The cost of sticking our heads in the sand

Well, one of the costs of avoiding creating a rational energy policy is obvious: 13 W.Va. miners trapped by blast; rescue team sent (login required. Use Bugmenot :-) As one sage notes, "...there are more people killed annually at grade crossings by coal trains than ever died from nuclear power." Hint, hint: pebble bed reactors are not only inherently safer to run, supply and in waste management/pollution, they are one of the best current technologies for energy production. Which is why the Chinese are building 20 (or is it 22?) of them, NOW. And PBRs are just one of many alternatives that beat the socks off solar, wind, etc., for cost/benefit results. IF one can keep the enviro-cultists on a leash.