103 comments on Energy Debate Fact Check #2 - Is Energy Independence Good For the Nation?
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103 comments on Energy Debate Fact Check #2 - Is Energy Independence Good For the Nation?
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Glad to see an effort to talk and think through "energy independence." Professor Cleveland makes excellent points.
At the same time, one should not dismiss out of hand popular anxiety about the mismanagement of our country's strategic situation. This anxiety gets attached to oil which is easier to understand than the incompetence and corruption which seems rife in our governing elite.
Here's a thought experiment. Suppose that the world's remaining reserves of oil were concentrated in Australia, New Zealand and the UK instead of Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. Would "energy independence" have quite the same traction with the electorate?
Between them Australia and Canada have maybe 70% of the easily mined uranium so nobody seems to worry. However Australia has just refused uranium shipments to India and Russia so it can't be taken for granted.
Strategic Petroleum Reserve covers us for 33 days. A strategic uranium reserve could cover us for years. Even without one, reactors don't shut down when uranium is cut off until the next scheduled refueling time for a particular reactor. Thus, power generating capability will taper off at a linear rate over a year+ even if companies don't already have the next set of fuel rods on hand.