No, no, no, no to nuclear power

(crossposted on Daily Kos) I guess it's my responsibility to remind people about the forgotten issues of mining the shit in the first place.

The Colorado AIM (American Indian Movement) blog has a couple very timely posts now about the issue. One post is about an article in the Gallup Independent called,"Residents tell of mining's tragic impact".

The other posting is about the threat to peoples' water supply, as told by a local group called ENDAUM (Eastern Navajo Dine' Against Uranium Mining).

These links provide a more or less clear story of the past, present, and future effects of uranium mining on REAL PEOPLE.

Although I avoid generalizing, it is my opinion, based on world history I have learned, that European uranium will be coming from places like Niger, Australia, and other distant places, and that similar kinds of adverse mining effects will be tolerated by policymakers, just like all the other past exploitative practices have been tolerated. And the rationales for it will be the same or similar to the ones used since time memorial when confronted with the ugliness of human mistreatment in distant places.

What gives me the right to say all this? Because I live in the Navajo Nation, and see it every day, but I hear very few people mention it whenever the discussion of nukes comes up in polite company.

The irony of it all is that right here, where the Uranium is mined, also exist 4 (soon to be 5) huge coal power plants that feed electricity to the big cities of the Western US- and turn the air around here a rich shade of sulphur brown. At least the Mohave plant is closed down for now, thanks to such groups as the Center for Biological Diversity, the Grand Canyon Trust, the Black Mesa Trust, and others.

To me, the only answer to wise energy use is a mix of conservation and non-renewables. The other ways are mixes of kool-aid.