MWP2 Final

Landon Williams

DiPrince English 102

Policy Essay

24 March 2011

Nuclear Energy

Imagine in 2020 Pueblo, Colorado, once a thriving region for agriculture now nothing but a desolate landscape, overly congested by industrial entities. Cement Plant, wind tower plan, two power plants, chemical depot, along with a newly built nuclear plant finalizing the devastation. What was thought to be an impeccable idea stimulating local economies and providing 1,000 jobs, didn’t work out so well. The Nuclear plant consumed all of Pueblo county's water causing soil to dry up and the idea of 1,000 jobs was great but it took away the same amount, causing farmers who have farmed their entire lives to now be unemployed.

As in any controversy there is always opposition and there are key factors that lead people to take a specific side.  In the article “Nuclear plant proposed for Pueblo County”(2011), Chris Woodka asserts that Don Banner local Puebloan lawyer has strong aspirations to erect a nuclear plant southeast of Pueblo, which could produce 3,000 megawatt’s of energy, his attempt to fill the nation’s energy gap and to financially stimulate the community’s economy. Woodka supports his claims with more current and past history of Banner’s campaigns for the construction of various entities and provides the reader with effective statistics and facts pertaining to the nuclear plant such as; it creating 400-700 job energy, plant would provide roughly $31 million in property tax revenue, and being a safe alternative to mass produce energy. He writes to educate his reader’s about the proponents in order to let people know how positive the plant could be for Pueblo. Further in, an article on the contrary title “Pueblo Co. Closer To Getting Nuclear Plant”, (2011) Lindsay Watts states that Pueblo, Colorado is one step closer to constructing a nuclear plant, after the county commission met last month and voted 5 to 3 in approval of the plant but locals are worried that it will put Puebloans in danger and do away with our pristine agriculture. She supports her claims with statistics and quotes from locals expressing their uneasy  feeling’s on the plant. Watt’s purpose is to inform and provide the community of Pueblo with current news in order to have  them keep in mind that the plant could be wonderful financially but is it worth it to endanger local history and our health. Matthew L. Wald in “Nuclear Energy”, (2011)  asserts a neutral opinion on nuclear energy while giving an overview of the industry itself showing that It is a clean source of creating energy but being extremely costly to build a plant, he gives great explanation about the physics behind nuclear energy, and the potential affects it serves. Wald supports his claims through showing great knowledge of nuclear energy, discussing the when the idea of nuclear energy came around, the first plants ever built, disasters they created, along with its advantages and disadvantages comparably to other energies. His purpose is to educate his reader in a concise manner in order to catch them up on the topic of nuclear energy so they can have a logical opinion rather then an opinion created by feelings.

         Every now and then justice has to be served and people need to sit back and realize the direction in which our country is heading towards. The city of Pueblo is so unique because of its history and authentic people but through greed and industrialization we are losing pieces of culture day by day. Now with the proposal of a nuclear plant we could potentially have a large sentimental aspect of Pueblo taken away and potentially put our lives in danger. Some people believe constructing this plant is vital for future electric energy growth and microeconomics for Pueblo (Woodka). This proposal was devised by local Puebloan lawyer Don Banner who envisions a nuclear power plant being built southeast of pueblo, which would be on 24,000 acres between the towns of Avondale and Fowler, south of Highway 50 (Watts). Along with a nuclear plant, the plan is for solar power and wind power. The facility is being proposed by a group called Puebloans For Energizing Our Community. The site would create 2,500-5,000 construction jobs over the course of about five years when the plant was being built; 400 to 700 permanent jobs at power site; and up to 1,000 jobs off-site for the community (Woodka). Don Banner believes the facility would also boost area property values. So people who are in support of the plant feel that it could significantly stimulate the Pueblo economy and create a substantial number of jobs in a dire time. It all sounds great but on contrary many Puebloans including myself feel differently. The nuclear plant poses great threat to local agriculture (a part of what makes a great city) and our health. Pueblo Native Suzanne Morgan said "Once the farm economy is compromised it will be impossible to re-establish. We need long-term strategic thinking and policies to protect local agriculture and our food supply." Pueblo's farmlands are in an ideal region, with rich soil, good water, long growing season made for successful farming. If built the nuclear plant would be constructed very close to these farms causing deprivation of water (Hobbs). Nuclear energy consumes huge amounts of water and the Arkansas River is already over used. Locals feel it unreasonable and a poor use of resources to locate a nuclear power plant in an arid region could potentially dry up the farmlands (Hobbs). Farming is a big part of Pueblo culture, to take it away would be like taking down the statue of liberty to build a hilton. There comes a point where our society needs to stop and think why we are here and how our country became one of the most prestigious countries to ever take rule. United States was founded on a compilation of ethics and morals but greed has diminished the meanings of these virtues.

