The Utah governor is determined to bring nuclear power to Utah (“Utah wants to build a massive federal nuclear facility near Great Salt Lake”). Nuclear power requires huge amounts of water, in this case from a lake that is already in danger of dying. It would be upwind of two million people — one accident or well-placed explosive from a terrorist or enemy nation could kill innumerable people.
There is a cheaper and safer alternative. The western Utah desert has 220 to 300-plus sunny days per year, a perfect place for solar power in a relatively empty sector of the state that could bring jobs that are badly needed in that region of our state. The cost of electricity generated by solar is one-half the cost of that generated by nuclear, and solar continues to get cheaper every year.
What am I missing here? Is there some unseen incentive structure that is causing our representatives to not represent us in any intelligent way?
Alan K. Jones, Emigration Canyon