Pro-big oil, anti-environment conservatives have recently been making a lot of noise in favor of building nuclear power plants and an expansion of oil exploration in the Alaskan wilderness and off U.S. coastlines. Their position, as always, is that it is in the best interest of all Americans to allow big corporations to operate freely without any government oversight so that they can maximize profits, The recent mortgage, banking, and housing meltdown illustrates the disastrous consequences to average working people that result when government regulators turn a blind eye towards corporate excesses. Far worse consequences are likely if large corporations are allowed to build new nuclear power plants and expand oil drilling in environmentally sensitive areas; particularly if these activities are allowed to proceed without aggressive government oversight.
According to proponents of nuclear power, environmentalists have
manipulated science and engaged in fear mongering in order to demonize nuclear power. Well, environmentalists have never needed to demonize nuclear power in order for most people to oppose it because it is fraught with serious problems that have never been adequately addressed. Advocates of nuclear power somehow always forget to mention that the radioactive waste generated by nuclear power plants remains highly toxic for many thousands of years — well beyond the life expectancy of any known natural or engineered containment structure.
This is a fact of physics and engineering that has not been manipulated by anyone. Every decent, sensible person knows that producing large quantities of highly toxic radioactive waste without an adequate means of storing it is wildly irresponsible and downright immoral because it poses an unknown but potentially serious threat to future generations.
According to anti-environment propagandists, global warming is a fear campaign foisted upon us all by environmentalists. As an environmental scientist, I am skeptical of some of the claims about global warming made by environmentalists. However, it seems to me that any reasonable person who has examined this issue cannot escape the conclusion that global warming is very likely to be occurring and is also very likely to have serious consequences. I am sure that there are some people who, like global warming skeptics, also remain skeptical about the “alleged” link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer.
Many conservatives, including John McCain, now tout nuclear power as a way to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions associated with coal-fired power plants in order to halt global warming — a phenomenon that they claim is not really occurring. They support an expansion of nuclear power rather than promising new and much safer technologies such as solar energy because of the influence of a well-funded nuclear power industry lobby.
Conservative big-oil apologists argue that oil prices are high because of limited supply. Increased drilling will supposedly augment oil supplies and lower prices. The problem with high oil prices is not one only of supply, but rather one of supply and demand. Conservatives never mention a reduction in demand as part of a strategy for American energy independence. Why not work to reduce the demand for oil? Conservatives ignore strategies to reduce demand because a reduction in demand for oil would negatively impact the record profits made by big oil companies. They instead favor an expansion of drilling that would result in even greater profits for big oil companies.
There is no evidence that allowing more drilling in Alaska or along U.S. coastlines will lower oil prices. On the contrary, some economists assert that oil should cost around $50-60 a barrel based upon current supply and demand figures, although this is controversial. Even if oil exploration is allowed to expand without any constraint, speculators and big oil companies with the help of both Republican and Democratic lawmakers can artificially inflate the price of oil as they now appear to be doing. Thus, allowing an expansion of oil exploration is no guarantee that oil prices will ever be reduced.
Anti-environment conservatives who live in Indiana support the construction of nuclear power plants in New York or Texas and oil exploration in Alaska and off the shores of California. They love the idea of building a nuclear waste storage facility in Nevada. Why? Any environmental catastrophe will likely only affect other people. Any plans to build a nuclear waste storage facility in Indiana would soon have Indiana conservatives railing against nuclear power as the work of Satan.
The anti-environment right also has no patience for any attempts to mitigate the effects of “alleged” global warming because this sort of responsible behavior would interfere with their selfish consumption of resources. Again, if global warming is a real threat, it will only seriously affect future generations and is, therefore, of no real concern to them.
Congress needs to act in the interests of average Americans by taking several steps: 1) vigorously oppose the construction of any additional nuclear power plants until a solution has been found for nuclear waste storage, 2) increase funding for research into alternative energy technologies; particularly solar power, 3) block any expansion of drilling in the Alaskan wilderness, off U.S. coastlines, and in other pristine wilderness areas, 4) prevent oil speculators from artificially inflating the cost of oil by tightly regulating the oil commodities markets, 5) impose steep new taxes on gas guzzling vehicles, and 6) impose substantial new windfall profits taxes on big oil companies.
Individuals have no control over the supply of energy, but they do have the power to reduce the demand for energy. Individuals need to reduce wasteful electricity consumption in order to eliminate the need to build and operate more coal and nuclear power plants and they need to buy fuel-efficient vehicles in order to eliminate the motivation for expanded U.S. oil exploration.
Reducing consumption is the best way to reduce one’s own personal energy costs and the only strategy that offers any hope of driving down energy prices given the extensive manipulation and control of energy markets by corporate interests.
— John Allen
Terre Haute
Flashpoint
FLASHPOINT: Debating the oil crisis — Reducing consumption key to lowering energy costs
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As Hoosiers celebrate the conclusion of a truly remarkable Super Bowl experience, there is even more good news that should fill us with pride.
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FLASHPOINT: Republicans enable war on middle class, unions
About six years ago at the pinnacle of the Bush/GOP Dictatorship, I began telling you that the wealthy and Corporate America were laying the ground work to politically, financially and physically take over America.
