Warm Feelings for Dirty Energy [1]
Submitted by Diane Farsetta [2] on
At the Australian coal industry's annual conference, Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane [3] chastised attendees "for allowing the debate over the nation's future energy supply to be hijacked by a 'green media machine.'" Macfarlane suggested the industry [4] "start telling consumers about the work being done on low-emissions technology" and warning about renewable energy costs. In other news, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote [5], "Nuclear energy is green [6]," producing "no greenhouse gases," although "radioactive wastes are a challenge [7]." But environmentalist Dr. Helen Caldicott stated [8], "According to data from the U.S. Energy Department, the production of nuclear power significantly contributes both to global warming and ozone depletion." While "uranium enrichment is a particularly energy intensive process," uranium mining and milling, nuclear reactor construction and decommissioning, and nuclear waste transport and storage all require ozone-depleting chemicals or fossil fuel use.