Planet Money Presidential Platform (Page 3)

The efficiency of solar is not there, and the land needed is a big factor. Again, it isn't that we can't make electricity from panels, it's that they are not economical. And all the government has done is pay for a industry that can't support itself. I'm not entirely opposed... I see no reason it can't account for 20% of our energy, but it will take time and better efficiency.

You may be surprised by this, but I think all old small coal plants should be shut down. I feel that utilities should be able to trade old for new with all the emissions controls. It's a start. No new coal, only replacement. There is a switch going on right now for gas turbines.But coal helps stabilize the market, and it is in fact cheap as dirt. And I work in one of those old  plants... but it has all the latest greatest. I would be perfectly happy working at a gas turbine.

Carbon capture and sequestration is a pipe dream at this point and one I don't really see the point of. Capture is relatively easy, but sequestration is the hard part. We most certainly can "clean" coal. Either on the front end or the back... but if reducing carbon emissions is the driving force, coal is going to have a hard time.

Nuclear energy has come a long way since the last reactor was built here. Lots of good ideas on the table, and they are "shovel ready" that can be done TODAY. Fukashima is just another case of ignorance. It was not built appropriately and was a very old design. And yet that old dinosaur killed a modern nuclear renaissance today. Our own aging fleet needs to be replaced, and there are much better designs to do it with.... yet here we are. We are installing scrubbers on my plant.