…In all, carbon emissions would have been 14.6% higher, with 1,782 MMT of carbon released without nuclear power plants, while only 1,552 MMT are released with our current nuclear infrastructure. This is why many leading environmentalists, such as James Lovelock (author of the Gaia Hypothesis) are vocal supporters of nuclear power.
But this chart is not entirely fair to nuclear power, because the growth of nuclear power was severely derailed by environmentalist hyperbole and outright scaremongering. Because of the attacks by environmentalists on nuclear power, many planned power plants were cancelled, and many existing plants licenses were not renewed. The result, according to Al Gore himself in “Our Choice” was:
“Of the 253 nuclear power reactors originally ordered in the United States from 1953 to 2008, 48 percent were canceled, 11 percent were prematurely shut down, 14 percent experienced at least a one-year-or-more outage…Thus, only about one-fourth of those ordered, or about half of those completed, are still operating.” (3)
Let us take a look then at U.S. carbon emissions if the U.S. had simply built and operated the power plants that were originally planned.
How did Obama do with the public after his energy speech?
According to the latest survey from Quinnipiac, American disagree with Obama on just about everything – energy.
By more than a 2-1 margin, Americans want new drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and a plurality still support nuclear power as well:
On energy policy, American voters:
Support by a narrow 48 – 45 percent building new nuclear plants;
Support 67 – 28 percent new offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico;
Oppose 56 – 38 percent releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. …
“Some might find it surprising that despite the spike in gasoline prices American voters don’t think tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a smart idea. They apparently are buying the argument that the current situation is not so serious that the big pool of petroleum the country has set aside for emergencies should be used. And there is strong support for lifting the ban on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.”
Americans want increased domestic production.
Why?
1) It would help ease oil prices.
2) It would hire many thousands of Americans.
3) It would keep more of our money here instead of funding terrorism through Arab countries.