Nuclear power

[Anomalocaris]

Stop mining coal in the US.

It will never happen.  More nuclear power plants will be built, which the developing World will not be able to afford, and so, they will get the coal.  Win-win for Western capitalism.

Actually, of the 55 nuclear power plants under construction around the world,  only 9 are in what would normally be considered developed countries.   46 are in developing world.

Median projection shows substantially more nuclear plants will be built in the developing world over the next 30 years tham will be retired in the developed world, so the center of gravity of nuclear generation will shift to countries that are now still in developing status. 

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If Humanity burns all of the fossil fuels that are available, then it is conceivable that we will annihilate ourselves; that's the issue here.  You can build all the nuclear power plants that you want; there won't be enough of them to supply the entire World with the energy levels of Western consumption.  As such, if we do not consume the fossil fuels, the rest of the World will.

Fossil fuels currently account for 60% of global energy production. Nuclear accounts for 10%. Explain to me why those fossil fuels can't be replaced by nuclear. I see no physical reason.

And, you've proven my point.  Replace the 200+ coal plants in the United States with nuclear power ones.  The coal that exists all throughout the United States will still be mined and will be shipped overseas to be burned in coal fired plants elsewhere.

Stop mining coal in the US. For that matter, stop mining it everywhere. All you need to do is regulate it a tenth as strictly as the nuclear industry and it ceases to be profitable.

Right now the big problem is China, which accounts for roughly 2/3rds of global coal consumption. They're trying to ween themselves off of it, which we should be encouraging.

And if all you're going to do is run around throwing up roadblocks and wailing that the sky is falling then you aren't terribly useful. Try proposing some useful solutions.

China consumes 5 times as much coal each year as the next largest coal consuming country. But that does not represent 2/3 of the world’s coal annual consumption.   It’s actually just a little under half.