Nuclear solution
Zane Alcorn (Write On, GLW #751) appears so overly concerned with avoiding nuclear power that he seems to forget that the real enemy is global warming. Nuclear power already plays a far more important role curtailing emissions than wind and solar. With China and India (and Europe) going ahead full steam with the expansion of nuclear power, where does that leave Australia?
The proof that anti-nuclear groups, Alcorn and Jim Green included, no longer have a point is their stubborn adherence to many unfounded myths, namely, nuclear power stations are unsafe, cause cancer, create lots of CO2 and lead to weapons proliferation; waste is unmanageable; nuclear power is highly subsidised; there is not enough uranium, etc. These myths have been debunked so many times that it takes religious blindness to persist with them.
It is a big mistake on the side of committed Greens to continue to oppose nuclear power. Nuclear power already is part of the solution, and its role will only increase. Nobody says it is perfect, but together with the other renewables, it will bail us out of this mess and buy us time to develop fusion reactors.
Carlos Caceres
NSW
Electric cars
Dear Kevin Rudd,
Why doesn't Australia achieve international recognition by being the first country to successfully develop an Electric Car?
In the late 1990s, General Motors began commercial sales of the EV1, successfully demonstrating that a battery powered, zero-emission car was possible. The EV1 was quieter, cleaner and cheaper to run than cars powered by fossil fuels. However, the project was shut own because of pressure by fuel companies.
Combatting rising fuel prices by cutting fuel taxes is only going to delay the problem, and hybrid cars still rely on fossil fuels. The only long term answer is to develop a real alternative. As a nation, we have the money, skills and resources to do this, and current petrol prices and environmental concerns make it a highly commercially viable project.
Violence has already erupted over fuel prices in Europe and greenhouse emissions are devastating the global environment. The world is ready for change — why can't Australia be the country to change it?
Nathaniel Buchanan
Mudgeeraba, NSW
[Abridged.]
Moore Ireland please
Just a short note to say how impressed I was with the recent article on Christy Moore in GLW #752. Christy has been singing songs of freedom for many a year now and in particular, highlighting the cause of Irish freedom to a worldwide audience, something I sadly think your fine publication has been overlooking.
I would love to see you find the time to educate fellow readers about partition in Ireland and expose the myth that the previous conflict has been one of a sectarian nature, as our mainstream press loves to imply. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I'm sure that the oppression of the Nationalist people (those who wish Ireland to be reunited and for Britain to end it's occupation of the 6 counties which make up the statelet of Northern Ireland) is something which your readers would be interested in. Not too mention individual stories of the Volunteers of Oglagh Na hEireann who fought against the imperialist occupational forces of Britain, and many of whom paid dearly with their lives.
I'm hoping Christy Moore was just the beginning in your fine publication.
Our day will come.
Matt Clark
Brisbane