We are students of the City University of New York’s Macaulay Honors College, a program dedicated to producing future leaders and difference-makers through scholarship and support. The program is spread over multiple CUNY campuses; we all belong to Lehman College’s Class of 2016. With renowned physicist and human rights advocate Eugene Chudnovsky as our teacher, and accompanied by Instructional Technology Fellow Benjamin Miller, we explored contemporary issues surrounding the means through which the city, state, and country produce and consume energy – with a particular focus on nuclear energy.
Our class was granted the privilege of exploring the Indian Point nuclear facility. Over two weekends in November, the class was split into two groups and guided through a private tour of the site. The visit gave us an in-depth look into what goes behind nuclear energy production, its costs and benefits, and its potential as the United States’ – and indeed, the world’s – primary source of energy.
We approached Indian Point harboring widely varied attitudes regarding nuclear power. We were sixteen students – all from different backgrounds, each with a different understanding of clean energy and the roles that nuclear power has played and will play in our changing landscape of available natural resources. Following our visit to Indian Point, we have all learned a great deal more about nuclear power, and most of us were profoundly affected by this incredible learning experience. We have chronicled our thoughts in personal essays, and now have created this website to host these essays in the hope that we can contribute the information learned and impressions gleaned to the ongoing dialogue regarding the future of energy.