  I feel the nuclear plant proposal isn’t for the people of Pueblo but a plan to comfort them so big money people can further their life of opulence. Why couldn’t this nuclear plant be built somewhere that isn’t near a dense population and rich agriculture. For instance in the deserts of Nevada where a nuclear bomb could explode and no one would know about it. If people solely believe in the plant because it will bring more jobs we should look at other avenues. A historical city is being overwhelmingly broken up by industrial entities. Enough is enough.

Annotated Bibliography

Citation:  Hobbs, Dan. ""Nuclear is Incompatible"." www.pueblochieftain.com. pueblo chieftain, 6 Mar. 2011. Web. 13 Mar. 2011. <http://www.chieftain.com/opinion/tell_it_to_the_chieftain/nuclear-is-incompatible/article_14dcc2fc-46c7-11e0-9598-001cc4c03286.html>.

In an article “Nuclear is Incompatible”(2011) Dan Hobbs argues that nuclear proposal poses a major threat to agricultural economy of Pueblo. Hobbs supports his claims by discussing the richness of Pueblo County’s farmlands, their relevance to Pueblo, and how if the Nuclear Plant is built it could potentially do away with the meaningful cultivations. He writes to his reader’s so they can think about this controversy with an emotional perspective in order to make them understand how badly the plant could affect Pueblo. His tone is empathetic and targets any adult.

Citation: Woodka, Chris. ""Nuclear Plant Proposed for Pueblo County"." Chieftain. Pueblo Chieftain, 15 July 2010. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. http://www.chieftain.com/nuclear-plant-proposed-for-pueblo-county/article_09764ac4-8fd3-11df-82c7-001cc4c03286.html

In his article “Nuclear plant proposed for Pueblo County”(2011), Chris Woodka asserts that Don Banner local Puebloan lawyer has strong aspirations to erect a nuclear plant southeast of Pueblo, which could produce 3,000 megawatt’s of energy, his attempt to fill the nation’s energy gap and help the community as well. Woodka supports his claims with more current and past history of Banner’s campaigns for the construction of various entities and provides the reader with effective statistics and facts pertaining to the nuclear plant such as; it creating 400-700 jobs, using less water than fossil energy, being a safe mass production of energy. His purpose is to educate his reader’s about this proposal in order to give them knowledge so they can decide what their feelings are towards the subject, since it really is a serious one. His targeted audience is mainly the community of Pueblo but also Colorado in whole.

Citation: Watts, Lindsay. ""Pueblo CO. Closer To Getting Nuclear Plant"." KRDO. N.p., 22 Feb. 2011. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. http://www.krdo.com/news/26961763/detail.html.

               In her article “Pueblo Co. Closer To Getting Nuclear Plant”, (2011) Lindsay Watts states that Pueblo, Colorado is one step closer to constructing a nuclear plant, after the county commission met last month and voted 5 to 3 in approval of the plant. She supports her claims with interesting statistics about plant productivity, employing 400-700 people, but also providing quotes from Don Banner, the facet of this proposal. Watt’s purpose is to inform and provide the community of Pueblo with current news in order to keep them fresh on the topic because this is a seriously concerned subject. Her article is directed towards the people Pueblo and the State of Colorado.

Citation: Wald, Matthew L. ""Nuclear Energy"." NY Times. N.p., 1 Feb. 2011. Web. 11 Mar. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/info/nuclear-energy/?scp=1-spot&sq=%20nuclear%20energy&st=cse>

                In his article “Nuclear Energy”, (2011) Matthew L. Wald asserts a neutral opinion on nuclear energy while giving an overview of the industry itself showing that It is a clean source of creating energy but being extremely costly to build a plant, he gives great explanation about the physics behind nuclear energy, and the potential affects it serves. Wald supports his claims through showing great knowledge of nuclear energy, discussing the when the idea of nuclear energy came around, the first plants ever built, disasters they created, along with its advantages and disadvantages comparably to other energies. His purpose is to educate his reader in a concise manner in order to catch them up on the topic of nuclear energy so they can have a logical opinion rather then an opinion created by feelings. His targeted audience would be fellow Americans and he conveys his message in a concerned and serious tone.