Ideological Blinders and the Nuclear Energy Debate

Some folks can't seem to get over the old left/right political fight when it comes to nuclear energy. Here's Polly Toynbee from the pages of the Guardian (U.K.):

The old right has been on an arduous journey, with most finally converted to the truth universally acknowledged, except by flat-earthers: the world is warming at life-on-earth threatening speed.

When the climate-deniers' case collapsed, they retreated to an ideological redoubt claiming global warming was a natural phenomenon, not amenable to man-made remedy. But that fortress crumbled too, and even US President George W. Bush, last of the naysayers, conceded.

For some reason the old naysayers, barely batting an eyelid, shifted over to nuclear as the only salvation, though those who have been so wrong owe a little humility when it comes to next steps.

I guess Toynbee is referring to famous right wingers like James Lovelock, Stuart Brand, Jared Diamond and Patrick Moore. There are other examples if you bother to look hard enough. Here in the U.S., Democratic politicians like Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) and Rep. John Spratt (D-SC) are well-known supporters of the industry, and even a mainstream liberal like Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) has said that the threat of climate change means we have to keep the nuclear energy option on the table.

UPDATE: We Support Lee has some thoughts on environmental groups more concerned with ideological purity than actually protecting the environment.

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