Roger Copple, as one of his 27 policy initiatives, proposes:
Dismantle all nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants, simultaneously and voluntarily, the world over as soon as possible.
First of all, Roger Copple covers simultaneously civilian and military nuclear programs. For the purpose of our
Community Manifesto initiative, I though it best to break this into two separate polls, dealing with, respectively military use and civilian use:
Within the above two polls, you have the opportunity to express your agreement or disagreement with the various parts of Copple's policy proposal.
Regarding the dismantling of military nuclear stockpiles, Copple's wording does not really make the distinction between unilateral and mutual dismantling. He does say "the world over" and "as soon as possible", but what if other countries (Russia, India, Pakistan, UK, France, the People's Republic of China —as opposed to the Republic of China%mdash;...) do not cooperate and refuse to dismantle, or do so at a slower pace? What should the US do? Dismantle unilaterally or match the pace of the most heavily armed country?
I've tried to cover different possibilities in the poll options:
- "The US should pursue a policy of global (mutual), total nuclear disarmament."
- "The US should eliminate its nuclear armament stockpile only inasmuch as all other countries do the same."
- "The US should unilaterally and completely eliminate its nuclear armament stockpile."
The topic of nuclear power plants is closely linked with the debate on Global Warming. Nuclear power plants are often seen as a necessary evil in order to curb greenhouse gas emissions and fight Global Warming. Thus, I have introduced the nuclear option in the community manifesto poll on Global warming:
- "Use nuclear energy only as much as is necessary to fight Global Warming (reduce greenhouse gas emission)."
Make sure to vote in the above polls.
What do you think?
If you wish to join the Community Manifesto Initiative Daily Kos group, send me a request and I will send you an invitation.
Originally published: Copple policy #1: military and civilian use of nuclear power.