Antinuclear

How long is Australia going to take Ziggy seriously?

I used to think that Ziggy Spinowski was quite bright.  Then I heard him, 2 years ago,  at Melbourne University, trying to answer questions on Climate Change.  It was clear that he knew little about it.  Perhaps he’s taken a few lessons since then.

Now, Ziggy is on about China selling nukes to Australia. Cheap! lovely!

Ziggy is apparently unaware that China is regarded as very unsafe in relation to its siting of nuclear plants, and lack of emergency procedures.  China is planning nuclear reprocessing –  a technology that the USA rejected years ago because of its danger, proliferation risks, and exorbitant cost.  China has a murky record on selling nuclear materials, to places such as Iran.  And an even murkier record on its treatment of nuclear workers, and communities where it chooses to dump radioactive wastes.   And of course,there’s the little problem of secrecy,  poor civil rights, and China’s deplorable treatment of dissenters.

And anyway, China’s now having second thoughts –  it probably will need nuclear only for its growing nuclear weapons program.  For civil energy, China is turning to renewables, especially solar power, in  a big way.

Why does the Australian media adopt such a reverent attitude to this absurd spruiker, Ziggy Switkowski – treating his every spruik as “gospel truth”?

May 18, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina reviews