LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
County officials may disagree with advocates on the shortcomings of the evacuation plan at Calvert Cliffs (“Calvert Cliffs Meltdown Could Spell Disaster, Anti-Nuclear Groups Say” – Oct 11th), but the need for an evacuation plan should raise red flags on its own. Terrorists don’t target wind farms. There’s no need for a complex evacuation strategy around solar panels.
The worst-case scenario posed by wind and solar power could lead to a temporary loss of power to residents. The worst-case scenario posed by nuclear power could result in tens of thousands of deaths. Catastrophic accidents like those at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl are products of nuclear power and should be avoided at all costs. The best way to avoid them is to avoid building new nuclear reactors.
Maryland has great potential for energy efficiency and renewable energy that is largely untapped. Constellation Energy could provide Maryland with a safe and clean energy future by investing in wind farms and solar power, but unfortunately they seem content to perpetuate our reliance on dirty and dangerous forms of energy.
David Kosmos
Program Associate
Maryland Public Interest Research Group (PIRG)
Baltimore, MD 21211
http://www.marylandpirg.org
RELATED INFORMATION:
Germany Leads the Way in Solar Energy for Homes and Businesses
Germany is a world leader in employing solar energy, making tremendous strides toward eliminating the requirement to build new power plants. Homes and businesses who generate solar power and feed it back onto the grid are paid back at several times the standard cost for a kilowatt-hour. The payback is based on the cost that would have been borne by the country to build new power generating facilities were it not for the use of solar power. Read more in the following articles:
Cloudy Germany a Powerhouse in Solar Energy, May 5, 2007
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Germany Embraces the Sun, Sept. 1, 2007
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/
Renewable energies in Germany - A Success Story
http://www.german-renewable-energy.com/