4 ms·

The US has no lack of relevant engineers, after all, it does maintain a large fleet of nuclear powered vessels. As is usual with most of America's problems, the

The US has no lack of relevant engineers, after all, it does maintain a large fleet of nuclear powered vessels. As is usual with most of America's problems, there's just a lack of sufficiently concentrated political will to get things done.

prottog 3y ago
> there's just a lack of sufficiently concentrated political will to get things done. Ideally it shouldn't be the case that something like building a power plant to produce electricity shouldn't require political will; just willing investors and operators who desire to make a profit.
- layer8 3y ago
  The lack of willing investors might indicate that they are doubtful about the profitability.
  - prottog 3y ago
    Absolutely true, but the profitability is likely affected precisely by government policy.
    - brohee 3y ago
      By policy, over the next 80 years.
    - layer8 3y ago
      Well, surely the government can’t allow anyone to just build a nuclear power plant, so some policies are required. I can’t judge how reasonable or unreasonable the current ones are. But I can imagine for reasonable policies to be unprofitable without government subsidies, and that would require political will.
JohnBooty 3y ago
That, and the influence of the fossil fuel companies.
- ibejoeb 3y ago
  Certainly. It's an odd dynamic because the same people who want to eliminate fossils also hate nuclear. The trending political position is energy austerity, while at the same time electrifying everything. But that's just not going to happen. (Well, I guess it does in California with the rolling blackouts.)
  - dabraham1248 3y ago
    Yes, after all, the reason that Texas is currently working on laws to block renewable power generation in favor of fossil fuel power is because their power grid is _too_ reliable.
    - ibejoeb 3y ago
      Not sure what point you're trying to make. I think it'd be a great idea to build nuclear in Texas.
- HPsquared 3y ago
  That's probably the biggest single contributor to the lack of political will. Not just the company bosses, though - a lot of the employees will have similar interests. Say there's an "oil town" or a "coal town", that's a lot of voters.
  - lobotomified 3y ago
    I'd resist policies that threaten my job too.
    - ImPostingOnHN 3y ago
      Makes sense, considering the survival of humanity generally comes (if ever) after immediate personal survival is secured
anovikov 3y ago
If a political will is needed to do X, we need to look again at whether we really need it. Normally stuff that's needed, happens by itself as market forces push it.
- ako 3y ago
  Nah, market forces are usually short term, whereas political forces should handle long term needs.
- pyrale 3y ago
  > Normally stuff that's needed, happens by itself as market forces push it. ...As we can see in our efforts to avoid climate change.
- dotnet00 3y ago
  Which is why healthcare, housing and education is super affordable, big tech companies are respecting people's privacy and freedom and climate change has been averted.
  - nine_k 3y ago
    Exactly! They all lack some of the properties that make markets efficient, or form a market at all. - Healthcare cannot be an efficient free market, where those who can pay most receive the best, and those who cannot pay get nothing. The reasons are pretty obvious. It sort-of-works as an insurance scheme, but currently in the US it's more like a payment scheme (and prices blow up), and in most of the EU is like a redistribution scheme (and amount of care is highly minimized until your condition is really serious). - Housing in desired areas is heavily influenced administratively by zoning and other stifling norms (hello, SF), and also lack of land in desirable areas (hello, Manhattan). If you agree to live far from bustling megacities or posh suburbs, houses are relatively affordable. (But how are you going to earn the money then?) - Privacy is not something you want to sell on the market; the whole point is to prevent it. So market forces can't solve it directly. You can buy e.g. an iPhone that gives you more privacy, or use a paid search engine and, a paid email provider, a VPN, etc if you agree to pay more for preserving your privacy; here the markets work well. - Climate change is again not about trading and competition, because its downsides were not priced into any goods, and mostly are not yet still. Make carbon emission expensive, and the market forces will do their job. E.g. a lot of datacenters are carbon-neutral and powered by solar / wind / hydro just because otherwise the electricity ends up being pretty expensive.

prottog 3y ago

> there's just a lack of sufficiently concentrated political will to get things done. Ideally it shouldn't be the case that something like building a power plant to produce electricity shouldn't require political will; just willing investors and operators who desire to make a profit.

layer8 3y ago
The lack of willing investors might indicate that they are doubtful about the profitability.
- prottog 3y ago
  Absolutely true, but the profitability is likely affected precisely by government policy.
  - brohee 3y ago
    By policy, over the next 80 years.
  - layer8 3y ago
    Well, surely the government can’t allow anyone to just build a nuclear power plant, so some policies are required. I can’t judge how reasonable or unreasonable the current ones are. But I can imagine for reasonable policies to be unprofitable without government subsidies, and that would require political will.

JohnBooty 3y ago

That, and the influence of the fossil fuel companies.

ibejoeb 3y ago
Certainly. It's an odd dynamic because the same people who want to eliminate fossils also hate nuclear. The trending political position is energy austerity, while at the same time electrifying everything. But that's just not going to happen. (Well, I guess it does in California with the rolling blackouts.)
- dabraham1248 3y ago
  Yes, after all, the reason that Texas is currently working on laws to block renewable power generation in favor of fossil fuel power is because their power grid is _too_ reliable.
  - ibejoeb 3y ago
    Not sure what point you're trying to make. I think it'd be a great idea to build nuclear in Texas.
HPsquared 3y ago
That's probably the biggest single contributor to the lack of political will. Not just the company bosses, though - a lot of the employees will have similar interests. Say there's an "oil town" or a "coal town", that's a lot of voters.
- lobotomified 3y ago
  I'd resist policies that threaten my job too.
  - ImPostingOnHN 3y ago
    Makes sense, considering the survival of humanity generally comes (if ever) after immediate personal survival is secured

anovikov 3y ago

If a political will is needed to do X, we need to look again at whether we really need it. Normally stuff that's needed, happens by itself as market forces push it.

ako 3y ago
Nah, market forces are usually short term, whereas political forces should handle long term needs.
pyrale 3y ago
> Normally stuff that's needed, happens by itself as market forces push it. ...As we can see in our efforts to avoid climate change.
dotnet00 3y ago
Which is why healthcare, housing and education is super affordable, big tech companies are respecting people's privacy and freedom and climate change has been averted.
- nine_k 3y ago
  Exactly! They all lack some of the properties that make markets efficient, or form a market at all. - Healthcare cannot be an efficient free market, where those who can pay most receive the best, and those who cannot pay get nothing. The reasons are pretty obvious. It sort-of-works as an insurance scheme, but currently in the US it's more like a payment scheme (and prices blow up), and in most of the EU is like a redistribution scheme (and amount of care is highly minimized until your condition is really serious). - Housing in desired areas is heavily influenced administratively by zoning and other stifling norms (hello, SF), and also lack of land in desirable areas (hello, Manhattan). If you agree to live far from bustling megacities or posh suburbs, houses are relatively affordable. (But how are you going to earn the money then?) - Privacy is not something you want to sell on the market; the whole point is to prevent it. So market forces can't solve it directly. You can buy e.g. an iPhone that gives you more privacy, or use a paid search engine and, a paid email provider, a VPN, etc if you agree to pay more for preserving your privacy; here the markets work well. - Climate change is again not about trading and competition, because its downsides were not priced into any goods, and mostly are not yet still. Make carbon emission expensive, and the market forces will do their job. E.g. a lot of datacenters are carbon-neutral and powered by solar / wind / hydro just because otherwise the electricity ends up being pretty expensive.