Letters: Opposition to nuclear power; support for third party

Lesson of Shoreham? No nukes for nation

Nuclear power has no role to play in our nation's energy future, because it's a financial black hole. ["Nuclear powered," News, Feb. 17.]

It will not limit greenhouse gases, and nuclear plants are terrorist targets.

There are no private investors for new nuclear plants, because they are deemed too risky. Therefore, the only way a nuclear plant will be built in this country is with federal loan guarantees. In effect, these guarantees are a public subsidy.

Uranium mining, milling, processing and fabricating nuclear fuel rods all use tremendous amounts of fossil fuels. These processes not only create vast amounts of greenhouse gases, they produce incredible quantities of radioactive poisons that remain untreated, due to excessive treatment cost. And there still is no solution to dealing with nuclear plant fuel waste that remains radioactive for 10,000 years.

Nuclear energy is zombie energy. Let's go boldly forward into a new energy future by investing in energy-efficiency and renewable energy, protecting our national security, economy and environment.

Peter Maniscalco

Manorville

Editor's note: The writer was coordinator of the Stop Shoreham Campaign.

Americans want an end to rancor

I'm so tired of hearing politicians from both parties begin their opponent-trashing speeches with the words "Americans clearly want. . . "

This country continues to be divided, and to have the audacity to claim that their policies are what "Americans" want is absurd! Here's hoping that 2012 will be the year of the third party candidate. Or better yet, the NO party candidate.

Doug Otto

Massapequa

Herd mentality saps herd immunity

As a pediatrician, I applaud Newsday's editorial concerning immunizations in its attempt to educate about the problems associated with missed immunization ["Shots in the dark," Opinion, Feb. 14].

Clearly the public has mistrust about immunizations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the powers that be. While most patients receive the appropriate immunizations, there are some patients who come to the office having already decided not to receive the immunizations.

As much as the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics try to educate the public, it is difficult to compete with the Internet and the Jenny McCarthys of the world, who by talking loudly seem to attract attention and believability.

Until the medical community can show a definitive cause for autism, there will be people believing it is from immunizations, causing a decrease in immunization levels and a corresponding decrease in herd immunity.

Neil Bellovin, M.D.

Bay Shore