Given the immediacy of the global warming crisis I think Jed comments are well thought-out. Maybe we should look at leaving the nuclear waste disposal issue to future generations while we work to solve the problems of climate change. Modern reactor design has improved both in safety and in the amount of waste created so it may not be as large of a problem to manage when compared to the possibility of global Extinction from climate change.
Eventually that solution will not work in the long run and the world will need to change to renewable sources of energy. On Sun, Feb 17, 2019, 11:46 AM Jed Rothwell <jedrothw...@gmail.com wrote: > bobcook39...@hotmail.com <bobcook39...@hotmail.com> wrote: > > Regarding leaving environmental messes to future generations. I just read >> an item that noted 450,000 “brown fields” mostly in cities exist, and >> that one city in Mass. Is beginning remediation. >> > > I did not mean to imply that all environmental messes should be left to > future generations. Many should be cleaned up. Pollution should be reduced. > Industrial processes should be redesigned to reduce waste and pollution. > > I meant that some environmental problems can be safely put off for a > while. When we expect new technology will emerge making it easier, safer > and cheaper to solve problems, it might be best to put off the problem for > now. At the same time, we should avoid making the problem worse. > > For example, as I said, non-nuclear solid waste dumps are a problem. We > should reduce waste, recycle more, and we should design dumps for the long > term to avoid leaching hazardous waste into surrounding soil and water. > However, in parts of the world with a lot of land, we do not need to > drastically reduce the waste stream, and we should not worry too much that > future generations will have to clean up these sites. No doubt they will, > but as I said, they might find it is profitable. They will surely be able > to do it more cheaply than we can, with robots and improved recycling > technology. > > I am proposing a compromise solution. In some cases we should ameliorate a > problem, rather than solving it completely. > > - Jed > >
