Missouri River Flooding

FUKUSHIMA ON THE MISSOURI? NAAHH!

Two NYT headlines struck me with their curiously opposing messages:

• “Across Europe…Cities Discourage Cars…”, 6-27-11
• “Obama to Tap US Oil Reserve”, 6-24-11

In Europe they discourage car traffic and raise parking fees, while here in the US we feel it is more important to lower gasoline costs to ensure driving.

Is there something wrong with this picture? Or am I the only one seeing the disconnect? We are told endlessly that “we must wean ourselves of foreign oil” or “drill, drill, drill on land and in the waters along our beaches.”

Then, also in today’s paper, there were two reports inspiring the title here:

• A picture of Minot, ND surrounded by the waters of the flooding Missouri River
• and another photo of the Cooper Nuclear Power Plant, one of two in Nebraska that are located at the Missouri River. The other reactor, Ft. Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant.

Federal government regulators have determined that “both plants appear well prepared to weather the flooding…”

Having recently viewed the movie Jesus Christ Superstar I have been humming the lovely song Magdalene sings to J.C. “Try not to worry, try not to turn on to problems that upset you… Don’t you know everything’s alright, yes…close your eyes and relax.” I will take this good advice to heart, while listening to the evening news during dinner preparations in the kitchen.