Brand, a member with writer Ken Kesey in the radical Merry Pranksters in San Francisco during the 1960s and later publisher of the Whole Earth Catalog, says he feels guilty that he and fellow environmentalists created so much fear of nuclearย power.
In an interview with the New York Times , Brand, who now lives on a tugboat in Sausalito, said alternative energy and conservation are fine ways to reduce emissions, but nuclear power is proven and โworking on a scale to make a seriousย difference.โ
โThere were legitimate reasons to worry about nuclear power, but now that we know about the threat of climate change, we have to put the risks in perspective,โ Brand said. โSure, nuclear waste is a problem, but the great thing about it is you know where it is and you can guard it. The bad thing about coal waste is that you donโt know where it is and you donโt know what itโs doing. The carbon dioxide is in everybodyโsย atmosphere.โ
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