Are Nuclear and Renewable Energy Really Enemies?

Eventually, the pro-nuke—anti-solar/wind people with whom I’ve recently been corresponding are going to lose patience with me and delete me from their email distribution list. Earlier today, a gentleman by the name of George Erickson sent the 100-or-so of us this piece on one of the negative environmental consequences of wind energy. Sadly, what these folks do for a living is digging up stuff like this.  Why?  Of the many millions of scientists who study the energy industry, why do these pro-nuke people follow the fraction of a percent of them who believe that renewable energy is a bad idea?

I responded:  Thanks, George, but mightn’t it be wise to consider that wind (4.18% of the U.S. grid mix last year) is displacing a huge and ever-growing amount of energy that otherwise would have been generated from fossil fuels?  Do we really have to be so combative against the ever-improving ensemble of renewables that, even in its infancy, is actively making a difference in our low-carbon future?  Please see my posts here and here.

The real winner in the bickering contest here, of course, is the fossil fuel boys.  What a shame.