Japan

From time to time I've talked about world events and politics here on the blog and today is going to be another one of those times.

Tomorrow will be a week since the tragic earthquake and resulting tsunami hit Japan.  It's pretty amazing how quickly it all unfolded and how suddenly everything changed for not just that part of the world but for all of us.  If you're friends with me on facebook, you've no doubt seen the several videos I've shared there.  Everything I see about Japan is not only heart-wrenching, but for me has become an incredible reminder of just how little control we have over anything and how much control God has over everything.  The earthquake, the tsunami and now the nuclear crisis; none of that has taken God by surprise and he understands all that has happened and will happen over there.  It's heartbreaking and I pray that the grace and glory of God are made more evident to a lost and dying world.

I do want to speak more to the nuclear side of things.  Being employed in the power industry, I get to see and hear a lot of things about government regulations and trends and such as that that a lot of people may not even be aware of.  Most people fall into one of two groups: those that aren't happy their electricity is costing more (I land in this group) and those that aren't happy that electricity is primarily made from the burning of fossil fuels.  You can't really be in both groups because if you want cheap power, the best way to get it currently is through burning coal and natural gas.  There is a potential middle ground though: nuclear energy.  It's not cheap to build or maintain, but over the course of several decades, it's cheaper and more reliable than solar or wind can ever hope to be and it's completely carbon neutral.  There are still issues with radioactive waste but that waste can be reprocessed and made to be fairly harmless.  Without a doubt the energy future of the United States rests in a nuclear foundation and what has happened in Japan should not deter us from moving forward with new nuclear initiatives that have been started in the past couple of years.

--Paul