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> That's obviously not true, because most industries do not need special subsidies just to exist. What you're talking about -- requiring insurance for outsized
by mlyle 3y ago
> That's obviously not true, because most industries do not need special subsidies just to exist.
What you're talking about -- requiring insurance for outsized losses -- is not something we require of most industries. A chemical plant (say, making feedstocks for solar panels) can contaminate a water table and cause tens of billions of dollars in losses, but we attempt to address this risk with front-end regulation rather than requiring insurance for uninsurable losses.
- wpietri 3y agoMost industries don't cause outsized losses. A chemical company that causes tens of billions in damages has to pay tens of billions of dollars or it goes out of business. Nuclear power was given a special subsidy because nobody wanted to run the risk of running a nuclear power plant if they actually had to be on the hook for it. I never said we should require insurance for nuclear power, although that's not a bad idea. Plenty of states do it for cars, after all, so you could make a case that it should apply to bigger things. I am just saying that nuclear power should be priced fairly, which would include removing the special liability cap for nuclear plants.