cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/14335558
When scientific studies showed that the extreme temperatures were caused by heat domes, which experts say are influenced by climate change, county officials didn’t just chalk it up to a random weather occurrence. They started researching the large fossil fuel companies whose emissions are driving the climate crisis—including ExxonMobil, Shell, and Chevron—and sued them.
Now, 11 months after the suit was filed, Multnomah County is preparing to move forward with the case in Oregon state court after a federal judge in June settled a monthslong debate over where the suit should be heard.
Nuclear is terrifying, but global warming is an existential nightmare. I’ll take nuclear any day.
Nothing about nuclear power generation needs to be terrifying. The incidents that have scared people into thinking “nuclear is bad” all happened in poorly regulated (Chernobyl or 3-mile Island) or outdated (Fukushima) power stations. It’s like saying that air travel is dangerous because a privately-owned vintage plane from the 1950s crashed. There are so many regulations, engineering controls, and governmental policies that keep nuclear power safe. The problem is that we’re not putting enough resources into modernizing old plants and building new ones, and that’s exactly because people are scared.