Democrats are not “good” on environmental issues…
Posted by Mike Sylvester - 5/31/08 @ 8:23 am - Filed Under National Politics
In an earlier post Jeff Pruitt and I argued about whether or not Republicans are against the environment and whether or not Democrats are in favor of the environment.
Jeff feels that Republicans are terrible on “environmental” issues and that Democrats are significantly better; at least in the last seven years.
In my opinion neither Party has been particularly good on environmental issues over the last forty years.
The American nuclear power industry has been destroyed by ”fringe environmentalists” and Democrats, especially when Jimmy Carter was President. Jimmy Carter was a naval officer in the nuclear power plant of a submarine. He really should have known better; however, he wanted to please “fringe environmentalists” and he helped destroy the American nuclear power industry. We have not built a new nuclear power plant in decades… In fact the last nuclear power plant built was ordered in 1974; thirty four year ago.
In my opinion there has been a tendency for Democrats to vote to curtail nuclear power and for Republicans to support nuclear power.
Also in my opinion (And I worked in nuclear power for eight years) nuclear power is much better for the environment then coal plants.
As far as nuclear power goes; the Republicans have made the “environmentally friendly” choice.
Mike Sylvester
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6 Responses to “Democrats are not “good” on environmental issues…”
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Mike,
You and I are in agreement on nuclear power but the fallout (no pun intended) from 3 Mile Island and Chernobyl have plagued the nuclear power industry ever since.
It’s been a slow process, too slow, but I think people are once again beginning to warm to the idea of nuclear power…
Most people don’t stop to think what form of energy comes from where.
Most of our energy consumption - about 70% - is used in transportation. Nuclear energy is not designed to alleviate our reliance on oil in that area.
Nuclear power generates heat energy, usually through a liquid medium. The heated medium then supplies energy to power turbines which, in turn, create electricity. Relying on nuclear power will only help solve certain energy issues and really won’t help in the area of transportation.
While it is easy to bandy about the idea of nuclear power as an alternative energy source, it should also be noted that nuclear power will only address a specific area of energy need - that of producing electricity.
Our reliance on oil is and should be the area of focus for energy independence. And that requires solving transportation issues.
Charlotte,
I agree that nuclear power will not fix our energy consumption due to transportation.
That being said; nuclear power would certainly help the environment as far as the production of electricity.
Mike Sylvester
Don’t electric cars use electricity?
You take one issue, nuclear power–which, to be sure, can be argued about both ways (and I won’t pretend I’m an expert on it)–and you make that the centerpiece of Dem environmentalism, as if it starts and ends there.
I’m no fan of the Democrats, but your faulty logic ignores a vast history of consumer and environmental legislation that they have contributed, and that Republicans have always been too eager to see defeated.
You might be right on that one issue, nuclear power, but your headline is not supported by any facts.
Research, please.
American,
I went through about ten rounds of this on another thread. He believes, wrongly in my opinion, that democrats and republicans have been equally poor stewards of the environment.
I strenuously disagree with that and believe that public perception - namely that the republican party us anti-environment - is 100% accurate.