Nuclear power plant building plans revealed
Hold up!
See that little date above?
This post was published years ago.
My opinions have changed over time: I think it's quite fun to keep old posts online so that you can see how that has happened. The downside is that there are posts on this site that express views that I now find offensive, or use language in ways I'd never dream of using it today.
I don't believe in airbrushing history, but I do believe that it's important to acknowledge the obvious: some of what I've written in the past has been crap. Some of it was offensive. Some of it was offensively bad. And there's may be some brass among the muck (you can make up your own mind on that).
Some of what I've presented as my own views has been me—wittingly or unwittingly—posturing without having considered all the facts. In a few years, I'll probably think the same about what I'm writing today, and I'm fine with that. Things change. People grow. Society moves forward.
The internet moves on too, which means there might be broken links or embedded content that fails to load. If you're unlucky, that might mean that this post makes no sense at all.
So please consider yourself duly warned: this post is an historical artefact. It's not an exposition of my current views nor a piece of 'content' than necessarily 'works'.
You may now read on... and in most cases, the post you're about to read is considerably shorter than this warning box, so brace for disappointment.
The Observer claims to have seen a document that says the government is to press ahead with plans to build several new nuclear power stations:
In a 46-paragraph briefing note for incoming ministers, Joan MacNaughton, the director-general of energy policy at the new Department of Productivity, Energy and Industry, warns that key policy targets to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and boost green energy are likely to fail, and that decisions on new nuclear power stations must be taken urgently. It advises that ‘it is generally easier to push ahead on controversial issues early in a new parliament’.
I don’t understand the reasoning here: We apparently live in an age where the terrorist threat is so great that civil liberties must be curtailed in order to deal with the problem. And yet this government is actively seeking to increase the amount of radioactive substances being shipped around the country, as well as (presumably) increasing the total amount in the country. This seems like a strange decision to make, unless we are to assume that Tony Blair thinks the terrorist threat is a passing phase, whilst nuclear energy will have long-lasting benefits.
If this is the case, then when does Mr Blair conceive that terrorists, who have been targeting more progressive nations for centuries, are ever going to stop doing so? There is simply never going to be a time when terrorists aren’t active in the world, which is precisely why the curtailment of civil liberties is wrong – it will necessarily become a permanent measure.
It all seems like a wildly haphazard, unconsidered plan to deal with climate change to me. But, having said all that, I have no better suggestions of a path to take.
This post was filed under: News and Comment, Politics.