America warms up to nuclear power

OK. I am an admitted number jumkie. But sometimes, numbers are clearcut, without political agendas of their own. U.S. Coal alone produces 10% of the entire world's greenhouse gasses. To wit:

To Patrick Moore, who cofounded Greenpeace, nuclear power is the only realistic solution to future power needs.

"You can't solve this problem with windmills and photo panels alone," says the chairman of Greenspirit Strategies Ltd., a Vancouver, B.C., environmental consulting firm. These two power sources tend to be expensive. More important, they are "intermittent." They work only when the wind blows or the sun shines. Economies need "baseload" power that operates all the time.

Coal can provide an around-the-clock power stream. But the 1,300 coal-fired plants in the US already belch out 10 percent of the world's greenhouse gases. Do we want more climate-changing gas?

Now, I am not yet convinced on whether we want or don't want more climate-changing gas, but I know that I don't want to burn coal, have coal miners die, and pollute the atmosphere. I like to breathe clean air, and drink clean water. And I want the same for my kids.

Go nukes!