Nuclear power is the key to slowing global warming

A good read: Nuclear power is the key to slowing global warming http://www.nj.com/times-opinion/index.ssf/2012/08/opinion_nuclear_power_is_the_k.html ..."Almost half of the emissions reductions have come from power plants, particularly the switch away from coal in electricity generation. Coal’s share is forecast to fall below 40 percent for the year, down from 54 percent just four years ago, and by the end of this decade, it’s likely to be near 30 percent. The principal replacement source has been natural gas, which has less than 50 percent of coal’s carbon content. Had the switch been to nuclear power, which produces zero emissions, the decline would have been far greater. And nuclear power would be far better for public health, since it doesn’t pollute the air.
Yet many environmental leaders, though by no means all, oppose the use of nuclear power. Denying the vital role nuclear plants play in the battle against climate change is crazy, given that nuclear power accounts for 70 percent of the carbon-free energy in the United States. New Jersey receives 50 percent of its electricity from nuclear power plants."

a related article, also a good read: http://e360.yale.edu/feature/shunning_new_nuclear_power_plants_will_lead_to_warmer_world/2510/ ..."A physicist argues that if we allow our overblown and often irrational fears of nuclear energy to block the building of a significant number of new nuclear plants, we will be choosing a far more perilous option: the intensified burning of planet-warming fossil fuels."