Mar 17, 2011
The destruction in Japan is unimaginable. I feel great sorrow about the loss of life and the shear magnitude of what faces the Japanese people and its government. Recovery from the earthquake will be long and costly.
Disasters remind us that as a species we have failed to work within the boundaries set by the earth. We are playing a kind of Russian roulette – living beyond our means on every scale. Increasingly, we’re on borrowed time.
The threat of a nuclear meltdown in Japan shows that we have and continue to make bad decisions. It seems strange that Japan, the only country victimized by a nuclear attack would have committed in such a big way to nuclear power generation.
The reason given was a need to achieve self-sufficiency in energy – the very thing I am proposing. Japan’s lack of resources, particularly fossil fuels meant it needed an alternative to drive its economic growth. They elected to go nuclear.
While the vested interests in the nuclear community repeat frequently that there is no danger to human health from the situation in Japan, the reality is proving to be very different. Increasingly, experts are acknowledging the situation is catastrophic. The degree of seriousness is currently somewhere between Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. Each hour brings it closer to Chernobyl in seriousness.
The global industry pushing nuclear has been working overtime to persuade a skeptical public that nuclear is safe, green and cost effective. The Japan disaster is a worst-case scenario. An actual nuclear disaster is not good for business because it reminds people why they don’t want nuclear power.
The nuclear power producers in Ontario and New Brunswick say it couldn’t happen in Canada. Saskatchewan says it’s plans to continue down the road to nuclear. President Obama was quick to assure Americans.
In contrast to the nuclear cheerleaders in North America, Germany announced it would suspend refurbishing its nuclear facilities. Germany has a robust investment in wind and solar and a positive experience with renewable energy so it knows there are alternatives. Rather than spend the billions it would take to refurbish aging plants, hopefully Germany will redirect those Euros into expanding their commitment to wind and solar.
Even China which is planning a huge investment in nuclear is rethinking the decision – in timing if not the actual technology.
With each new disaster, I hold hope that we have reached a collective tipping point of awareness that will catapult us into doing things differently. Will the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan be that point?
The lessons from the early days of the disaster are pretty scary. In addition to the nuclear threat, food, water and shelter are scarce. Japan has made itself dependent on goods from elsewhere for almost all its daily needs.
Japan is the world’s largest importer of food. And yet, Japan exports $4.3 billion worth of fish, fruit, vegetables, diary products and beef annually. Could this food not be consumed in Japan to reduce imports and approach food self-sufficiency? Especially because under our crazy globalized trading system Japan imports all of the things it exports!
Could Japan grow more of its food? Could the primary driver of recovery be food self-sufficiency?
How about planning for a rapid move away from nuclear energy toward a different energy self-sufficiency? Because Japan is on the “ring of fire”, there is likely much potential for geothermal. Being an island they could become leaders in tidal. And why not wind and solar? Such a highly technical country could adapt quickly to these technologies. The news is not good on this front as Japan appears to be wedded to expansion of its nuclear facilities but the opportunity is there.
Japan, while being the third largest economy in the world is described as moribund and stagnant. It has slow economic growth and a rapidly aging population. In fact, slow growth could be reframed as the path to a healthier, more resilient future for Japan and her people.
This disaster is demonstrating that depending on global trade for its security puts Japan’s recovery at risk. Rather than assuming they have to rebuild the same system, Japan could show leadership and start the trend toward a responsible economy that works with the local resources and for the local people and moves Japan toward a durable future.
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