Dr. Conca reports that a new report from an anti-nuclear group gives some alternative spin to the same old dogma ... shut down all nuclear plants and replace them with renewables. Lots of spin, but no evidence. This report, from McCullough Research, again targets their imagined nemesis the Columbia Generating Station, Washington State own public power nuclear plant that has been operating for decades, breaking production and safety records over and over, especially for the last five years. The main point of this report is its claim that Northwest power customers would save up to $500 million over ten years by permanently closing Columbia Generating Station and replacing it with wind and solar energy.
The report neglects to mention that Washington State is already 80% low-carbon, mostly from hydroelectric and nuclear, so more wind is counterproductive. The report claims wind and solar prices have fallen dramatically, and rightly so, but then fails to mention they still cost more than existing power plants that have two or three times their lifespan. They also fail to tell the reader that natural gas or hydropower is necessary to backup wind and solar, at an unknown cost, something California is struggling with as their renewables approach 30% ...as power prices rise. All other legitimate reports disagree with the McCullough analysis, showing instead that this strategy of replacing Columbia Generating Station with renewables and gas would lose ratepayers about $1.6 billion over the next 20 years and put an extra 60 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere (IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, EIA, BPA) while laying off a thousand workers and three thousand more that depend on them.
While global warming is not of much interest to McCullough Research or its sponsor, Physicians for Social Responsibility, it certainly is to many others like the top climate scientists, including Dr. James Hansen, Dr. Tom Wigley, Dr. Ken Caldeir, etc. Read on.
For a detailed review of the issue, see: http://i2mconsultants.com/downloads/corp/ConfrontingBias.pdf
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