very dirty fossil fuel to burn. You can thank part of that smog you breathe in everyday to the coal power plants that surround us. We've used it for the past, oh, two centuries? Developing nations such as India or China practically eat it for breakfast and look how their air quality is. Personally, I think it's about time to give it a rest.
Second, we have 'green power', which no one wants. Yep, you heard me. Sure, we all talk like we want to have 100% of our power from renewable, green power, but when that power bill comes in and it's higher than it used to be, do you think people will continue supporting green energy? Not likely.
However, some citizen's attacks against green energy are, frankly, really stupid. I think the most amusing argument I've heard against wind or solar power is that "It's an eye-sore". Hello? As if smokestacks and summer haze aren't?
On the other hand, I think that clean, renewable energy is definitely within our grasp, but only if it's given the investment it deserves. Even aiming to have 5-10% of our power seems like such a hard thing for politicians to handle, that I wonder why they even bother. If you've seen the wind turbine in downtown Toronto, you'll have all of the proof you need to know that it's only a half-hearted effort. They must only turn it on when nobody's looking.
Third, you have hydro-electric [dams]. I don't really lump this in with green power since it's anything but green. To dam a river is to essentially kill any natural balance that it once had. Fish can't return to their natural spawning grounds, so they die. Anything that depends on the fish or the river's wildlife also vanishes. Land up stream from the dam is flooded, harmful chemicals or elements such as mercury accumulate and poison the water... the list goes on. Hydro-electric dams are a modern environmental disaster in themselves. Just look at the destruction reaped by China's new Three-Gorges Dam.
Last, you end up with nuclear. The accidents at Chernobyl and Three-Mile Island, although they are important lessons about what devastation nuclear energy can bring, both lie in the past. Advancements in both reactor design and safety have virtually eliminated the chance of such mistakes occurring in the future. Plus, nuclear plants are clean in that they don't contribute to the smog sitting over our urban centres and low lying areas. They're also far more efficient than coal, more centralized than wind, solar, or tidal power, and also less damaging to local ecosystems than the majority of our other energy sources.
I know many Ontarians have a bitter taste in their mouth from the frequent problems in our old nuclear plants - I was, and still am, one of those people. I'm hoping just as much as you are that the new plants will be efficiently run, reliable, and provide us with the energy that we desperately need and crave.
posted by Matt at 2:46 a.m.
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