domestic fuel source, not to mention the japan nuclear emergency which has prompted many of us to take a look at the outdated nuclear technology in use in our own country. for all the fears surrounding something like nuclear, experts say the truly dangerous energy source is the one we ve been relying on for centuries coal. coal mining has killed far more people than nuclear energy ever has, not to mention the harm it does once it entering the environment. global warming, anyone? ben goldhersh is here to help us answer the question, is coal really good for america? you were digging, ben. what did you find? what s important here is contextu contextualizing what we saw in fukushima, what s the right response in the short and long term. and understanding when you look at danger per terawatt generated, how does nuclear stack up against coal and the
leaps and bounds in terms of progress we can make on that front. but there are a lot of brilliant people who are working in all the different areas trying to close that gap. listen, you two are surely good for america, at least in my opinion if i m allowed to authorize such an opinion. do you have a grademark on the game good by the way, ben. as much as we can hold. you can t sue me for saying i think you re good for america? it s a weak trademark. thank you both so much. a critical time for our nation s energy policy which is why we re hitting the road this week for a three-day energy summit to finish up our steel on wheels tour. we begin at a truck stop, they like to call them travel stops now in oklahoma city. on wednesday, examing just how much we waste on our power grid and our gas tanks. it is startling how much we burn for nothing. thursday and friday, to oklahoma
but there are only a couple of plans on the drawing board for a future nuclear power plant in the united states. in countries like japan, domestic supplies of fossil fuels are quite limited. it s going to be difficult to power the full size of their economy without either an existing or expanding role for nuclear power in their energy mix. places like china, india, japan and elsewhere. listen, i guess my last point, ben, if you want to get into what s good for america, whether it s coal, nuclear or anything else, is how incredibly inefficient we are as a country in the way we burn lots of coal, run nuclear plants, hydro and everything else. and yet we only capture 35% 35%, ben, japan captured 90%. germany captures 85%. what are we doing here? we just burn this for the hoot of it. might as well rip a hole in the attic and just light a fire. it seems each week whether it s education or energy, we re talking about efficiency. and i think our country has