http://www.caritas.org/

Whether “The NYT provided a glowing example of how the media exaggerated the nuclear accident at the expense of effects of the earthquake and tsunami” is a separate issue.

One can’t hold everyone responsible for what the media decides to cover.

There is no reason that talking about the problems with nuclear power necessarily precludes talking — or better yet, doing something — about the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami.

Finally, I would urge people to read BOTH what Lovins has written and what Curious Wavefunction has linked to and come to their own conclusions about the claim that “Lovins’s analysis is often flawed and has been extensively refuted” (In the absence of any details, such a claim means nothing)

Much of what Lovins writes about deals with end use energy efficiency improvements which most would agree are a benefit whether we have nuclear power or not. So, it’s worth reading his stuff for the information about that alone.

I’d like to take this moment to remind readers that now is not the time for debate or knee-jerk decisions regarding U.S. energy policy.

That’s called “framing the debate” (or trying to squelch it altogether).

It implies that anyone who brings up questions about the future of nuclear power at this point in time is “jumping to rash conclusions about the future of nuclear development” or making “knee-jerk decisions regarding U.S. energy policy.”

The reality is that some people (eg, energy efficiency expert Amory Lovins) have opposed nuclear power for a very long time based on quite legitimate concerns. Lovins has actually written a great deal on the subject (You may want to read it. )

The idea that folks like Lovins should just remain silent right now and not yet try to Learn From Japan’s Nuclear Disaster is simply ridiculous.

Of course, the nuclear crisis is not over and a lot of people are still suffering from the earthquake aftermath. But that should in no way preclude the larger discussion/debate about nuclear power.

Though there remain a lot of unknowns (about what is happening right now at the reactors and what will happen before the crisis is “resolved”), there are also a lot of things that ARE known in this case — reactors built in areas very prone to earthquakes and large quantities of spent fuel stored on site outside hardened containment structures, to name just a couple– that are not unique to Japan’s situation and should be very much “open to debate” even before the current crisis is “over”.

Unfortunately, the reality is that the public pays attention during a crisis but seems to have a short attention span once it has “passed”.

How many people remember (and care about) the BP oil spill?

(2) Don’t earmark your donations just for Japan. As badly hit Japan is, it’s a rich country. They don’t need the money as much you’d think they do. So give your charity of choice the flexibility to allocate the resources as they see fit.

http://www.peace-winds.org/en/

Thanks for helping raise awareness for the need for relief; over 350,000 Japanese people are newly homeless after the Earthquake + Tsunami!