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FLASHPOINT: Howey ignores truth to advance his agenda
Brian Howey’s Jan. 8 column about the U.S. Senate race proves once again that he will not allow the facts or journalistic ethics to get in the way of attacking Richard Mourdock and promoting his chosen candidate, Dick Lugar.
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FLASHPOINT: What really motivates right-to-work proposal?
You may have heard about the upcoming “right-to-work” legislation before our lawmakers in the next session of “law making.”
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FLASHPOINT: The right-to-work debate: ‘Devil at Our Doorstep’
As the 2012 Indiana Legislative Assembly convenes, January will represent a tipping point for all Hoosiers’ individual freedoms as politicians and Big Labor draw battle lines to determine if Indiana will become the 23rd right-to-work state.
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FLASHPOINT: State’s House Democrats will offer alternative for job creation
As the leaders of single-party control in state government outline their agendas for the 2012 session of the Indiana General Assembly, it is easy to be cynical about their intentions in the months to come.
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FLASHPOINT: Community colleges must lead way in reshaping higher education
In the 1970s, I began what was three decades in the automotive industry. ... Today, in my position as president of Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, I see higher education confronted with some of these same challenges.
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FLASHPOINT: There’s little right about ‘right to work’ proposal
The danger contained in these three simple words – “Right to Work” — is that they sound so innocent.
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FLASHPOINT: The next big movement? Reform Congress
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FLASHPOINT: Christmas trees and crony capitalism
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FLASHPOINT: Salute to Rooney and all veterans
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FLASHPOINT: Corporate welfare for Menards?
As near as I can figure from a recent story in the newspaper, our government representatives, state and local, are scrambling to find money to give to Menards because of a distribution center they are thinking about building on the city’s North Side.
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FLASHPOINT: State Archives needs permanent, safe home
The records in the Indiana State Archives are priceless, one-of-a-kind treasures not to be found anywhere else.
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Flashpoint: State Archives needs permanent, safe home
The records in the Indiana State Archives are priceless, one-of-a-kind treasures not to be found anywhere else.
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FLASHPOINT: Attracting foreign investment involves more than business climate
A week before I left Indiana to lead my fifth international trade mission, I met with students at Speedway High School who had visited Japan two years ago. They were sharing their advice on Japanese protocol.
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FLASHPOINT: Scoring the Indiana Chamber
It is a question asked routinely — almost reflexively — during the last days of a General Assembly: “Will the Chamber score this?”
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FLASHPOINT: The growing power of lobbyists
Back in 1982, Mississippi’s powerful U.S. Sen. John C. Stennis faced a tough re-election fight. Advisers told him he had an ace up his sleeve: as chairman of the Armed Service Committee, he could raise bundles of campaign cash from defense contractors. But Stennis balked. “Would that be proper?” he asked. “I hold life and death over these companies.”
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FLASHPOINT: Fiscal hawks: Speak out on state’s largest publicly funded project
Indiana has a number of fiscal hawks among our elected officials who talk tough about ending subsidies and cutting wasteful projects.
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FLASHPOINT: A great company will soon disappear from community
This is in reference to the Tribune-Star story of Aug. 6 concerning the Terre Haute Sherwin-Williams plant’s intention to close by end of the year:
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FLASHPOINT: Collegiate relations committee proposal addresses neighborhood ills
With the beginning of the school year, it is apparent that Terre Haute is a college town in many respects, especially for those who live in the Farrington’s Grove neighborhood, south of downtown.
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FLASHPOINT: Indiana learning from a founding Hoosier family
The Delph family excursion through southern Indiana over the Labor Day weekend was as memorable as it was enjoyable. Lilly turned 5 and got to spend her birthday at Holiday World riding rides and eating sweets. Abby got to drive Dad around on the pretend cars foretelling our new world order. Emma, Anna and Evelyn further cemented their status as rollercoaster girls dragging Mom and Dad on the Voyage, arguably the most brutal ride of all for parents.
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Social media makes news more intimate, more disturbing In decade after 9/11
When a student recently asked what was “the hardest story” I had to cover during my 26 years working at CNN, the question caught me off guard.
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FLASHPOINT: Better access to quality health care can happen
Over 50 million Americans live in areas where there are simply not enough health care providers to meet their basic needs.
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FLASHPOINT: Seeking understanding from insanity of war
On the evening of Sept. 11, 2001, my family and I gathered to watch the unending news reports and the searing images of our homeland under attack.
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How to listen to a politician
As summer draws to a close and next year’s political campaigns get down to brass tacks, you’re going to be hearing a lot more from politicians seeking your vote.
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FLASHPOINT: Congress must help keep American dream within our reach
Since the 2010 mid-term elections, House Speaker John Boehner and his blindly dedicated Republican followers have not introduced a single bill for job creation.
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FLASHPOINT: Howey’s Aug. 21 column was inaccurate
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FLASHPOINT: Measles outbreak demonstrates the need for up-to-date vaccinations
Real incidents that engage national, state and local health professionals can be far more fascinating than television investigative dramas and are clearly more important.
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