EDITOR'S NOTE
Chelsea Muth
ing. They should just stick to figuring out how to lower the national debt while not screwing over the wealthy who work hard to provide a livelihood to the middle class. And proposals to end all nuclear power and shut down all plants is just plain un-American. In this issue of ELT, we focused on companies that have expanded their product and service offerings to make them more competitive, useful and ubiquitous to the market. As clean energy technology advances, all forms of renewable energy will become commonly accepted parts of our culture. While specializing in just solar, wind or geothermal may allow a company to claim “expert” status, smaller clients like homeowners and small businesses require more personalized options from companies that can speak more than one language. In the journalism industry, we call this “knowledge that’s an inch thick and a mile wide.” Turn to our green building section (page 18) to discover some regional firms that are helping their surrounding communities realize the benefits and array of options for affordable, renewable energy in their homes or offices. Take our poll on energyleaderstoday.com to weigh in on our country’s reaction to the Japan nuclear disaster.
Chelsea is an NYU graduate with a post graduate degree from the University of Toronto. A seasoned world traveller, she has logged many hours for non-profits administering aid to African countries.
Joel uses his background in technical writing to translate complex jargon into vivid narratives. Past work includes projects with the State Department, the DOD, the World Bank and many retail giants.
TODD WEAVER editor@ozworldmedia.com
Felicia Willis
Dominating energy news since March 11th is the nuclear debate following Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami. The aftermath has snowballed into a series of nuclear explosions, ultimately resulting in a level seven disaster, getting the whole world to rethink nuclear power. It had been 25 years since the last level seven nuclear meltdown and yet legislators and the public everywhere are proposing extreme measures like reform, shutting down older plants and banning future plants. This troubles me because Japan’s crisis was not an epic failure on the plant’s management, as some are claiming. Nor was it a factor of the plant’s age. As a matter of fact, the plant’s emergency shut-down procedure worked precisely as planned when the earthquake began. It actually surpassed the amount of energy it had been designed to withstand by 40 times. Rather, it was the 33-foot tsunami that knocked out the plant’s backup diesel generators for its coolant pumps that caused the partial meltdown that unfolded in front of our eyes on national television. Legislators and activists are totally overreacting. Perhaps building nuclear plants on a fault-line may not have been the best idea, and future plants should be located in low-threat areas (like away from hurricane zones, tornado alley, etc.). Even so, what we have learned from Japan’s partial meltdown is that if the same protective measures had been taken to secure the generators, no meltdown would have occurred. They did a commendable job in the execution of the plant’s shutdown. Once again, this is an example of the government meddling too much in the private sector. For legislators to assume that plant operators are not carefully rethinking and evaluating their operations, locations, emergency backups, etc. is insult-
Well versed in a range of design topics, Paige’s career has taken her from Readers Digest UK to hard daily news. She has a Master’s in English from the University of South Carolina-Columbia.
Joel Cornell
Legislators Overreacting to Japan’s Nuclear Partial Meltdown
Paige L. Hill
CONTRIBUTORS
Jane Caffrey
Felicia is a freelance writer based in Atlanta, Ga. A graduate of the University of Maryland, she has contributed to several magazines including "Today’s Chemist at Work."
Jane Caffrey earned a B.A. from Carleton College in Minnesota. Currently in her Master’s program at New York University, Jane’s work has been published in both the U.S. and Europe. 6 Summer 2011