Greatest Potential Deed

With new reports from Japan about the ongoing escape of massive amounts of radiation, likely to increase rather than decrease in our future, the world-wide impact of this disaster is slowly dawning – but all too slowly.

The greatest deed Obama and the USA could perform would be to put all resources – scientific, technological, military, financial, ethical – behind encasing the Fukushima reactors to stop the continuing spread of radiation into the earth, water, and air. If countless mega-fortresses can be built in Iraq, and drones and robots can do such impressive remote-guided tasks, these technologies could easily be applied to encapsulating the radiating reactors from all sides, and even from below. The only things missing are an honest assessment of this dire emergency and the will to put “America’s Best”  of everything to work for this goal.

Capping this danger that is now even greater than climate change would restore America’s reputation as a country whose  innovative aspirations can truly help mankind.  Even the nuclear industry would end up benefitting from this deed, because it would prove that such crises can be dealt with if needed.

Now only human factors hinder such an effort: the greed of the nuclear industry, the national pride of the Japanese, and the cognitive disconnect most of us are still wanting to wallow in. They say “Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt,” but it’s actually a gigantic ocean with persistent poisonous currents still heading our way.