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A Prediction Coming True

Cowpuncher

Well-known member
In the mid-eighties, in the wake of the Three Mile Island nuclear accident(in which no one died) a dedicated California liberal asked me what were going to do for energy.

If you can't use fossil fuels because: 1. They cause CO2 to be released into the atmosphere causing whatever and 2. Be definition, the supple is finite and will run out one day, like it or not.

My response was that, like it or not, we would have to start building new nuclear plants. They provide cheap, clean energy. But due to political considerations, it would take a while. Maybe we are getting close.

Meanwhile, the US gets about 20% of our electricity from nuclear plants. France gets a full 80% of their electricity from nuclear.

A purely personal opinion is that natural gas, a primary source of electricty generation in the US is a horrible waste of a finite resource. Natural gas is used to make everything from key plastics to fertilizer. Why just burn it up when there is a choice?
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
I think we should be going toward coal- with all the new scrubbing procedures, it has become much more enviro friendly....

ND has enough coal to supply all the US's electrical needs (even figuring in increased load) for 200 years-- so does Montana-- and if you add in Wyoming they could fire all the electrical plants for 900 years....The experts say there is enough coal in North America to handle the next 2000 years needs...

And the reclaimed areas I have seen at some Montana mines have put the landscape back in shape about twice as good as it was before....
 

IL Rancher

Well-known member
I have felt much the same way.. We had a nuke reactor guy from the navy come to my HS back in 91 or 92 who predicted the same thing.. Of course he was very, very, pro nuke so most of us took what he said with a grain of salt (Just as we did with most speakers who came in, be they Palastinians, Isrealies or whomever, my Hs was very good at getting speakers with differening view points)..

The only thing that really needs to be overcome is the NIMBY crowd in that it will be real hard to get the reactors built... I don't know when the last reactor was built in this country but it was a while ago.. Seems to be that Nuc energy was probably a technology that was exploited before its time really.
 

IL Rancher

Well-known member
There is tons of coal out there. Southern Illinois has huge deposits but they are DEEP ones that we don't really have the tech to exploit at the moment. This area had lots of coal mines 100 years ago, that ground was not reclaimed well but it makes for nice hunting areas.
 

katrina

Well-known member
Honey, a spade is a spade.........If you wear a rag around your head, You are a raghead......... But thanks for the info....cuz I wouldn't of known what your talking about......
 

Judith

Well-known member
Trust me it's not politically correct. :D LOL It was said tongue in cheek. Ironically I learned the term from a very Canadainized middle eastern gent. He said it an I did'nt get it at first....
 
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