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From: orb@whuts.UUCP (SEVENER)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.sci
Subject: Re: Nuclear power and Conservation: News for thought
Message-ID: <953@whuts.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 29-Aug-86 12:04:14 EDT
Article-I.D.: whuts.953
Posted: Fri Aug 29 12:04:14 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 31-Aug-86 01:43:31 EDT
References: <715@curly.ucla-cs.ARPA>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
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Xref: watmath net.politics:18793 net.sci:1564

While Michael Stein continues his barrage of accusations that
Drs. Goffman and Tamplin, who *had* been members of the AEC
but left when their research demonstrating there was no
threshold effect to health effects of radioactivty was squelched
by the AEC, are simply
in it for the money, recent news is of relevance to the whole
debate.

The Lovins and many other advocates of the "soft" energy path
have long contended that the whole presumption that we should
simply increase our energy output indefinitely is not the best
solution.  Whether the increase in energy production be from
coal, gas, nukes or whatever the whole need for exponentially
increasing energy production can be avoided by energy *conservation*.
We waste enormous amounts of energy through inefficient building
heating and cooling systems, inefficient transportation systems
and inefficient appliances.

In this regard Mr. Stein, Mr Carnes and everyone on the net should
cheer the recent agreement reached between the Natural Resources
Defense Council and the Appliance Industry in which the Appliance
Industry finally gave up fighting conservation and agreed to
support standards mandating that all appliances produced be
energy efficient.  The groups estimated that the production of
energy efficient appliances would save the equivalent of 22
power plants.  The report was on NPR a couple days ago.

It is ironic that some of the biggest customers for the Lovins
energy consulting work is now electrical utilities.  They have
begun to realize that they can save more money by promoting
energy conservation measures than by building evermore expensive
power plants of whatever type.

We can do a lot more in terms of energy conservation which removes
the need for *either* nukes or coal plants.
                        tim sevener  whuxn!orb