Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

To the Editor:

Re “Japan’s Multiple Calamities” (editorial, March 15):

What kind of a shock would it take to jolt Americans into facing the fact that we are living beyond our environmental means? How about multiple meltdowns of plutonium-fueled reactors spewing death far and wide? Not even that, apparently.

Our politicians are telling us not to make any rash decisions about the viability of a nuclear future. After all, renewable sources, though safe, have only a comparatively puny output of power.

Could we ourselves actually be the problem?

Houses that used to get along just fine on 60 amps of power have become obese and now need 400 amps to feed our “essential” luxuries. And we appear to be completely impotent to rein in a world population growth that is now about seven billion souls, each of whom will “need” more power.

None of the small stuff will matter if we do not address these larger questions.

Carl Mezoff
Stamford, Conn., March 15, 2011

The writer is an architect.

Note from KBJ: I will cut back on my energy usage when Al Gore does.