Top US climate scientists support
development of safe nuclear power
Open letter to environmentalists
and world leaders says wind and solar power are not enough to diminish carbon
emissions
Associated Press in Pittsburgh
theguardian.com, Sunday 3 November
2013 11.03 EST
Some of the world's top climate
scientists say wind and solar energy won't be enough to head off extreme global
warming, and they're asking environmentalists to support the development of
safer nuclear power as one way to cut fossil fuel pollution.
Four scientists who have played a
key role in alerting the public to the dangers of climate change sent letters
Sunday to leading environmental groups and politicians around the world. The
letter, an advance copy of which was given to the Associated Press, urges a
crucial discussion on the role of nuclear power in fighting climate change.
The letter signers are James
Hansen, a former top NASA scientist;
Ken Caldeira, of the Carnegie
Institution; Kerry Emanuel, of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology; and Tom Wigley, of the University of Adelaide in
Australia.
Environmentalists agree that
global warming is a threat to ecosystems and humans, but many oppose nuclear power and believe that new
forms of renewable energy will be able to power the world within the next few
decades. That isn't realistic, the letter said.
"Those energy sources cannot
scale up fast enough" to deliver the amount of cheap and reliable power
the world needs, and "with the planet warming and carbon dioxide emissions
rising faster than ever, we cannot afford to turn away from any
technology" that has the potential to reduce greenhouse gases.
Hansen began publishing research
on the threat of global warming more than 30 years ago, and his testimony
before Congress in 1988 helped launch a mainstream discussion. Last February he
was arrested in front of the White House at a climate protest that included the
head of the Sierra Club and other activists.
Caldeira was a contributor to
reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Emanuel is known
for his research on possible links between climate change and hurricanes, and
Wigley has also been doing climate research for more than three decades.
Emanuel said the signers aren't
opposed to renewable energy sources but want environmentalists to understand
that "realistically, they cannot on their own solve the world's energy
problems."
The vast majority of climate
scientists say they're now virtually certain that pollution from fossil fuels
has increased global temperatures over the last 60 years. They say emissions
need to be sharply reduced to prevent more extreme damage in the future.
In 2011 worldwide carbon dioxide
emissions jumped 3%, because of a large increase by China, the world's most carbon polluting
country. The US
is second in carbon emissions.
Hansen, who's now at Columbia University,
said it's not enough for environmentalists to simply oppose fossil fuels and
promote renewable energy.
"They're cheating themselves
if they keep believing this fiction that all we need" is renewable energy
such as wind and solar, Hansen told the AP.
The joint letter says, "the
time has come for those who take the threat of global warming seriously to
embrace the development and deployment of safer nuclear power systems" as
part of efforts to build a new global energy supply.
Stephen Ansolabehere, a Harvard
professor who studies energy issues, said nuclear power is "very
divisive" within the environmental movement. But he added that the letter
could help educate the public about the difficult choices that climate change
presents.
One major environmental advocacy
organization, the Natural Resources Defense Council, warned that "nuclear
power is no panacea for our climate woes."
Risk of catastrophe is only one drawback
of nuclear power, NRDC President Frances Beinecke said in a statement. Waste
storage and security of nuclear material are also important issues, he said.
"The better path is to clean
up our power plants and invest in efficiency and renewable energy."
The scientists acknowledge that
there are risks to using nuclear power, but say those are far smaller than the
risk posed by extreme climate change.
"We understand that today's
nuclear plants are far from perfect."
Carnegie Institution
William R.
Hearst III is a trustee at the Carnegie
Institution for Science, a partner emeritus at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and William Randolph Hearst’s grandson.
Note: Kleiner
Perkins Caufield & Byers was a donor for The Climate Project.
Albert
A. Gore Jr. was a donor for The
Climate Project, is a partner at Kleiner
Perkins Caufield & Byers, and the chairman for the Climate Reality Project.
Joseph E.
Stiglitz was a director at the Climate
Reality Project, and is a professor at Columbia University.
L.
John Doerr is a general partner at Kleiner
Perkins Caufield & Byers, and a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Colin
L. Powell is a strategic limited partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, his son is Michael K. Powell, and a director at the
Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank).
Michael K. Powell
is Colin L. Powell’s son, and a trustee
at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Sean
O'Keefe is a director at the Atlantic
Council of the United States
(think tank), and was an administrator at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United
States (think tank).
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.
Henry A. Kissinger was a lifetime
trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank), a member of the Bohemian
Club, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank),
and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
William
Randolph Hearst was a member of the Bohemian
Club, and his grandson is William R.
Hearst III.
Belizean_Grove
is the equivalent to the male-only social group, the Bohemian Club.
Ann
F. Kaplan is a member of the Belizean
Grove, and a trustee at Columbia University.
Stephen Friedman
was the chairman for Columbia University,
and is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Henrietta
Holsman Fore is a member of the Belizean
Grove, and a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
James S.
Crown is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a member
of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of Chicago,
Members Directory
Please note: This link for the
members of the Commercial Club of Chicago can no longer be found.
Lester Crown
is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was a lifetime
trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Climate Reality Project, the Aspen
Institute (think tank), the Urban
Institute (think tank), the Brookings
Institution (think tank), Human
Rights Watch, the Harlem Children's
Zone, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
George
Soros is the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society, was a benefactor for the Human Rights Watch, and a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone.
Michael E.
Gellert is a director at the Human
Rights Watch, and a trustee at the Carnegie
Institution for Science.
William T. Coleman
Jr. was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank), is a life trustee at the Urban Institute (think tank), an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and
a senior trustee at the Carnegie
Institution for Science.
John
M. Deutch is a life trustee at the Urban
Institute (think tank), and a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Robert
M. Solow is a life trustee at the Urban
Institute (think tank), and a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Suzanne Nora
Johnson is a trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), and a trustee at the Carnegie Institution for Science.
David
F. Swensen is a senior trustee at the Carnegie
Institution for Science, and was a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Jessica Tuchman Mathews was an honorary
trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), is the president of
the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), a director
at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg
conference participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview with
Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population
control by involving the United
States in war)
L.
Rafael Reif is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace (think tank), and the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Susan Hockfield
was the president of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, and is a trustee at the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Subra
Suresh was the engineering school dean for Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is the president of the Carnegie Mellon University.
Robert
Legvold is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
(think tank), and is a professor, professor emeritus for Columbia University.
Mark
E. Kingdon is a trustee at Columbia University,
a trustee at the Harlem Children's Zone,
and a trustee at Carnegie Hall.
Andrew Carnegie
was the founder for the Carnegie
Corporation of New York, the Carnegie Mellon
University endowed his
predecessor schools, the founder of Carnegie
Hall, the founder of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
(think tank), and the founder of Carnegie
Institution for Science.
Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace (think
tank) was a funder for the Nuclear
Threat Initiative (think tank).
Jessica Tuchman Mathews is a director
at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think
tank), the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
(think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank), was an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think
tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview with
Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population
control by involving the United
States in war)
Ted
Turner is a co-chairman for the Nuclear
Threat Initiative (think tank), and the founder of CNN.
Walter
Isaacson was the chairman & CEO for CNN, and is the president & CEO for the Aspen Institute
(think tank).
William T.
Coleman Jr. was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and
a senior trustee at the Carnegie
Institution for Science.
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