Beck thinks renewables will get cheaper (how many decades have we put up with that refrain?) but there is no more chance of them being useful in the modern world now than there was 50 years ago, despite the fortunes of public monies wasted on them. Meanwhile Vilsack tries to pretend corporate welfare and burning food are good ideas.
Germany is right to opt out of nuclear
The rejection of nuclear power is a result not of German angst but of economic thinking. We must invest in renewable energy
Ulrich Beck
“You Germans are on your own” was the reaction of Stewart Brandt, the American environmentalist, to Germany’s plans to exit nuclear energy. He also added that Germany’s decision was irresponsible. Economic considerations and the threat represented by greenhouse gases meant that we simply could not renounce nuclear energy. George Monbiot and Mark Lynas have argued along similar lines.
Having been a member of the special expert commission appointed by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, in the wake of Fukushima, I disagree. Ultimately, the rejection of nuclear is not a result of German angst but of economic thinking. In the long run, nuclear power will become more expensive, while renewable energy will become cheaper. But the key point is that those who continue to leave all options open will not invest. (Guardian)
Biofuels are job creators, not hunger villian-U.S
Biofuels are a “tremendous job creator” for rural areas, said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday, ahead of a global meeting where the farm-grown fuels may be criticized as a factor in high food prices. (Reuters)
