Analyzing the Welfare System
No more nukes
In the letters column of May 8, Phillip Bayne, president and CEO of the US Council for Energy Awareness, is recommending nuclear power as a way of cutting down on greenhouse gases that cause global warming.
Mr. Bayne does not mention that greenhouse gases are produced by the construction of nuclear plants as well as the mining, milling, and enrichment of uranium that fuels the plants.
A Rocky Mountain Institute study concluded that each dollar invested in energy efficiency displaces up to seven times more carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas, than a dollar invested in nuclear power. Further, energy efficiency has an immediate effect.
New nuclear plants would not have an effect for many years. Implementing efficiency will give us time to bring on-line nonpolluting alternative sources of energy. Gerald A. Drake, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Letters are welcome. Only a selection can be published, subject to condensation, and none acknowledged. Please address them to "Readers Write," One Norway St., Boston, MA 02115.
