Learning from Fukushima Daiichi
(soundcloud audio removed by artist)
Our friend Alex Chadwick is a legendary producer and journalist from Public Radio. Recently he has turned his keen insight on the energy industry and begun a deep and broad investigation. His work helps us learn about a subject that affects all seven billion of us.
In this excerpt Alex begins to look at the response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster around the world, specifically the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the USA. As his recordings demonstrate this was a moment when the public knew more than the regulators, thanks to social media.
I was in Tokyo when the earthquake hit. The ensuing media tsunami all but drowned out the reality: homeless, cold, hungry people in their thousands. An instantly galvanized society focused on caring for their fellow citizens. Communalism on a grand scale, spontaneous reduction in power consumption across the land as businesses and homes turned of lights or turned down heating. The cultural, social and human focus of Japan was singular through those days.
Energy strategies are central to the conversation about our future and the future of the planet that we rely on. You will find more from Alex here at Soundcloud.