No Nuclear Power, John...here's why.

I'm not sure why he's so into it, but John McCain loves him some nuclear power. John just doesn't get it. This month, McCain gave a speech from the Fermi II nuclear power plant in Michigan ...which in the last 8 years has had two serious operational failures and one serious security breach. And of course, the Fermi II power plant replaced the Fermi I power plant which on October 5, 1966 suffered a partial fuel meltdown which almost destroyed Detroit. That doesn't seem like a safe technology.

Don't be fooled by the safety of nuclear. The fact of the matter is that then AND today nuclear power has always had serious problems. We don't need a Chernobyl happening in our own country nor do we need 45+ more (nuclear) targets for terrorists. That is to say, McCain wants to build 45+ nuclear plants in the US and he also insists that terrorism is a real threat to American livelihood.

Well, considering that Capt. David Orrik, who heads the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's security inspection program, said this about the current state of security in our current nuclear facilities, "The way (security) is set up, I have severe misgivings about our ability to determine how effective it is," I think adding 45 more nuclear terrorist targets to the list is not a good idea...especially for those of us who think Al Qaeda is currently plotting another attack. I, personally, don't think they are. Or that is to say, I'm less scared of Al Qaeda killing me and more scared getting unexpectedly seriously injured in an accident being uninsured (which I am...uninsured). But adding 45 new nuclear facilities with equally poor security as the sites we already have, I think that's cause to be worried.

John McCain uses a really tired joke in his energy speeches lately. He said, "You know how much we love to copy the French (pause for obligatory laughter). The French are able to generate 80% of their electricity with nuclear power. There's no reason why America shouldn't." Well, I should remind John McCain that as safe as he thinks France's nuclear power system is, just this month at the Tricastin power plant in France, untreated uranium seeped into the ground and wound up in rivers. Later, radioactive particles escaped from a pipe, slightly contaminating utility workers. And on top of that, across all of France, there have been 80 officially reported "irregularities" in the daily systems operations of nuclear power facilities. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer an energy plan in which "irregularities" don't have the potential to result in nuclear fall out.

I don't believe John McCain is a bad person. And I don't think he's dumb either. And as many use the beer-drinking litmus test for voting, I'd definitely be into having a beer with the guy. But I just don't think he gets it. And his love of nuclear power speaks volumes of his inability TO get it. He obviously doesn't bother to check the facts on the ground about this issue. And considering how many glaring problems the nuclear industry clearly faces and how adamantly gung-ho McCain is about nuclear power, I shutter to think what other bad ideas John McCain can be convinced of.

This is not the type of leader we need. And this is not the plan a leader for the 21st century should be touting. We need a real energy plan that aims for the future, not repackaging old and overtly dangerous technologies. Wind power is real. Solar power is real. Texas creates more wind energy than anywhere else in the world. So much, in fact, we (I live in Texas) have to regularly shut down mills because our infrastructure literally can't support the amount of power being generated by wind turbines. That's why Texas just invested billions of dollars to expand the infrastructure of power line transmission--To meet the overpowering capabilities of the wind power generation. Don't let anyone fool you. Green power is a reality! Green power is being used today! And Green power is the future! (pause for applause). Anything less than that is just stupid...and ultimately, hopelessly unimaginative. (pause, again)

John F. Kennedy promised to put someone on the moon. And in a few years time, we did it. It seems to me, building some wind turbines and solar fields is not a terribly big endeavor, comparably. Let's do it right.