Read the article below about the ideas of James Lovelock, originator of the Gaia theory.
Check how well you understand, develop your vocabulary and put that vocabulary to work.

There was a time when the divisions were simple: nuclear energy was a danger to the world and opposition to nuclear energy was the choice of every environment-loving, green-thinking person.The process of nuclear fission and the consequent production of nuclear waste and the problems of storing nuclear waste made a lot of people worry.  Not to mention the possibility of accidents: the word “Chernobyl” is now enough to worry many people.

Times have changed, however.  The last ten years have seen a rapid growth in awareness of just how precarious our planetary situation is.  The most recent UN report into climate change has made the situation frighteningly clear.  Now people who deny climate change are only a few extremists – the threats facing us are real.

This has led to a number of environmentalists to make a dramatic turnaround.  Among these is James Lovelock.  Lovelock, who is now 88 years old, has always been at the centre of controversy.  He is perhaps best-known for his book Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth.  This book explained the “Gaia theory”.  According to Gaia theory, the world is a self-regulating mechanism, not exactly a living being, but more like an engine which propels itself.  Other life forms (including us humans!) are only a part of this bigger, complex system.  It’s not surprising that a lot of people disagreed with Lovelock’s ideas, but on the other hand his radical thinking has also won him a lot of fans, and admirers – people who don’t always agree with him, but respect his ideas anyhow.

In 2004 Lovelock started another controversy.  This great environmentalist and alternative thinker said the unthinkable for many people in the Green movement: “only one immediately available source does not cause global warming and that is nuclear energy” (“Nuclear power is the only green solution” in The Independent 24/05/2004).

Lovelock says he has never been against nuclear power, and thinks that alternative energy sources will not produce the energy necessary for the six billion people who live on the planet.  He thinks that there is not enough time to research and develop alternative energy sources.  We are facing a serious and urgent emergency, and nuclear power is the only solution.  Lovelock acknowledges that nuclear power has its risks, but says that these risks are very small compared to the greater risk of global warming.

Lovelock says this important newspaper article and a recent book The Revenge of Gaia are “a wake-up call”, an urgent alarm that we must change our way of thinking not only about nuclear energy, but about the way we conceive the environment in general.

In Britain, the prime minister has said he plans to commission the building of several new nuclear power stations.  This is good news for a politician, who can say he is being “green” at the same time as keeping big business happy.  Who knows if it is the best thing for the planet?  Only time will tell, if we have enough time...

Think about it: Do you follow the original Gaia theory? Do you agree that nuclear energy is the only answer nowadays?   Or do you believe that alternative sources could be sufficient if more were invested?