EXTRA...

New Nuke plants are doomed

Energy expert: New plants doomed

BRATTLEBORO VT — A nationally recognized nuclear energy expert told anti-nuclear activists Saturday that simple economics will doom new nuclear power construction, and he urged New Englanders to push for the development of solar and wind power.

Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in Washington, also said that homes should be sold with an energy rating or inspection, much like safety standards for plumbing and wiring.

And he said that too much corn and wheat was being diverted from world food to making energy, a decision that wasn't efficient or clean.

"How stupid can you be? Turning food into fuel?" he said...  
"We have to set a goal of zero CO2," said Makhijani, whose most recent book is "Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy."

He said the opposition to wind power comes down to aesthetics, which pales when compared to the serious threats to the planet.

Makhijani said that offshore wind power is extremely promisingly, noting that there is a strong wind resource just offshore, and that it was close to energy markets, thus keeping the need for new transmission lines to a minimum.

"Don't complain about the view," he said. "We have to get tough."

He said that activists should enlist retired television anchorman Walter Cronkite, once an adamant opponent to Cape Wind, the large-scale wind project planned for off the coast of Cape Cod, to become an equally well-known advocate...  Rutland Herald.