Friday, May 14, 2010

Amateur Video Of America's Chernobyl - The Gulf Oil Spill. What's Next? The Collapse And Rebirth Of The United States?

There seems to be no idea how to stop what is most surely going to be the worst man made disaster in American history and the worst globally since Chernobyl. NPR reports that the spill is already far larger than the Exxon Valdez disaster. Is BP trying to hide the truth? Who knows. But what we do know is that BP has a history of morally-dubious behavior in the United States. Of course, all of this is a direct result of a corrupt federal government. We do know the economic and environmental impact of this disaster will be absolutely astronomical. Hundreds of billions of dollars if not more. Don't listen to the ridiculous estimates of a few billion given by BP. Those are numbers scrubbed by corporate attorneys.

Amateur video of the enormity of the spill here.

I use Chernobyl as a comparative example for obvious reasons. Additionally, while there is some dispute as to what caused the Chernobyl disaster, just as we see with the Gulf spill today, it is generally believed to be caused by a lack of regulatory controls. Sound familiar? Sounds like the same problems in the financial industry, the energy industry, the airlines, the food and drug industries, the deregulation of monopolies ... the deregulation of everything. Courtesy of bribe-loving politicians.

Is it a coincidence that the Soviet Union had already started to crumble when the failure at Chernobyl occurred? Was the Chernobyl accident a random uncorrelated event or was it a result of the crumbling of a regulatory system associated with the crumbling of the Soviet Union and the crumbling of its institutions? Is there a parallel to the crumbling of the regulatory structure, institutions and rule of law in the United States to that of the Soviet disaster and the Gulf oil spill? The financial crisis? The collapse of the American economy? The Katrina embarrassment? The increase in our food safety issues? One in 3.5 children on food stamps? Just to name a few... Three years after the Chernobyl disaster we saw the collapse of the Soviet Union. Three years after the Gulf oil spill................

How's nuclear power looking after our own Chernobyl in the Gulf of Mexico? Still convinced a Chernobyl cannot happen here? We hear such a comparison is preposterous. But the United States has had quite a few nuclear accidents. Most of which have never been reported in the mainstream media. Three Mile Island was substantially downplayed in its severity.

We saw the first Chernobyl here in 2008's economic collapse. The start of a second last week in the stock market. And we are already witnessing another in the Gulf of Mexico. Coincidences? I think not. Instead a result of a corporatist government beholden to the highest bidder.

Personally, after witnessing so much fraud in our federal government, I don't want another nuclear power plant in the United States. At least not current generation technology. There are some substantial research projects that could change my mind in the future. But those are years off. The consequences of a disaster cannot be quantified regardless of the odds. Would you play Russian roulette if the odds were the same as a nuclear disaster? And, if we ever do get more new reactors, I would hope they won't be finished until after our federal government had been returned to the people of this country rather than decision-making awarded to the highest corporate bidder for special favors.

I would suppose nuclear power and special favors to lobbyists don't seem to go well together. We already see our entire regulatory structure in every single industry is in shambles. Makes you sort of wonder about the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, eh?

Funny you mention it.

Here - The Nuclear Lobby's $645 million Con Job
And Here - OpenSecrets Nuclear Energy Lobbying Database
And Here. - Nuclear Lobby Downplays Safety Concerns

It's good to be the king. Not much longer though.
posted by TimingLogic at 9:27 AM