# Climate change is not the immediate threat facing us today **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 29, 2021, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-is-not-the-immediate-threat-facing-us-today/931737 "2021-01-29T03:30:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-is-not-the-immediate-threat-facing-us-today/931737/221 "2021-02-19T16:03:34Z")
As it is, the govt is spending a significant amount in studying and implementing green technologies, without it being funded by a carbon tax. So, if a carbon tax were implemented, without changing any spending, it _would_ be going towards green technologies, at least until the amount of it exceeded the expenditures. And I certainly don’t disagree that we should be spending more to develop green technologies, and in that, I _do_ include nuclear. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-is-not-the-immediate-threat-facing-us-today/931737/222 "2021-02-19T20:27:50Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > And I certainly don’t disagree that we should be spending more to develop green technologies, and in that, I _do_ include nuclear. I concur, and I’ve heard interesting things lately about investments into geothermal power. ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-is-not-the-immediate-threat-facing-us-today/931737/223 "2021-02-19T20:52:24Z")
Without earmarking, it also offsets government spending on the _results_ of global warming, like flooding and more dangerous hurricanes. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-is-not-the-immediate-threat-facing-us-today/931737/224 "2021-02-19T23:16:39Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I concur, and I’ve heard interesting things lately about investments into geothermal power. Geothermal power is interesting, and it works. > **[Geothermal | Klamath Falls, OR](https://www.klamathfalls.city/232/Geothermal)** > > The City of Klamath Falls Geothermal Utility provides cost effective heating services utilizing a non-polluting “green” resource. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-is-not-the-immediate-threat-facing-us-today/931737/225 "2021-02-19T23:55:17Z")
> [@EastUmpqua](#): > > ETA How do you do ‘$’ ? The gotcha is that $ is, or can be interpretted as, a formatting code. Just like enclosing something in asterisks makes it italic instead of showing the asterisks. But $ only works that way sometimes for obscure reasons. The fix is to look at how the post appears in preview, and add a \ (backslash) immediately in front of the $ if you aren’t getting the look you want. The backslash is the “escape” command that says to ignore any magic for the immediately following $ and just display a $ character instead. Interestingly, as I was composing & editing this post with 5 dollar signs, which one(s) didn’t appear kept changing. Eventually I backslashed all but the last to get the right look. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-is-not-the-immediate-threat-facing-us-today/931737/226 "2021-02-20T00:19:55Z")
10 on a pack of smokes, .5 each. Or $10 on a pack of smokes, $.5 each These look exactly the same in my post preview… ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-is-not-the-immediate-threat-facing-us-today/931737/227 "2021-02-20T00:37:52Z")
Just use the unicode version:💲5! Looks like more money that way. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-is-not-the-immediate-threat-facing-us-today/931737/228 "2021-02-20T00:49:22Z")
Show off 🤠 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-is-not-the-immediate-threat-facing-us-today/931737/229 "2021-02-20T00:55:47Z")
Huh, now that’s really weird. When I posted it, I got a nice big green dollar sign. But now, it looks like a sorta stylized dollar sign without the line going fully through. Still looks different, but I don’t get what changed. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-is-not-the-immediate-threat-facing-us-today/931737/230 "2021-02-20T01:04:38Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > > [@k9bfriender](#): > > > > And I certainly don’t disagree that we should be spending more to develop green technologies, and in that, I _do_ include nuclear. > > I concur, and I’ve heard interesting things lately about investments into geothermal power. Nuclear power is crucial. A number of the most prominent climate scientists have been advocating for nuclear power as an essential part of the solution to the climate crisis. As for geothermal, it’s not clear that it has widespread application, but it also means a variety of entirely different things in different contexts. It could mean the generation of electric power from geothermal energy. It might just mean heating one or more homes or buildings from a geothermal heat source. Or it might mean none of those things, but simply refer to the efficient operation of a heat pump for both heating and cooling in temperate zones by using heat exchangers well below the frost line, where the temperature is fairly constant in all seasons. All of those are worthwhile advances, but it’s not clear that any of them are going to be scalable enough to be game changers. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-is-not-the-immediate-threat-facing-us-today/931737/231 "2021-02-20T01:12:51Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > And I certainly don’t disagree that we should be spending more to develop green technologies, and in that, I _do_ include nuclear. I don’t think nuclear is a good long-term option for energy, except for fusion. I think splitting atoms for energy has too many long-term waste-disposal problems. > **[Nuclear and radiation accidents and incidents](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_and_radiation_accidents_and_incidents)** > > A nuclear and radiation accident is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "an event that has led to significant consequences to people, the environment or the facility. Examples include lethal effects to individuals, large radioactivity release to the environment, reactor core melt." The prime example of a "major nuclear accident" is one in which a reactor core is damaged and significant amounts of radioactive isotopes are released, such as in the Chernobyl disaster in 19 Th... ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-is-not-the-immediate-threat-facing-us-today/931737/232 "2021-02-20T01:15:45Z")
Why do you think that? Please be specific. The problem with Chernobyl wasn’t anything inherent in nuclear power. The problem was the long Soviet practice of giving positions of power to people who were loyal communist instead of people who were competent. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-is-not-the-immediate-threat-facing-us-today/931737/233 "2021-02-20T01:28:43Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Why do you think that? Please be specific. Because splitting atoms for energy use creates long-lasting waste problems, like how to dispose of spent rods. Yes no CO2 emissions, but there could be significant long-term effects. > **[Nuclear power and the environment - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)](https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/nuclear/nuclear-power-and-the-environment.php)** > > Environmental issues, effects, and impacts of nuclear energy and uranium production. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-is-not-the-immediate-threat-facing-us-today/931737/234 "2021-02-20T05:08:41Z")
The entirety of all spent nuclear waste generated in the US since we began nuclear power would barely fill up a football field. Also, new generations of nuclear plants not only can produce far less waste, they can actually eat the waste we already have. Spent nuclear fuel is not really a problem that should stop the development and deployment of nuclear power. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-is-not-the-immediate-threat-facing-us-today/931737/235 "2021-02-20T21:49:50Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Spent nuclear fuel is not really a problem that should stop the development and deployment of nuclear power. I agree, especially the development of nuclear-fusion power. [https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/02/road-map-us-fusion-power-plant-comes-clearer-focus-sort](https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/02/road-map-us-fusion-power-plant-comes-clearer-focus-sort) ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2021, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-is-not-the-immediate-threat-facing-us-today/931737/236 "2021-02-21T02:00:50Z")
Fusion power has been 20 years away my whole life. The waste issue with fission is a concern, but much less then the waste from coal. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2021, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-is-not-the-immediate-threat-facing-us-today/931737/237 "2021-02-21T15:45:20Z")
Difference is, is that there are clear roadmaps to rolling out fission plants, absent excessive regulation or NIMBY pushback (I know, not likely) we could start having them come online in 5 years. Investing in modular reactors could start a massive rollout that could replace all our fossil fuels within a couple decades. We don’t even know if fusion will be a viable energy source within the next few decades. Not that we shouldn’t pursue it, be we can’t wait for it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/climate-change-is-not-the-immediate-threat-facing-us-today/931737.md?page=11)