The Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami/Nuclear event is at best tragic and the affected survivors deserve our prayers and as things seem to continue to deteriorate, any help we can give. But even as we struggle to understand the extent of the disaster in Japan, we are asking ourselves if it could happen here too? The short answer is of course it can and already has to a lesser degree and certainly can in the future. While nowhere near the extent of Japan, we have had our share of disasters close to home.... just off the top there was the Exxon Valdez where a drunk captain ran his oil tanker up on the rocks, Three Mile Island, BP cheating on its drilling rig in the Gulf, Haiti to name a few.

I am afraid that Mother Nature will continue to surprise us.whenever and however she wishes. Earthquakes, Tsunamis, hurricanes and such. All we can do is try to understand her whims and ways and prepare as best we can. However it is mans sometimes foolishness that brings the unnecessary heartache and loss of life among us. The damage brought upon us by our own foolishness is what leaves the worst damage. The damage that could have been avoided. And yet it seem we learn little if nothing from our mistakes. We have built a society that is so reliant on energy that we do irreparable harm to our environment. We have means of generating energy that are non invasive on the environment... hydro, solar and wind/wave. And if they get destroyed in a natural event, little harm is done to our earth.

But coal, oil and especially nuclear leave ugly scars that may never heal. In our rush to show how advanced we have become we know how to design and build these facilities to almost indestructible standards but there will always be somebody telling us it costs too much to do it that way so we build lesser facilities in the fantasy that a disaster will never strike... that we will get away with it one more time. But that doesn’t happen. What were the planners thinking when they located those Japanese reactors where the did.... more importantly what do you suppose they are thinking now? Why are there reactors on the west coast? We know eventually it is going to fall into the Ocean! Then what... what is left of California will become a Nuclear wasteland? And with prevailing winds how much fallout will carry over the heartland of America? On the most southern point of Florida, Florida Power & Light has its “Turkey Foot” facility. A reactor directly in the projected path of major hurricanes. Statistically one will hit there! Sooner or later!

It is terrible what is happening in Japan. Far worse than what we saw recently in Haiti. And it continues to worsen. And my heart goes out to them. But we as a society, have to ask ourselves how many more of these disasters are we willing to endure? A review of all of these dangerous facilities must be made and where they are inappropriate they need to be shut down and rendered harmless! And the ones we truly feel we can live with, well they need to be hardened and have back ups to their backups put in place so if they too succumb to mother nature, or mans own folly, we will have the resources and means to pull them off line without killing thousands upon thousands of our own citizens.