With Friends Like This, Do We Need Enemies?

Via NEI Nuclear Notes, abridged

Robert F. Kennedy Jr is quoted from the New York Times stating his reasons why he is opposed to building an offshore wind farm that is proposed to be built near Cape Cod, the site of the Kennedy complex.  Over the past few years he has made his opposition to nuclear energy well known, and made the argument that renewable sources of energy could be used to make up the gap in electrical generation.

Patrick Moore, one of the founders of Greenpeace and now head of Greenspirit Strategies, often mentions the fact that most environmentalists are against so much it's hard to figure out what they're in favor of. This is certainly an example of that type of thinking.

I don't think that Kennedy is necessarily typical of environmentalists, but he certainly does nothing positive for their image.

I do believe that global warming is an urgent environmental concern and believe it cannot be solved with renewable energy alone and that both clean coal technologies with sequestration and nuclear power have a role to play in solving this problem in the short term. There is probably not enough time for either renewable energy or conservation to halt or reverse the effects of global warming before it may cause irreversible damage. Therefore we must take all possible steps to mitigate global warming.  Deploying nuclear energy and clean coal technologies does not mean that any efforts should be spared in pursuing renewable energy or conservation.  In fact efforts in these areas should be accelerated as much as possible.

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Comments

[MyKisa]

Ted Kennedy fights wind farms too but will hand out Chavez oil at reduced prices.
Ted into big oil maybe?

[Rod Adams]

There are a number of Environmentalists, particularly in leadership positions, that frequently make statements or establish policies that have the effect, and perhaps the intention, of helping to make the petroleum industry more profitable.

For the past fifteen years, it has seemed that a number of national environmental organizations have been the marketing arm of the methane (aka "natural" gas) industry. Their success has led to a great market for suppliers, and a bit of pain for consumers.

Robert Kennedy is not alone.

[beev]

I have learned from experience that a firmly environmental ideology, when it comes to the crunch, often has to bow down to the harsh realities of business, politics and democracy. An environmentalist cannot have it all his/her own way, simply because not everyone is an environmentalist, and one has to respect that one of the greatest things about the world is its diversity.

What is environmentally sound in theory often is not the best solution in practice. We environmentalists have to accept that the road to sustainability is a long one, and that sometimes you need some serious innovation - and that needs to come from us. We can't expect politicaians and everyone else to do everything for us, because they have their own concerns, which incorporate far more issues than just sustainability.

We have to remember that sustainability is not the only issue in the world, and that politicians generally have to take many different issues into account when considering something that to the outsider may seem very straight-forward.

However, it is definitely good to try to understand their reasons.

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