Antinuclear

These bags are an integral component of our throwaway lifestyle, and create major waste management and litter problems throughout the nation. Lightweight plastic bags can be found in the ocean, in trees, and just about everywhere. They are filling up landfills at a rapid rate. We managed to live without them before they were introduced in the 1970s and we’ll probably survive after they are gone; assuming California Governor Jerry Brown signs the bill and California begins yet another national environmental trend.

While we see progress on the coast, we remain mired in toxic waste back in the nation’s capital. The problem is that our broken political process is incapable of dealing with the nuclear waste that is accumulating at the nation’s civilian nuclear power plants. …….

In order to allow plants to be licensed again, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission decided that nuclear waste could now be stored indefinitely in well-guarded and well-maintained above ground storage facilities. Scientists estimate that some nuclear waste will remain toxic for hundreds of thousands of years. In fact, one of the reasons for below ground storage was the likelihood that the repository would last longer than our current civilization.

Many of my climate change-oriented colleagues argue that nuclear power is a realistic and desirable replacement for fossil fuels. But any close look at the technical and political problems of nuclear waste should provide ample reason to look elsewhere for a solution to our energy needs. ………..

Our economy is filled with a range of substances and products that have been engineered without much thought given to long term environmental impacts. Our houses and fences were once made of wood, a fairly traditional and very biodegradable material that literally grows on trees. Today vinyl and other plastics that last longer and are easier to maintain have replaced wood in homes all over America. Many of our consumer products are far from biodegradable; some include toxics and many are designed for planned obsolescence. These ordinary, mundane products are entering our waste stream and finding their way into fragile, interconnected ecosystems all over the planet. Sometimes the impact is minor, sometimes it is significant, but generally it is unexamined, careless and casual.

From ordinary plastic bags to extraordinary pools of nuclear waste, we have unleashed a staggering array of poisons into the same ecosystems that feed us and provide us with other biological necessities such as air and water. In some cases, such as nuclear waste, we have heard decades of discussion and debate about risks, costs and benefits. However in most cases, we are either ignorant or barely aware of the impacts and potential risks…….