It is a well known fact, coal-fired plants are by far the most carbon dioxide intensive energy source. Now according to an article on Celsias coal ash is also much more radioactive than nuclear waste.
The massive coal sludge accident in Tennessee last year showed that coal-fired plants can massively destroy ecosystems. This adds up to the already well documented air and water pollution induced by such solutions.
It is high time we work on cutting coal consumption around the world. For example, decreasing American coal consumption by 62 % is feasible.
Similar results could be achieved in other countries with massive energy efficiency measures. Of course renewables will play a large role in this.
I believe that all the people who believe we should phase out nuclear power plants as soon as possible should demand instead shutting down coal-fired plants.
Indeed, to sum it up :
Coal is polluting our air, our water, contributes more than any other fossil fuel to climate change and is more radioactive than nuclear. The only thing it has for itself is that it’s cheap. Cheap because of the huge incentives and because there is no global price on carbon yet.
Nuclear on the other hand pollutes much less, is less radioactive on top of being one of the lowest emitting energy solutions. Waste and proliferation won’t be problems as future nuclear technologies will use current waste for electricity generation. See why I support nuclear.