Oh Well, That's All Right Then!

From Salon:

The industry -- along with President Obama -- has in recent years trumpeted the fact that nuclear power does not produce carbon emissions that cause climate change. But safety is clearly still a touchy subject for nuclear operators. ...

[Mitchell] Singer, the NEI spokesman, argued that Japan's infrastructure had actually performed well so far.

"The Japanese plants have been run very safely and reliably for a very long time. They have operated quite safely," he said, adding: "Actually, they withstood the earthquake quite well. It's the tsunami that caused the problems with the backup generators."

P.S. "The DC-based Nuclear Energy Institute represents Japanese firms -- including the company whose plants are in crisis"

We'll Meet Again, Don't Know Where, Don't Know When

Roy Edroso at alicublog has a post about right-wing reactions to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, with a focus on Japanese nuclear power plants.

These lunatics are saying that the Japanese reactors got through the tsunami "without a dent," which proves that we should get nuclear plants up and running now. Among the choice quotes: "Regulations don't make ya safe, safety makes ya safe!" Also they claim wind power is more dangerous than nuclear because a hawk flew into a turbine.

I've tried for years to figure out what motivates them, but I'm leaning toward the explanation that they were sent by aliens to destroy the human race.

But he forgets this wingnut, who just a year ago was calling for a threefold increase in public financing for the construction of nuclear power plants, while nixing funds for storage of nuclear waste.

"It's ironic, but Obama could end up being the biggest pro-nuclear power president since Dwight Eisenhower," says Henry Sokolski, executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, a nuclear deterrence expert who served as deputy for nonproliferation policy in the Department of Defense from 1989-1993 under President George H.W. Bush.

Maybe the President will change his mind in the light of current events, but probably only until the next news cycle.

Meanwhile, a reporter at Obama's latest press conference actually dared to question him (via) about the brutal and degrading treatment of Pfc. Bradley Manning at Quantico brig. (For which he, as Commander-in-Chief, is ultimately responsible.) The Saint replied:

With respect to Private Manning, I have actually asked the Pentagon whether or not the procedures that have been taken in terms of his confinement are appropriate and are meeting our basic standards. They assure me that they are. I can't go into details about some of their concerns, but some of this has to do with Private Manning's safety as well.

My point here is that a good many liberals prefer to look at the dementia of the far right, while doing their best to ignore the dementia of their own near-right heroes. While I enjoy Edroso's surveillance of the fringes, most of the time he forgets how deranged and evil the mainstream is.