"Environmental Organization Endorses Edwards"

Source:  The New York Times - 10/14/2007

Thoughts: Further fueling the speculation that Al Gore will choose John Edwards as his pick for 2008, the Friends of the Earth Action has given Mr. Edwards their support for 2008 based upon his stances on Environmental issues. Reading through the article, the determining factor was Edwards’s stance on nuclear power. While most candidates and politicians are leaning towards calling for a new wave of nuclear power expansion in the United States, Mr. Edwards says “no.”

It is hard to believe that half the citizens of our nation today were not alive when the Three Mile Island incident occurred, and possibly a quarter of our population wasn’t around when Chernobyl entered the U.S. dictionary. These two events probably have done more to prolong our dependence on foreign oil than our artificially low gas prices. So while we have been chugging away at inventing clean-burning coal technology, France, Japan, and other major nations around the world have developed a sizable nuclear power infrastructure (in relation to population size). However, despite this fear of nuclear power, many in the U.S. probably don’t realize how many nuclear power plants exist within our country (not including power plants aboard our Navy vessels). The top three nations are: USA – 104 plants, France – 59 plants, Japan – 55 plants.

My fear regarding nuclear power isn’t that we might have a meltdown one day but that many of these environmental groups that refuse to consider nuclear power don’t understand many of the modern developments in technology. One of my favorite developments is the pebble-bed reactor. While still in the infant stage, the potential benefits of this type of reactor include a more simple design, decrease in moving parts, less contaminated byproducts (such as cooling water), less likely to suffer a nuclear meltdown, and less likely to suffer an explosion. Why you might ask? Because small quantities of nuclear fuel are encased in carbon balls which are then sealed by a layer of protective coating to keep the core from being exposed to outside gas. Speaking of gas, the fuel is cooled not by water but by inert gas rather than water.

Without getting into the more technical terms of the design (since it would be difficult for me to explain some of these items without giving a class in physics), refer to the following sources for more information:

- PBMR of South Africa
- MIT Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
- Wikipedia (More for the simplified explanation and source links)

Article:  “Environmental Organization Endorses Edwards”
By Christine Hauser

DOVER, N. H. Oct. 14 – John Edwards won support Sunday for his environment plan when the organization, Friends of the Earth Action, endorsed his candidacy for the Democratic nomination.

The organization’s president, Brent Blackwelder, said that the group liked Mr. Edwards’ proposals to fight global warming, and his opposition to nuclear power plants and the influence of lobbyists on policy.

(Article continues.)

He said other Democratic candidates had outstanding records on the environment, but when it came to major issues like nuclear power, Mr. Edwards had the most comprehensive plan.

“Edwards is razor sharp and clear: we don’t want to go the route of nuclear power plants,” said Mr. Blackwelder, whereas Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton wanted to explore the nuclear option.

“We intend to run an independent campaign to educate the voters,” Mr. Blackwelder said. The canvassing, advertisements and seminars will take place mostly in New Hampshire, where the nuclear issue has resonance because of the nuclear power plant at Seabrook, as well as in other states.

“It is a nationwide endorsement,” he said. “In South Carolina there are important issues we want to talk about there, including the Bush plan to dump radioactive waste at the Savannah river site. We think the same message will resonate.”

Mr. Blackwelder said that the group took into consideration polls saying Democrats rank global warming as one of the top three issues of concern to them.

Mr. Edwards, accepting the endorsement, said: “I am opposed to the building of new nuclear power plants, which is different from the position taken by Senator Clinton and Senator Obama.”

“I do believe that Americans will have to sacrifice,” he later said. “And that means we are going to have to be willing to conserve.”

(Read the rest of the article here.)