Multnomah County's heat dome conditions killed 69 people in 2021.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/14335558

When scientific studies showed that the extreme temperatures were caused by heat domes, which experts say are influenced by climate change, county officials didn’t just chalk it up to a random weather occurrence. They started researching the large fossil fuel companies whose emissions are driving the climate crisis—including ExxonMobil, Shell, and Chevron—and sued them.

Now, 11 months after the suit was filed, Multnomah County is preparing to move forward with the case in Oregon state court after a federal judge in June settled a monthslong debate over where the suit should be heard.

  • @Viking_Hippie
    7•2 months ago

    If we really want to slow global warming, we need to build more nuclear plants

    Nope. Nuclear energy production is already becoming less effective and less safe due to the very problem you claim that it’s the only fix for, and it’s only getting worse.

    Nuclear might have been a viable solution at one point, but it isn’t now.

    A combination of renewable energy is, though. It has none of the drawbacks of nuclear, is many times faster to build and get operational, and is also much cheaper. And yes, it’s capable of producing several times the world’s energy needs when fully utilized.

    Only significant drawback is having to retool the grid to better accommodate decentralized production, but that’s nowhere near as significant as the many upsides.

    So no, it’s not just "uneducated idiots who think nuclear is scary“ who realize that nuclear isn’t the magic bullet that you guys and the fossil fuel industries pretend that it is.

    • @corroded
      1•2 months ago

      The very first (and only) comment on the article you linked referred to a “dry cooling” method that negates what you’re saying about warm or scarce water. Nuclear fission certainly has its drawbacks, but it still remains our best option for power generation. Fear-mongering and trying to convince people that nuclear isn’t viable is part of the reason why tons of greenhouse gasses are constantly spewed out of fossil-fuel plants.

      • @Viking_Hippie
        3•2 months ago

        The very first (and only) comment on the article you linked referred to a “dry cooling” method that negates what you’re saying about warm or scarce water.

        A technology that’s been “just a few years away” for decades, like it always is with solutions for the problems of nuclear energy.

        Nuclear fission certainly has its drawbacks, but it still remains our best option for power generation

        No, it isn’t. Not by a long shot. A combination of several different types of renewable energy production is.

        Fear-mongering

        Always the “you’re just askeerd!” strawman with you nuclear apologists 🙄

        That’s not it, as I have made abundantly clear.

        trying to convince people that nuclear isn’t viable

        Which is the truth at this point.

        is part of the reason why tons of greenhouse gasses are constantly spewed out of fossil-fuel plants.

        Nope. You know what IS part of it, though? Politicians and civilians alike being fixated on nuclear as a magic bullet that it isn’t, shoving aside the renewables who can ACTUALLY do everything you claim nuclear can, at a fraction of the price and with a decentralized system making the grid much more stable.