On saturday night, some work buddies and I were discussing over alcohol thoughts on our new President. Someone meantioned Obama's proposed war on coal. Naturally I chimed in with the need for more nuke plants. My boss's wife, bit of an ex Cali hippy, retorted with nuclear power being evil. ... How? It just is. But it's the safest, cleanest and most efficient source of power we have until fusion becomes economic. No it's not, solar and wind!
I swear to the Gods, it was an article of religious faith among certain folks. They honestly believe it to their core that certain things are bad (nuke, gasoline, etc) and certain things are good (solar, wind, etc) without a single shred of logic or reason. Ask them if they'd wish to live their reality and they do their best to ignore it. "Really? You want ONLY solar and wind? Then obviously you be ok with a power bill that's roughly 20 times what it is currently, and with rolling brownouts?" They want it both ways. Ideologically correct technology combined with cheap and convenient. When you tell them it's not possible, you get the James Taggart and Rearden speech that Nick pointed out.