Reply #116: Not really.

[kristopher]

i was looking at this ""Smart grids" will be needed regardless of what we do in the near-term. Spaced-based solar is years from, erm, "taking off" and fusion plants are likewise a ways off. We're stuck with fossil fuel-based plants and nuclear FISSION plants will also see an uptick in construction. The good thing about that is that while the industry has fortunately had a hell of a time being allowed to build new plants based on decades-old technologies and designs, the development of newer technologies and designs hasn't stopped. Hopefully the newer plants that get built won't screw us over as much as older plants have. Like it or not, They. Will. Be. Built. I live in Nevada and we're not fans of nuclear (fission) power because of how we got railroaded by all the other states and the federal government until recently (Obama essentially killed funding to the development of the Yucca Mountain project) so yeah, the reality that They. Will. Be. Built. isn't something we're particularly comfortable with. Fusion power can't get here soon enough."

There is very little support for building new nuclear plants. The evaluation by Jacobson includes a full resource evaluation (including ability of present technology to be deployed and do the job. One of nuclear power's weaknesses is the fact that wind and solar can deploy more rapidly and have an earlier and larger effect than nuclear power can.

Separate analysis are virtually universal in concluding that nuclear is also prohibitively expensive. While the nuclear industry makes a lot of promises that they can contain costs, there is very little objective evidence to accept their assertions as more than sales pitch.

We could, with political will inspired by an informed public, largely eliminate the use of fossil fuel in this country within 10-15 years and restore the economy doing it.

The obstacle isn't technical, it is political. The current energy infrastructure largely drives the process, but they are losing power rapidly.

Please write a real letter to all of your reps and tell them you want Gore's plan implemented.