Rifty
No one can be trusted. Not communists, not capitalists, not socialists, not individuals, not buttociations and not governments. This however doesn't mean that we can't actually undertake projects that require a high level of responsble managment and cross checking.
I don't accept that the generation of depression, doom and gloom about the future is justifiable. We live in an age where the left spectrum of politics has specialised in not only doom and gloom but moral discreditation of much of western history and culture as 'racist' or having appropriated its achievements from other societies. It's so corrosive to our young people to have so much negativity about them rather than a can do approach. I see young women reluctant to have children because of this. There are some very serious environmental issues but it seems that they have become just another cudgel for beating us up with.
I do accuse the 'left' of this. "Critical Theory" whose language is still in use by the left is essentially about undermining hope in our culture, insbreastutions,relgions etc. A "new barabarism" must be created as Herbert Marcuse said. (Incidently the communist who recognised the potential for green-left politics in subversion of hope and founded the Greens in Germany)
sub critical reactors pumped by neutrons from a cyclatron offer the possibillity of high safety (just cut the neutron beam of), breeding fuel and transmutation of wastes.
You can perhaps cut energy consumption by 50% but to do so costs enormouse amounts of investment in new technology (eg hybrids) or houses. We can get some of the early savings with ease but it will get very expensive. The cost of building standards in Europe is so tragically high that having children and paying for your house is very expensivve. Ultimetly the population increase will eat up the savings anyway. We can see that. Australia has not a shortage of dams and resovirs but rivers with unallocated water in them. We can build all the resovoirse we want but the flows just aren't there to fill them.
Hybrid cars for instance just aren't ready yet and won't be for a few more years. Toyota Prius is basically a 25,000 Corrolla sold for 45,000 dollars for which it will save about 1000L-$1000 of fuel per year. Most of us can't afford the up front costs.
