Atomic Dreams
(Page 6 of 9)
January / February 2008
by Jason Mark, from Earth Island Journal
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The antinuclear consensus among environmental policy professionals does not extend to the grass roots. Rank-and-file environmentalists are divided on whether building new reactors can serve as an antidote to spiraling greenhouse gas emissions. While there is not quite a vocal grassroots green movement in favor of nuclear power, the ambivalence among many environmental activists shows that the nuclear industry’s hopes of convincing Americans to embrace atomic energy are not unwarranted.
A review of some of the most popular green news and opinion websites reveals a lively discussion about the merits of expanding nuclear power generation. For example, when Grist.org asked readers “In light of the mounting threat of climate change, does nuclear power deserve another look?” 54 percent of respondents said yes. A poll on Treehugger.com showed 59 percent of readers conditionally in favor of atomic energy.
Whenever the issue comes up in green forums, an energetic back-and-forth ensues. During one online discussion, a visitor to a blog hosted by Earthjustice wrote: “I have been an ardent foe of nuclear power generation for over three decades. . . . However, in the past two years I have reversed my position, and now support the building of a new generation of nuclear plants in the U.S.A. . . . Global warming is such a huge and imminent issue that I think we must now accept the lesser evil of nuclear power generation.”
When the subject came up on WorldChanging.com, readers were split roughly 50-50. One wrote: “Folks, the 100,000 year fear of nuclear waste . . . is a non sequitur when we hold the fate of our children’s future in our hands before 2040. . . . Centralized nuclear power is our children’s option and we have a responsibility to help them prepare for whatever they will have to do to survive.”
The willingness of some environmentalists to expand nuclear power production can be explained, in part, by the fact that the issue has been out of mainstream debate for so long. The environmental policy analysts’ arguments have not received a hearing from the public in decades. The industry’s arguments, on the other hand, have earned a great deal of attention lately. The nuclear industry’s media offensive has green groups playing catch-up.
“It’s difficult when you are going up against a well-financed PR campaign,” says Jim Riccio of Greenpeace USA, which opposes building new reactors, “especially when most of the major groups are focused on climate change right now, and not focused as much on nuclear power.”
The green grass roots’ interest in nuclear power can also be explained by demographics. For an entire generation of environmental advocates, nuclear power is an unknown. The vanguard of the environmental movement consists largely of college activists who have never had to confront the arguments for and against nuclear energy.
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