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May. 24th, 2004 10:49 amWhat's a Greenie to do?
James Lovelock, inventor of experiments to determine the CFC-Ozone depletion connection, architect of the Gaia theory, patron saint of the environmental movement...says that the only way to halt global warming is to massively expand our nuclear power generation.
This is what's called Thinking Outside the Box -- something that knee-jerk environmentalists have a hard time doing, but something committed scientists, engineers, governments, and businesspeople must do if they want to make large-scale changes to the way the world currently works. Nuclear power is anathema to the Greens...but so are fossil fuels, and, according to Lovelock, there simply isn't enough time to switch over to hydro-/wind-/solar power.
Like any system, from piped fluids to weather systems, drastic change causes resistance and chaos, and the ideal is to only cause such change if the alternative is worse.
This works for economics, as well. Socialists (and some Greens as well) feel that corporations own too much economic power and would like to see any company that owns more than 10% of a market dismantled under anti-trust. Setting aside concerns of punishment for innovation (Invent a really useful product or service? We'll break up your company if it gets too popular!), there is the practical consideration that large businesses employ 48% of Americans. Any structural change to corporations that might limit their income would have huge impacts on payroll. This doesn't necessarily mean that corporations are untouchable, though. Through persuasion, boycotts, incentives, and the occasional lawsuit, over 40% of Fortune 500 companies now have some sort of domestic-partner benefits available to employees, and this is growing from 10-15% a year.
It used to be said that no man is an island. One of Lovelock's contributions to the world is that nothing -- no man, beast, plant, or system -- is an island. Everything, everything, everything interconnects...and pushing on one part will only cause some other part to react.
James Lovelock, inventor of experiments to determine the CFC-Ozone depletion connection, architect of the Gaia theory, patron saint of the environmental movement...says that the only way to halt global warming is to massively expand our nuclear power generation.
This is what's called Thinking Outside the Box -- something that knee-jerk environmentalists have a hard time doing, but something committed scientists, engineers, governments, and businesspeople must do if they want to make large-scale changes to the way the world currently works. Nuclear power is anathema to the Greens...but so are fossil fuels, and, according to Lovelock, there simply isn't enough time to switch over to hydro-/wind-/solar power.
Like any system, from piped fluids to weather systems, drastic change causes resistance and chaos, and the ideal is to only cause such change if the alternative is worse.
This works for economics, as well. Socialists (and some Greens as well) feel that corporations own too much economic power and would like to see any company that owns more than 10% of a market dismantled under anti-trust. Setting aside concerns of punishment for innovation (Invent a really useful product or service? We'll break up your company if it gets too popular!), there is the practical consideration that large businesses employ 48% of Americans. Any structural change to corporations that might limit their income would have huge impacts on payroll. This doesn't necessarily mean that corporations are untouchable, though. Through persuasion, boycotts, incentives, and the occasional lawsuit, over 40% of Fortune 500 companies now have some sort of domestic-partner benefits available to employees, and this is growing from 10-15% a year.
It used to be said that no man is an island. One of Lovelock's contributions to the world is that nothing -- no man, beast, plant, or system -- is an island. Everything, everything, everything interconnects...and pushing on one part will only cause some other part to react.
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