Skip to main content

Bob Geldof: "To really help the planet, we have to go nuclear, fast."


Over in the U.K., former rocker Bob Geldof isn't shying away from sporting his pro-nuclear energy credentials at a blog sponsored by Lexus on hybrid vehicles. From The Guardian:
Luxury car maker Lexus may have got more than it bargained for when it signed up Bob Geldof to take part in a blog debate about the green credentials of its hybrid models.

Geldof, as well as talking about hybrid cars, airs his views on climate change, branding renewable energy initiatives such as wind farms "Mickey Mouse" and insisting "to really help the planet, we have to go nuclear, fast".

[...]

On the wider question of making an impact on climate change he said: "We may mess around with wind and waves and other renewable energy sources, trying to make them sustainable, but they're not. They're Mickey Mouse ... but to really help the planet, we have to go nuclear, fast."

Geldof added: "In the UK, we'll soon have to scramble for more nuclear power. On this issue, I don't care what anyone says: we're going to go with it, big time."
After taking a look at Geldof's entries at the blog, it's clear he's done plenty of reading on his own -- including a bit of time reviewing the work of James Lovelock. For his entry where he endorses nuclear energy, click here. For all of his entries, click here. For the main page of the Lexus blog, click here.

Comments

Anonymous said…
so, when aging rock stars (Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and Graham Nash) OPPOSE nuclear power, they're slammed as burned-out, no-nothing hippies in this blog...but they're visionaries when they support nukes(like Geldof)?
Anonymous said…
This is tremendous news. I've always felt the turnaround would come in earnest when celebrities endorse nuclear power. We could use a bigger celebrity than this (Bono would be tops), but Bob Geldof will do. He's regarded as honest and learned, and he's done some extraordinary charity work. Noone, not even Bonnie Raitt or Jackson Brown, can doubt his sincerity.
Anonymous said…
I see you're still not always posting comments if they don't agree with you. I'll try again today. Please post this comment.

Why is it that this blog insults and belittles such anti-nuclear musicians as Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Brown, and Graham Nash when they take public stances, but cites Bob Geldof favorably when he goes pro-nuclear? What makes him an energy expert when they're just "aging rockers," in your terms?
David Bradish said…
To the third Anonymous,

"I see you're still not always posting comments if they don't agree with you. I'll try again today. Please post this comment."

Considering its Christmas time, there are quite a few of us who actually take time off from the blog. If you noticed over the past few days, no comments have been appearing. But next time some of us take vacation, we'll consider shortening it so we can approve an anonymous comment.

"Why is it that this blog insults and belittles such anti-nuclear musicians"

I didn't know "aging rockers" was an insult. If that's your definition of belittling then maybe blogging isn't your thing.

Popular posts from this blog

An Ohio School Board Is Working to Save Nuclear Plants

Ohio faces a decision soon about its two nuclear reactors, Davis-Besse and Perry, and on Wednesday, neighbors of one of those plants issued a cry for help. The reactors’ problem is that the price of electricity they sell on the high-voltage grid is depressed, mostly because of a surplus of natural gas. And the reactors do not get any revenue for the other benefits they provide. Some of those benefits are regional – emissions-free electricity, reliability with months of fuel on-site, and diversity in case of problems or price spikes with gas or coal, state and federal payroll taxes, and national economic stimulus as the plants buy fuel, supplies and services. Some of the benefits are highly localized, including employment and property taxes. One locality is already feeling the pinch: Oak Harbor on Lake Erie, home to Davis-Besse. The town has a middle school in a building that is 106 years old, and an elementary school from the 1950s, and on May 2 was scheduled to have a referendu

Why Ex-Im Bank Board Nominations Will Turn the Page on a Dysfunctional Chapter in Washington

In our present era of political discord, could Washington agree to support an agency that creates thousands of American jobs by enabling U.S. companies of all sizes to compete in foreign markets? What if that agency generated nearly billions of dollars more in revenue than the cost of its operations and returned that money – $7 billion over the past two decades – to U.S. taxpayers? In fact, that agency, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), was reauthorized by a large majority of Congress in 2015. To be sure, the matter was not without controversy. A bipartisan House coalition resorted to a rarely-used parliamentary maneuver in order to force a vote. But when Congress voted, Ex-Im Bank won a supermajority in the House and a large majority in the Senate. For almost two years, however, Ex-Im Bank has been unable to function fully because a single Senate committee chairman prevented the confirmation of nominees to its Board of Directors. Without a quorum

NEI Praises Connecticut Action in Support of Nuclear Energy

Earlier this week, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed SB-1501 into law, legislation that puts nuclear energy on an equal footing with other non-emitting sources of energy in the state’s electricity marketplace. “Gov. Malloy and the state legislature deserve praise for their decision to support Dominion’s Millstone Power Station and the 1,500 Connecticut residents who work there," said NEI President and CEO Maria Korsnick. "By opening the door to Millstone having equal access to auctions open to other non-emitting sources of electricity, the state will help preserve $1.5 billion in economic activity, grid resiliency and reliability, and clean air that all residents of the state can enjoy," Korsnick said. Millstone Power Station Korsnick continued, "Connecticut is the third state to re-balance its electricity marketplace, joining New York and Illinois, which took their own legislative paths to preserving nuclear power plants in 2016. Now attention should