When our living conditions deteriorate gradually, we adapt to these conditions instead of fixing of them. But sudden threats get sorted out immediately.
Coal has done far more damage than nuclear energy ever will, but coal has over 2300 stations worldwide and nuclear has 400.
A perfect example of the ‘Boiling Frog Syndrome’.
I read somewhere that the boiling frog thing is total bullshit. They’ll totally jump out once the water gets too hot.
The frogs only stayed in the water because Friedrich Goltz lobotomized the frogs beforehand. Which makes it a perfect metaphor because the Murdoch media has definitely lobotomized the public.
rich bastards claiming that windmills would harm them through visual pollution.
you fucking fuckwits, smog is visual pollution. But they don’t care.
you fucking fuckwits, smog is visual pollution.
I’m old enough to remember people losing their shit at China over the 2008 Beijing Olympics drowning in a toxic cloud. The international outcry was such that the state spent a decade cleaning all that shit up (which produced its own wave of “Has Chinese Eco-fascism Gone Woke?!” screamer articles in turn).
But their rate of pollution has been falling steadily for the last two decades, in no small part because the state wasn’t fighting an uphill battle against corporate slobs in white doctor’s coats trying to tell everyone that smog wasn’t happening/was good aktuly.
Meanwhile, US expenditures on lobbying, denialism, and greenwashing stretch into the billions of dollars annually. And its not hard to understand why, when the ROI is $7T/year on the international stage.
Windmills are a whole lot better than burning coal, but aren’t perfect. Recyling the blades after their 20 year lifespan is a nightmare.
nothing is perfect. we need imperfect things that don’t emit co2. windmills have many detractors but at the moment represent mostly co2-free power if we’re willing to take it. and recycling industries for solar and wind are coming, they’ll never be perfect either, but when the waste stream becomes lucrative enough they’ll find a way.
but when the waste stream becomes lucrative enough they’ll find a way.
The problem with capitalism in a nutshell.
Because mercantilist wind turbine blades recycle themselves? Or did you mean to imply that communist wind turbines recycle themselves?
I mean to say that when financial incentive is the only incentive then a lot of things that would make this a better world end up on the scrap heap.
I doubt it’s any worse than the other mountains of waste we produce. I’d wager it’d barely even register.
I have a Prius. Not for any stupid “I’m saving the planet despite still driving an ICE car” reasons, because I save a lot on gas.
Doesn’t stop every “rollin’ coal” asshole from doing it when they drive by me because “haw haw dumb librul hippie.” You sure showed me by spending a lot more on gas than I do.
Man I recently got a 2010 Prius off an auction. Very cheap purchase and it works great already getting savings on gas. But I did notice people have the urge to want to pass or take over when I’m in it even though I’m definitely going fast enough. Funny enough it doesn’t happen when I’m in my Miata going the same speed.
Literally children who want big loud vroom vroom trucks with lots of chrome.
my favorite fun fact is that one time that one 16 year tried to roll coal on bicyclists, and then just ran them over and killed them.
You sure showed me by spending a lot more on gas than I do.
The big difference is that trucking generates profit while car use is a personal cost. Rolling coal is negligible to a guy who probably doesn’t even own the rig in an industry where ROI on shipping is well above the cost of the fuel. Meanwhile, we’ve spent a long time dismantling our rail networks in order to profit the automotive industry.
In the end of the day, everything is made deliberately less efficient in order to carve out more and more little profit-centers for middle men and profiteers. It might look stupid and inefficient to you, but to them its just a fringe benefit in an industry with literal money to burn.
Rolling coal generally refers to people who have modified their pickup trucks to intentionally belch out black clouds of smoke.
I’ve seen it most commonly performed by big 18-wheeler trucks. No real modification necessary, when they’re already old and dirty.
You still can’t safely eat mushrooms in parts of Germany that got contaminated by Chernobyl.
And there are millions of people who’s homes have been irrevocably changed for the worse by a warming planet. Even those further north are being impacted as they experience floods in some places, droughts in others, and more extreme weather in general.
I don’t give a shit about the mushrooms.
Most people who are against nuclear power, have the following reasons:
- it’s the most expensive form of energy due to massive regulations
- the power plants take way too long to build
- nuclear waste is a problem, no one wants to have it buried near their homes
- the fissile material is already rare and difficult to come by, mostly sourced from politically difficult regions, such as fucking Russia
Nuclear power is not a solution.
Russia is 12th in Uranium exports, with 0.001% of global exports. Kazakhstan is first at 59%, but there’s Canada with 30%, France with 8%, and the US with 2%. There’s plenty of politically easy Uranium, especially if people start buying it over Kazakhstan.
India, Brazil, Australia, and the US are also slated to have the most Thorium resources, which could be a more significant nuclear fuel with modern and near-modern reactors.
