Professor Meadows, Why Don’t You Like Nuclear Power
By Donella Meadows
–June 13, 1991–
I had just given a talk on the greenhouse effect at one of the great corporate research labs of this nation. I had praised the company for developing super-efficient light bulbs — in fact I had demonstrated one of their bulbs. But I hadn’t said a word about another of their products — nuclear power plants.
That [...]
Names, Faces, and Families
By Donella Meadows
–February 28, 1991–
A weeping Iraqi man approached a BBC reporter outside the bombed bunker in Baghdad and handed him six identity cards. “My wife and children were in there,” he said. The reporter looked at the cards — a 32-year-old woman, five children under the age of eight. Each card had a picture, except the newest, that of [...]
Solar Hydrogen — A Fuel for Avoiding a Greenhouse Future
By Donella Meadows
–November 23, 1989–
If George Bush were an environmental leader, he would not have blocked an international agreement this month to curtail emissions of greenhouse gases.
He would see that the greenhouse problem is in fact an opportunity — to move beyond fossil fuels, oil spills, air pollution, and enthrallment to the Middle East, toward clean, renewable energy we can [...]
When We’re Ready for Fusion Energy, It’s Ready for Us
By Donella Meadows
–May 4, 1989–
If the chemists at the University of Utah have indeed achieved nuclear fusion in a bottle on a tabletop, their discovery could open a new age in human history.
The economy could run on deuterium, a component of seawater that is vastly abundant. It is available to poor countries as well as rich ones. We could cool [...]
Hiding the Symptoms, Maintaining the Sales
By Donella Meadows
–February 23, 1989–
Lo, the wonder-makers of modern science now bring you biodegradable plastics! Are your roadsides littered, your beaches cluttered, your wild creatures strangled, your dumps filled up with the previous wonders of modern science, namely non-biodegradable plastics? Don’t worry about a thing, folks.
Look, we just throw a little UV-sensitive copolymer into the polystyrene. Or we mix 4 [...]
