Facinating blogging from filmmaker and blogger Robert Stone yesterday. It starts with this provocative paragraph:
Have you ever wondered why so many former opponents of nuclear power are switching sides and are now advocating for nuclear power plant construction with the same passion they once devoted to fully abandoning this controversial technology? Why is Dr. Jim Hansen, the godfather of climate change, in favor or nuclear power? Why is Stewart Brand, of Whole Earth Catalog fame, also advocating for nuclear power? Add to that two former national directors of Greenpeace, the world’s most powerful anti-nuclear organization, plus a veritable who’s who of environmentalists, energy experts and former anti-nuclear activists. What’s going on here can’t simply be dismissed as a mass delusion, as some would have us believe. Perhaps these people know something that most us don’t.
Robert is an Oscar and Emmy nominated documentary filmmaker. His work covers a variety of topics, but the most recent one was Earth Days, which covers the history and beginnings of the US environmental movement. Stone’s latest work is on the history of nuclear energy, entitled Pandora’s Promise. He describes his new film: “The film will show how ideology, dogma and a misunderstanding of science and technology are driving not just the right (in denying man-made climate disruptions) but also the left (when it comes to realistically confronting our energy options). For those concerned about the twin crises of climate and energy, the film will argue that nuclear power is the elephant in the room.”
We welcome this voice to the energy and green blogosphere and think that he is asking very crucial questions. Again from his most recent post:
Is it possible that we environmentalists should have advocated for improving nuclear technology rather than for abandoning it? If we had, perhaps coal would not now be the fastest growing source of energy on the planet. Perhaps America, like nuclear powered France, would be well on its way to having the best air quality and the lowest CO2 emissions in the industrialized world, rather than being in dead heat with China for the title of ‘world’s biggest polluter.’
