Bowing to pressure from the pro-nuclear lobby, Senators Boxer and
Kerry have included nuclear power into their bill to address climate
change. In their proposed legislation, the Senators claim that "nuclear
energy is the largest provider of clean, low-carbon, electricity...."
Funny we've heard that before. In fact, the bill's nuclear section
reads like it was lifted off the Nuclear Energy Institute's (NEI)
website, despite its lack of veracity.
Take a revitalizing breath of those clean coal emissions from the average coal plant, filled with carbon monoxide, mercury, arsenic and lead - all deadly toxic to humans in high amounts. Breathe deeply the pestilence that is clean coal.
If coal's impact on climate change weren't so serious, the public relations campaign that asks us to choke down "clean coal" would be farcical. "Clean coal" is a dirty joke that won't wash.
After years of opposing or ridiculing renewable energy, the giant oil
companies are using a new approach. A recent ExxonMobil advertising
campaign puts it this way:
Market researchers seem to have decided that promoting the
"green" attributes of your company or products will resonate with
consumers.
There was certainly an overabundance of promotions in the lead-up to Earth
Day this year. And, in terms of marketing, Earth Day alone is not enough. We
now celebrate "Earth Week!"
Shell, I have to report, is the new Exxon. The company that back in
December was filling this and other newspapers with double-page adverts
promoting its conversion to a "new energy future" of wind farms, hydrogen fuels, fuel made from marine algae and much else, has pulled the plug.
Last week the government published a shortlist of five schemes for
harnessing the tidal power of the river Severn, to provide renewable
electricity. It is no secret which is favoured in Whitehall - the
biggest one, as ever: a 10-mile mega-barrage that would cost £14bn, and
could generate 5% of Britain's power.
LAS VEGAS - Green is in like never before at this year's
Consumer Electronics Show, with 3,000 square feet of dedicated floor
space and companies touting the energy-saving, earth-friendly
attributes of their gadgets.
On display are "eco-buttons" that reduce your computer's power
consumption, e-lanterns that produce an hour's worth of light if you
crank them for a minute, luminous TV screens that use far less energy
than standard TVs and even mercury-free batteries that are 94 percent
recyclable.
For a while it seemed that Shell had stopped pretending. The
advertisements that filled the newspapers in 2006, featuring
technicians with perfect teeth and open-necked shirts explaining how
they were saving the world, vanished.
