Re: “Island students join global climate rallies,” March 16.
It is encouraging to see students demanding action on this crucial matter. They say: “Tell me what I can do about it.” Various leaders say: “We need to focus on what needs to be done rather than what is politically possible” and “We need to act today.”
Each of us can take positive actions to reduce global warming. We can change our home heating system to electricity or a heat pump. We can buy an electric car.
For negative actions, we can protest against pipelines and we can refuse to invest in petroleum companies.
However, our civilization requires enormous amounts of energy for industrial processes such as producing steel, copper and cement. These processes need power in specific locations. The only carbon-free technology that is available today to provide such power is nuclear fission.
France and Sweden have demonstrated that nuclear power has several advantages. Nuclear plants use a small fraction of the steel and concrete needed by windmills. Small plants can be located near to where the power is needed. By contrast, power from Site C will be transmitted over hundreds of kilometres to get to where it is needed. Millions of trees will be removed for the transmission lines.
Renewable energy can’t reduce our carbon use enough and in time to avoid disaster. The only green technology that is available today and can be implemented soon enough is nuclear fission. We desperately need political leaders who have the courage to lead us toward nuclear power.
David Stocks
Colwood
