The idea that our two-decade drought has created an impossible choice between power generation and water conservation at Lake Powell (https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/30/us/west-drought-lake-powell-hydropower-or-water-climate/index.html) is wrong.
As we build out our solar and wind capacity for power generation though, it will become apparent that these renewables require so much land and mined materials that objections will only intensify with time as large projects increasingly cover the landscape.
Nuke up Utah! If Kemmerer, Wyoming, gets a beautiful new modular nuke plant from Bill Gates to replace a filthy coal-burner, provide good jobs and reduce coal mining locally, where is Utah’s request to Mr. Gates and Rocky Mountain Power for a similar deal at Hunter?
Better jobs, cleaner air, and safer roads throughout southeastern Utah due to less heavy coal-truck traffic seems like a no-brainer. Cost is often cited in arguments against nuclear power, but my bills for electricity from coal are already shameful.
Who can doubt that our personal comfort and mobility will be seriously impacted unless credible alternatives to fossil fuel burning are put in place soon? We’ll need extraordinary car-charging capacity to keep us moving around, and a way to keep the air conditioners running without burning something.
My advice to Utah is to nuke up with Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) post haste, the alternative being impossible choices and suffering on many levels in the future.
Cady Johnson, Vernal
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