Before you go thinking your teflon demigod Obama is an exception to the rule, please, before the GOP pastes it all over the evening news in September, read the Chicago Tribune article that outlines what Obama did to fellow minorities.. Please, before you sink your credibility any further on his behalf..
As to geothermal being along faultlines...actually....more geothermal is located near vulcanism. If a steam generator gets knocked off it's foundation, it's not a national disaster...it's a fixer job and back up in a week. At San Onofre we have a nuclear power plant poised dangerously near faults that are overdue to go. When a nuclear reactor shifts from its foundation the entire country will be poisoned by a cloud of radioactive death.
I'd say there is an Ocean of difference between the two. I used Yellowstone as an example because many people are familiar with the potent power of the near or at surface geothermal ducts. And the huge expanse over which they sit. In Yellowstone's case its atop a thin part of the crust of the Earth and so the internal heat is venting there.
There are unfortunately a lot of nukes in Europe, most in France. All it takes is one disaster. My reference to Homer Simpson was illustrative but apparently some missed the message so I'll spell it out and make it easier to understand: My point is that human error will be found to be the cause of the next nuclear disaster.
Why risk a disaster when the most that would happen from a geothermal plant "meltdown" would be some steam burns to a very isolated few people?
Why even begin to contemplate risking such a disaster? Why? It's as if people (some selective people) are saying, "hey, the ONLY energy we're going to consider is the kind that has the potential to ruin the earth..no negotiation."
As odd as it may sound, the simple reason geothermal isn't being utilized is because it is so simple. If Iceland can do it, we can. You only need a small area that generates sufficient heat. The only limiting factor is the amount of water you can pour over it. That's it. And if you look at the map on the oil from bugs thread you can easily see that the potential for these areas is HUGE, not minimal.
Simple energy is hard to regulate. Harnassing steam to run turbines could be a backyard project. Leading scientists have sat for decades scratching their heads as to why (BigOil) politicians won't consider develpment on a massive scale. There are vast areas of the Owen's Valley alone that are just grazing cattle, the Owen's river flowing through it slowly like a snake. Bubbling pots ooze everywhere and wafts of steam snake upwards all over the Valley. The area is so desolate that it begs to be a source of power for California and Nevada at least. Why haven't we done anything?
I have never for one minute understood why people talk about nuclear energy with such a cavalier attitude. The horrible dangers when, and not if the next accident occurs at a plant are the stuff of sci-fi films and nightmares. The cost to develop a nuclear plant, to staff it, maintain it and dispose of the forever (essentially) toxic waste in someone else's backyard is ASTRONOMICAL compared to erecting a geothermal steam plant of equal energy output. It's just absurd. It's like people escaped from an asylum and run around ranting "nuclear nuclear" or "oil oil".
This one has flown over that cuckoo's nest.
