Seth Godin has the dramatic chart.
The little tiny box is “nuclear.”
I knew this, and the chart still is effective. And my kids were at first very skeptical last week when I tried to tell them that so far coal had killed far more people than nuclear power. (Of course the very worst case scenario for a nuclear plant is much worse than the very worst case scenario for any coal-fired plant; but the very worst case scenario for coal plants aggregated is…global warming.)
Apparently, we’re not very well prepared for a radiation emergency here.
The study found several gaps in states’ radiation emergency preparedness. For one, the survey reports that 73% of states “reported having minimal (53%) or no (21%) plans to conduct population-based exposure monitoring.” Meanwhile, only 13% of states surveyed reported having “any written or detailed operations plan for radiologic analyses of biological or clinical samples.” And 42% of states reported little or no planning to test first responders for radiation contamination.
“Few reported having sufficient resources to do public health surveillance, radiation exposure assessment, laboratory functions and other capabilities,” the study says.
(Previous relevant post — don’t miss the comments —We Live Near Nuclear Power Plants Too.)
Gulf Oil Spill: Rick Steiner Got BP Disaster Right From The Beginning, Warns Crisis Is Far From Over.
Fake President Maddow sounds much better than the real thing.
And Jon Stewart's commentary on US energy policy (fast forward to 1:19, and be sure to stick around for the excruciating part that starts at 7:00) is far superior to what I saw on cable after the speech.
To be fair, getting BP to put money in escrow is a win on the play.
That was … underwhelming.
If I was in a snarky mood, I might say that the legislative strategy seems to be prayer. But that would be fair.
Jotwell Blenderlaw
