Response to Anti-Nuclear Letter

Nuclear power generation is regularly attacked by individuals and groups who, on principle, believe that nuclear energy of any sort is simply bad for society. This is an exchange between me and a local Athenian. It’s brief, but represents my personal position and also reflects some technical shortsightedness on the part of some who engage in this issue. I was somewhat amused at the anti-nuclear guy’s proposal to “dig a deep hole, then boil the water near where the lava lives”.

Gattie Letter:
http://onlineathens.com/opinion/2014-04-03/gattie-alternative-energy-sources-unreliable
Original Letter:
http://onlineathens.com/opinion/2014-03-31/stelter-nuclear-power-wrong-strategy

 

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Graphic: CO2 Emissions Intensity

Since 1997, CO2 emissions from power generation have trended downward in the U.S., Texas and Georgia, with Georgia having reduced its emissions by 30%. Reductions can be attributed in part to recent shifts from coal to natural gas as a primary energy source. These data are for electric utilities and Independent Power Producers only.

Editorial on 2014 Version of EPA Clean Power Plan

In June of 2014, EPA released its first draft of proposed carbon rules for the U.S. power generation sector. Also known as the Clean Power Plan, these rules represent the first of their kind for regulating CO2 as a pollutant and it uses Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act as its legal basis and justification. This is an editorial I wrote for the Athens Banner-Herald back in August 2014 regarding EPA’s carbon rules. My contention is that the rules present uneven challenges for individual states in the U.S., particularly for Georgia.

http://onlineathens.com/opinion/2014-08-16/gattie-us-needs-multifacted-approach-energy-issues