I always thought it was the left that was so bad about not being very self reflective. Now daily I am feeling inundated with the right telling me how we should quit all the media attention concerning the nuclear plants in Japan because scientists have told us how safe they are and they have all these you know fail safe mechanisms in place.
Call me skeptical.
That doesn’t mean I want nuclear energy to go away. It means I will call your bullshit when one day you want me to believe scientists because it holds with something you want (more nuclear power) but another day I’m to not believe scientists at all because it does not agree with your view (anthropomorphic global warming, or just straight global warming for that matter).
The earthquake and tsunami in Japan were catastrophic. If those plants hold it will be a testament to their design and building standards. If they don’t hold, it will be a testament to the rare event that occurred.
An opinion that varies with the situation is just fine if the facts are there to back it up.
The more I learn about news & how it is reported, the more I understand that quote from Edison about how we don’t know a millionth of a percent about anything.
I completely agree with the quote.
Personally I haven’t been reading anything saying this is another Chernobyl. Instead I’ve heard lots of talk radio saying “nothing to see here, move along, because scientist say…..”
From the beginning I read that the reactors are not out of the danger zone until at least this coming Friday…a week after the event. Since then, there are news stories all over the map as to what is happening. It’s not good, but I take them as “fact based” as I take any story in the major news stories.
Glaciers are melting, the climate is of course changing as it will throughout all of history, yet many on the right deny these things are even happening because the left has linked it to us (humans). It would be great if it could be studied without an agenda. And yes it would be tricky because climate change is a lot more long term with a lot more variables than a current nuclear plant fire.
Yet here in the face of actual current news stories that people want to read about they (people on the right I happen to hear) are denying that anyone has any right to worry at all and that the news media ought to go out and look for real news.
I say – give me a break. This is news. Let the news hype it as much as they hype everything else. It would be best if the truth were involved, but that goes for everything.
ps – My mother used to singe me a nursery rhyme when I was little….and today.
“Terri, Terri, quite contrary…..”
I’m always defending the right, it was time to poke them, me?, a little.
And I am annoyed at being told by the radio…”nothing to see here, move along, the government/experts/scientists say all is fine” as they will up until they can no longer deny it as has happened throughout history.
I agree.
I think what you’re seeing is, when the facts actually justify a conclusion of “nothing to see here move along,” someone whose job it is to generate a profit by reporting the “news” is inevitably struck with a thought that requires action: Somewhere out there are a lot of people with a less than comprehensive command of the facts, who might be persuaded to panic if they’re given the right “facts.” The combination of reactions these profiteers want looks something like 1) I know more than I did a few minutes ago and 2) this situation is spiraling out of control. That is what compels people to stay tuned in. And without people tuning in there’s no reason for the organization to exist.
So the cycle you get is a little like a bubbling stew. Surface is calm but there is heat underneath (profit motive); so a bubble of information builds up. Technically accurate, but nominally misleading, and always panicky. But nothing explodes. The bubble pops (subscriptions/viewership/profits are pulled in), the pressure is released, and the surface is re-smoothed. For a couple seconds or so.
But over the longer term, if you divide the number of real disasters into the number of situations that were portrayed that way, you get a VERY, very, very low fractional number. I would say Chernobyl would count, if you were directly impacted by it. Economic meltdown of ’08, definitely. Most of the panic that remains, going back over twenty years or so, has been a pre-designed, deliberately implemented, perpetual adrenaline fit. After awhile, you can’t blame people for developing a resistance to it.
Amen to that. As always, you have explained a phenomenon with ease. Have always enjoyed your writing.
I personally still think nuclear power has a place in the world energy supply but clearly additional evaluations of each site’s situation, their safety measures, and any additional features are warranted.
But, this situation in Japan is grave and by situation I mean destruction from the earthquake, the massive destruction and disruption of the tsunami, and the ever increasingly worrisome reactor problems.
Whole cities have been destroyed, the trains are disrupted, a large percentage of power from the reactors is offline, food and water are scarce, and the temps are cold. Coupled with the radiation releases, this situation is getting worse. Having lived in Japan, the terrain is very difficult hence so many bridges for the high speed trains, many knocked out
I don’t listen to much talk radio but CNN and BBC have been pretty good covering the reactor situation. I do not think they are overplaying the concern, there are some very brave nuclear workers, helicopter crews, and now soldiers driving pumps in. In the next day, you will begin to see comparisons in the media to the Kamikaze pilots, the Bushido Warrior Code, and Samurai. Not in a negative sense but a willingness to fight for the country and the Japanese people.
I am very concerned.
I think part of the resistance to the “evolving story” and the doomsaying is that it’s so often used to agitate for changes that have nothing to do with making life better for people, but for controlling them. Other people’s lose power over their own lives and actions to a group that will never stop, nor say “that’s enough, thanks.” They can’t stop themselves – control is the drug they use to self-medicate.
So, for example, here in New Jersey, Senator Menendez plans to draft a letter to some regulatory commission asking if the nuclear plants in New Jersey could withstand events similar to those of Japan. This will involve many months and millions of dollars, but since we’re also completely determined never to build newer, safer plants, it will probably come to nothing. The vanishingly-small odds of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake off the coast of New Jersey, with resulting tsunami, don’t enter into the equation either.
This question could be answered with five minutes, 45 cents of postage, and some nice letterhead: Yes, one of the five strongest earthquakes in human history would damage the NJ nuclear plants; the chances of that occuring are amazingly slim; just in case, we’re going to build better, higher-yield plants in safe inland areas, and retire older plants – if you and the rest of Congress would let us. In the meantime, you work on the evacuation plans everyone should know if the worst happens. Sincerely, Federal Regulatory Agency.
To me that seems like a sensible response: not dismissing concerns but considering and treating them in an adult fashion. But the odds of that letter are even smaller than a 9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunami, because if the extremely-unlikely outcome does happen, there will be an inevitable “THEY SHOULD HAVE KNOWN” outcry, and lawsuits, and regulations.