Rather than add to discussion of the main topic, I'd like to explore the side-issue of nuclear power.

I don't think it's accurate to equate the short-form "nuke" strictly to nuclear weaponry. When opposition to nuclear power plants was at its peak back in the 80s, the short slogan "No Nukes" was widely ued in reference to power plants.

Regardless of the general public's sudden and belated realization that we finally ought to think about moving beyond petroleum as a primary energy source, one inescapable danger of nuclear power remains as undeniable as ever:

Plutonium is forever.

Nuclear waste, once it has been inadvertently "manufactured" by generation of electricity or by any other application of nuclear technology, is fatally dangerous and cannot be swept under a rug. It has to be stored somewhere, as safely as humanly possible, for a l-o-o-o-o-n-g time.

Of course, we already have huge amounts of this crap littering the planet, and ~ very understandably ~ no one wants it anywhere near their own home. This is perhaps the ultimate case of "NIMBY" )"Not In My Back Yard").

It's also unavoidably true that we'll continue to generate this lethal stuff at least for a little while longer, but it certainly would seem to be incumbent upon anyone with a brain in his/her head to do whatever they can to promote truly clean alternative forms of energy and to try and minimize, and eventually to phase out, continued reliance upon the atom.