Nuclear Power is NOT the Wave of the Future
Betcee May emerging from the Ruins of Indian Point, Illustration by Justin Theodoro Teodoro
There’s a new movement to shut down Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant in Westchester County, New York. Having grown up about 10 miles from this reactor, I am first in line when talk turns serious of getting rid of it. Rock the Reactors is planning a “shut down the plant” concert in November, and Democratic candidate for governor Eliot Spitzer is running on a platform of shutting the aging beast, (which is located only 24 miles from NYC) off.
There are a host of organizations, like Riverkeeper, who can fill you in on the whys and the hows of the issue. Their site explains how the plant (which was recently cited for leaking waste into the Hudson River), is not economical, not safe, not secure from terrorists, and certainly not environmentally friendly (though there are plenty of folks, from the Bush administration to some enviros, who think that nuclear power is the only way to alleviate our dependence on fossil fuels).
Starre Vartan
Starre Vartan is founder and editor-in-chief of Eco-Chick.com and the author of the Eco-Chick Guide to Life. She's also a freelance science and environment writer who has published in National Geographic, CNN, Scientific American, Mental Floss, Pacific Standard, the NRDC, and many more. She lives on an island in Puget Sound with her partner and black cat. She was a geologist in her first career, and still picks up rocks wherever she goes.
