Monday, January 14, 2013

Awkward: Huge disagreement between Al Gore and James Hansen on renewables and nuclear energy

Nuclear energy and climate change: Environmentalists debate how to stop global warming. - Slate Magazine
Many in the environmental community say that renewable energy is a viable solution to the climate problem. So do numerous energy wonks, including two researchers who penned a 2009 cover story in Scientific American asserting that “wind, water, and solar technologies can provide 100 percent of the world’s energy” by 2030. Hansen calls claims like this the equivalent of “believing in the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy.”  [Actual Hansen quote from the link in the previous sentence:  "...suggesting that renewables will let us phase rapidly off fossil fuels in the United States, China, India, or the world as a whole is almost the equivalent of believing in the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy. This Easter Bunny fable is the basis of 'policy' thinking of many liberal politicians"] [Hansen is] not the only environmental luminary who is bullish on nuclear power.
2008:  Al Gore's Speech On Renewable Energy : NPR
Today I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years.
2009:  Al Gore: nuclear power is not the answer to our energy and climate crisis | Green Blog
The most surprising comment from Gore was about nuclear energy and its role in fighting climate change. According to Gore nuclear energy is not the answer to our problems because it’s dirty, too expensive, unsafe and that it poses a threat to world peace.

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