Word: carbonated
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...going to make electricity too cheap to meter - until it came to a standstill over the past couple decades. It's now poised to make a dramatic comeback. At least, that's what many politicians and the media say. As the Senate this week debated the Warner-Lieberman carbon cap-and-trade bill, which would put a federal limit on greenhouse gas emissions, many doubtful senators said they wouldn't vote for the measure unless massive subsidies for nuclear were included. (The bill was shelved.) Even some veteran greens who were once dead set against atomic power, like Greenpeace...
That's debatable, to say the least. There's no question that a nuclear plant, once it's up and running, produces comparatively little carbon dioxide - a British government report last year found that a nuclear plant emits just 2% to 6% of the CO2 per kilowatt-hour as natural gas, the cleanest fossil fuel - but nuclear energy still seems like the power of yesterday. After a burst of construction between the 1950s and late 1970s, a new nuclear power plant hasn't come on line in the U.S. since 1996, and some nations like Germany are looking to phase...
...high capital costs, not to mention the huge liability risk of an accident - the insurance industry won't cover a nuclear plant, so it's up to government to do so. Conservatives like Republican presidential candidate John McCain tend to promote nuclear power because they don't think carbon-free alternatives like wind or solar could be scaled up sufficiently to meet rising power demand, but McCain's idea of a crash construction program to build hundreds of new nuclear plants in near future seems just as unrealistic...
...nuclear, then which carbon-free energy source will power our post-climate change future? Lovins favors a diverse mix of renewables, integrated to compensate for individual faults - solar for when the wind doesn't blow, and vice versa. He also wants to focus on energy efficiency and micropower, shifting away from the old model of the massive central plant sending out electricity - i.e., your local nuke - in favor of smaller plants, even residence-scale ones, built close to population centers. Reducing carbon emissions, he argues, will be cheaper and safer if we turn away from nuclear in favor of alternatives...
...Washington Cutting Out Carbon The U.S. Senate began debating legislation that would establish a cap-and-trade system aimed at slashing greenhouse-gas emissions nearly 70% by 2050. The bill has slim chances of passing; critics say it would bruise the faltering U.S. economy by hindering manufacturers and saddling consumers with energy cost increases. But advocates hope the bipartisan measure will establish a blueprint for attempts to curb emissions under the next Administration, while leaving its opponents susceptible to the wrath of pro-environment voters in November...