NY Times Reporter Misses The Nuclear Energy Bus In Davos

Here's an article from yesterday's New York Times that caught my eye. It's by Mark Landler and he's reporting from the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos:

FEW subjects seem less suited to the intoxicating air of the World Economic Forum’s annual conference than nuclear energy. Aging, expensive, unpopular, and still vulnerable to catastrophic accidents, it is the antithesis of the kinds of cutting-edge solutions that beguile the wealthy and well intentioned, who gather each winter in this Alpine ski resort.

In the balance of the piece, Landler plays a lot of catch up concerning the resurgence of interest in nuclear energy in Europe, though he falls prey to the common canard used by anti-nukes that the industry and its supporters are touting nuclear energy as the "one" solution to global climate change.

But what really caught my attention was the absence of one name: Tony Blair. If there is anyone in Europe who has been sounding the alarm on climate change while touting nuclear energy as part of the solution to keep the lights on in a carbon constrained world, it's been the U.K. Prime Minister.

Funny enough, Blair was at the WEF on Friday where he had this to say:

The U.K. needs nuclear power to meet its twin challenges of securing energy supplies and reducing emissions of gases that cause global warming, Prime Minister Tony Blair said.

``I don't think we will tackle climate change'' and energy security ``effectively unless nuclear power is part of it,'' Blair said in Davos, Switzerland, where he's attending the World Economic Forum.

The U.K. government is likely to approve a new generation of nuclear power stations in coming months as the country attempts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and secure alternatives to fading North Sea oil and gas reserves.

``We are going to move from self sufficiency in gas to importing 90 percent of it,'' he said. Faced with that reality and the need to reduce carbon emissions he said, ``how are we going to do that without nuclear being part of this mix?''

Blair said a new ``climate change bill in the next few weeks'' will allow ``individuals and businesses to help'' reduce emissions.

I wonder why those comments didn't find their way into Landler's story? Feel free to discuss it at your leisure.

UPDATE: The Knight Science Journalism Tracker also picked up the story.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Power, Environment, Energy, Politics, Technology, Economics, Electricity, Davos, World Economic Forum, Tony Blair