The National Review has a terrific piece on our old friend Paul Newman and his support for nuclear energy. Here's a taster:
“In all the meetings I had with Paul Newman, he struck me as very open-minded and inquisitive,” says [Denis Beller, a professor of engineering at the University of Nevada]. “He came out to Nevada in 2002 and visited the Harry Reid Center for Environmental Studies, where several faculty members showed him research on the transmutation of nuclear waste. They also discussed why ideas like launching nuclear waste into the sun were not really practical. The visit ended with a trip to Yucca Mountain, where Kevin Phillips, the mayor of neighboring Caliente, whose front porch is only 50 yards from the rail line where waste would be transported, told Newman he was not opposed to the project. Later [Newman] told me, ‘That’s the most impressive thing I’ve seen.’”
There's also a shout-out to NEI's involvement with Newman-Wachs, Newman's car racing outlet:
In 2002 Newman and [Eddie] Wachs formed Newman Wachs Racing, which fielded two cars that carried 26 nuclear decals and a public service message promoting nuclear power. Two year later the Nuclear Energy Institute became aware of their effort and sponsored a car emblazoned with the message “Nuclear — Clean Air Energy,” which won the opening race of the 2008 Champ Car Atlantic season. The car and its racing crew subsequently visited several engineering schools around the country to encourage young people to enter the nuclear profession.
You know that with National Review, there's going to be a few zingers at left-wing Hollywood types, but writers William Tucker and Stephanie Gutmann can't quite get past their bona fides to a central point: Paul Newman supported nuclear energy and was still a committed "lefty."
We've noted many times here that nuclear energy has just about become a post-ideological subject and opposing or supporting it is no longer an index to a person's political leaning. We think National Review missed a great opening here: pat themselves on the back for helping this to occur. Might hurt to lose the issue, but a win is a win. They could then move on to more reliable hot button issues - drilling in ANWR, tax breaks to oil companies - the kind of thing that does still inflame the left.
Comments
Has being pro-nuclear energy really become "post ideological." That's actually really interesting (I'm not being snarky here) and maybe a subject for an article for in itself (I'm always scouting...)
Maybe in the scientific community, but certainly from where I'm sitting in the civilian/academic/journalism community anything to do with nuclear is as taboo as ever. A sure fire conversation ender. A sure fire way to ensure that the person you're talking to will think you're a maniac...
It will take some courage to shift away from that, and that courage is slowly emerging in the journalism community. I hope you can find that courage, Stephanie.
no, no...Joffen, you misunderstood the point of my comment. Bill Tucker and I are very pro-nuclear energy. Bill's been writing about this and studying it for years and last summer we toured Areva sites in France and were very impressed. I was just saying that I don't see the evidence that nuclear energy has become a "post ideological" issue. People seem as knee-jerk as ever on this issue.
Dave Walters - Daily Koz
NNadir - Daily Koz
Rod Adams (me) - Atomic Insights
http://pronucleardemocrats.blogspot.com/
http://rightdemocrat.blogspot.com/
I like nuclear power because it offers the potential to give more power to the people - it completely breaks the paradigm of enormous fossil fuel controlling entities ruling the world.
It is also a great job generator, a terrific support mechanism for local governments and public schools and an amazing way to produce electricity without producing any air pollution or greenhouse gas emissions.
For many, many reasons, the left has more logical reasons for supporting nuclear power. I happen to believe that there are a large number of very reasonable and logical people who lean to the left side of the spectrum.
Rod Adams
Atomic Insights
The Atomic Show Podcast
I enjoyed your joke about the responsibility of journalists "to transmit reliable information". I started laughing again as I typed this.
It may rankle to hear Obama talk about "safe" transport and storage of nuclear waste, but it's talk, and it's genuinely heartening to hear from the leader of the Democratic Party - Obama is the leading edge of the next generation of graybeards (which is what the Senate will always mostly be) and he is openly considering nuclear energy a necessary component of his energy policy. Speaks well for the party going forward.
We certainly prefer McCain's all-in expression of support, and think the nuclear industry can live up to it, but it's not quite so unusual coming from him and the Republicans. It's really Obama (and many who came before him - Patrick Moore, for example) who has moved the topic from a reliable conservative go-to topic and toward a post-ideological standing.
That's important, because it will end the stuttering progress nuclear energy suffers when government administrations change. (And at present, it looks like McCain or Obama will be working with a strengthened Democratic Congress and with his former rival returned to the Senate; energy policy might well be an area of common cause for them.)