Thank you Beverly Scofield for your kind words about my April letter in the Sun, “Capitalism needs your help!” (“Gloege hit the nail on its head,” April 12).
My point is that capitalism, ourselves, and especially our sons and daughters need government action to immediately do all we can to slow the onrushing threat of climate change.
Our government is doing very, very little. Allowing the mighty, carbon-free 2.3 billion watt Diablo Canyon to close is but one example of government disinterest in man’s worst problem. Diablo gives 40 million Californians 10 percent of their electricity without any emission of CO2.
Burning natural gas, gasoline, or coal for energy, power plants, vehicles, factories, city lighting, air conditioning, and other modern machinery puts 30 billion more tons of carbon in the atmosphere yearly. It remains there for many years, so it’s cumulative. That carbon traps incoming heat from the sun in the air and oceans.
This causes earth temperatures to rise more each year, and drought, famine, and injury to capitalism result.
Not only polar bears, but man and all mankind’s sustaining activities need a balanced, stable climate to keep us secure. But today industries like agriculture, insurance, airlines, any work requiring outside labor, and other industries are losing billions of dollars because of the excess heat caused by climate change. And it will just get worse each year as carbon builds in our thin, protective atmosphere. Large hurricanes caused by heated oceans caused billions in losses in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico last year.
We need to change our source of energy for cars, trucks, industry, home heating, and especially electricity plants to another method that emits no carbon.
Today there is one great, obvious candidate—atomic power, used by America and many modern nations for energy since around 1960. Our U.S. Navy began using reactors for energy in 1955 and found it so safe and desirable that today every major American Navy ship uses atomic energy.
Some media stories present fake facts about nuclear power, portraying it as dangerous. False information put out by industries to protect profits isn’t new.
Remember those executives of big tobacco who falsely swore to Congress that smoking did not cause lung cancer when reports later showed they knew it did? These industries paid a few willing experts to claim no link between smoking and lung cancer.
Do your part. Help Californians for Green Nuclear Power, a citizen, volunteer nonprofit, correct falsehoods about atom energy. You can help us in small or large ways to protect the planet and give your children a more secure future. We want to hear your thoughts: info@cgnp.org.
This article appears in May 3-10, 2018.
