Panic is rarely ever a good idea because it closes down the brain with fear, can cripple creative responses, and generally causes people to not think straight. Denial is worse. Like it or not, nuclear power is everywhere. Some consider it worse than Satan, others think it's the only logical solution to address global warming by reducing dependence on dirty fossil fuels and coal. The answer, as always, is probably somewhere in the middle. Most humans prefer to either panic or fade into denial but there is good reason to take a pro-active and informed approach now for the sake of public health in generations to come. We have Mark Heley andFukushima Research Group to thank for leading the charge in this direction.
In November I did a story called Fukushima, Humanity's Defining Moment about Lakota Elder and Chief, Arvol Lookinghorse presenting a statement on Fukushima at The UN Tillman Chapel. I have to admit that I was on the verge of panic myself and happy to see First Nations Leadership speaking out when nobody else seemed to be. We have The Idle No More Movement to thank for bringing the native voice back into prominence at a time when we desperately need leadership with regards to environmental concerns.
The Fukushima issue continued to pick up steam until it erupted over the holidays with panic that The West Coast was going to fry. I had just read a long but beautifully written piece in Esquire by Luke O'Neil called "The Year We Broke The Internet," which I highly recommend. In short, he talks about the ways that sensationalist, and completely untrue articles spread virally solely for clicks online. It's that panic thing I guess, the amygdala causes us to "impulse click" on links when we are frightened or angry which can make lots of advertising dollars at the expense of ethics and truth. This same philosophy applies to the disgrace our mainstream corporate media has made of itself in the past decade.
Mark Heley made a Facebook post around that time saying that in response to the Fukushima panic attack spreading across the web that he was starting The Fukushima Research Group. In the last month Mark has assembled a stellar team of intelligent and grounded researchers and spent hundreds of hours pouring through information to deliver a much needed resource for all of us.
His first article, "An Overview of Fukushima and a Call For Meaningful International Collaboration" came out on Reality Sandwich and was an instant hit, spreading far and wide across the internet. It is long, but a must-read for anyone concerned about Fukushima.
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