Nuclear power, coal power and Mother Earth rebalancing herself

The first test of a nuclear bomb at Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA during the predawn hours of July 16, 1945


Hiroshima, one of the two Japanese cities bombed by this nuclear weapon (the other is Nagasaki), almost 66 years ago today.  Its Peace Memorial is a tribute to the wish for a nuclear-free world.


A collage of images for the "hibakusha" or atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima

"A Debate on the Future of Nuclear Energy" - http://www.democracynow.org/2011/3/30/prescription_for_survival_a_debate_on

I read through the interview (link above) about the safety of nuclear power from power plants.  As educated as both commentators are, neither of them mentioned the bombs that had been dropped almost 66 years ago on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States.  They need to turn to history to see the overall picture.  The effects on the Hibakusha or atomic bomb survivors are still being felt today.  These explosions released abhorrent amounts of nuclear power into the atmosphere, ground water and among millions of innocent civilians, devastating life as they knew it.  It wiped out the entirety of these and surrounding areas and their long-term effects have been catalogued.


Though the physical structures have been rebuilt and generations have been brought up since, there is still torment from this hellish nightmare.  It is said that effects of the accident at Fukushima's Daiichi nuclear power plant have yet to be lethal, but exposure to nuclear radiation takes years to show its full scope.  Chernobyl's victims are still being counted.  Studies of Three Mile Island's effects "have been unable to conclude that the accident had substantial health effects," but there are gaps in the evidence and there remains much debate about the consequences of this nuclear fallout.


My point here is that we know that greenhouse gases cause global warming, thus leading us to seek an alternative to using fossil fuels.  But nuclear power, as proven through history, is NOT the way to go.  Solar power, wind power and other sources can provide much more environmentally-safe energy.  We can all live much more conscienciously by not driving so much, or at all, by not idling, by using public transportation, by reducing our personal use of electricity and by recycling or reusing what we can.  Mother Earth, as all things in nature, renews herself and finds the balance to make energies stabilize.  That means when we humans go far off on the deep end and abuse her resources, we cause imbalance and destruction, if only a little at a time.


We humans are a PART of Mother Earth's circle, her web of life.  We MUST stop acting like we are demi-gods in control of all that we see because, like a stern parent to her child, we WIll feel that spanking of our own doing.  Worse than this, if we don't stop this abuse of natural resources, we not only destroy our place to live, but we'll rob our children and their children of a safe home and a prosperous future.  We'll leave them with nothing but ashes of a fruitful life that once existed on this planet.  We'll fulfill the Hopi prophecy of the end of this world.


Yet, we can do something about this now.  And we must.  OMATEOTL ("All my relations").