Germany swears off nuclear power: Should we?

The German government is phasing out its nuclear reactors. Could the U.S. do the same, and use alternative energy sources instead?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Obama at last year's Nuclear summit: Germany will phase out nuclear energy, closing all 17 reactors, by 2022.
(Image credit: JASON REED/Reuters/Corbis)

In the wake of Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet this week approved a plan to close all of the country's 17 nuclear reactors by 2022. Other nations, including Japan, Italy, and Switzerland, have decided to reduce their reliance on nuclear power, but Germany plans to replace it completely with alternative energy sources that neither increase greenhouse gas emissions nor hobble economic growth. If that's possible, should the U.S. do it, too?

No, Germany is overreacting: "It is stupid to shut down perfectly good nuclear plants," says Alan Caruba at Warning Signs. It would force us to get more power from coal, which environmentalists hate even more than nukes. And even though Fukushima was scary, the reality is that "nuclear power plants are not atomic bombs that go off when a 'meltdown' occurs." This is pure panic that "has nothing to do with reality, science, economics or any other sensible response."

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