Environmental Alarmists

The story of Karen Silkwood, portrayed in the movie Silkwood, tells of a woman living in a small town who works at a nuclear power plant. Karen Silkwood became the head of the health and safety unit for the power plant’s labor union when it became apparent that radiation exposure was causing illness into eh plant. In leading the health and safety unit, Silkwood became a whistleblower when noticing several health violations that she believed were causing radiation sickness. When Silkwood was put through several decontamination rounds due to supposed plutonium exposure, she claimed to be the victim of a malicious campaign to rid of her of the position in the labor union.

Karen Silkwood died a mysterious death in a one car accident. Marijuana tablets were found with her by the police, which were assumed to have been a contributing factor in the cause of her death. However, Silkwood’s family speculated that officials of the power plant were involved in her death. Silkwood was on the way to a lawyer’s office at the time of her death, where she planned to bring suit against her workplace. The documents she was supposedly taking with her were missing from the vehicle after the car crash.

While the Karen Silkwood story is an alarming one, it should not be considered typical. Silkwood’s death was an unfortunate event that in part led to an alarmist environmental movement during the last quarter of the twentieth century. The environmentalist movement served to stifle nuclear energy production. Consequently, the U.S. utilizes little of possible energy that could be harnessed from nuclear processes. The Chernobyl incident of the 1980s also fueled the alarmist movement which has greatly decreased the possibilities of nuclear energy. In reality, the average American’s fear of a nuclear catastrophe far outweighs the actual possibility of the event. Nuclear plants, such as the one which employed Karen Silkwood, should undoubtedly have strictly enforced safety standards. Though, the case of Karen Silkwood should be considered in proportion to the benefits of utilizing nuclear energy.

The case of Karen Silkwood can be compared to the contemporary case of Erin Brokovich, also portrayed by a movie of the same name. Brokovich worked as a legal secretary for an attorney who brought suit against a power plant that was contaminating the local water supply. When the attorney she worked for no longer wished to pursue the case, Brokovich made the suit a personal mission of her own. This story is similar to the vigilante theme taken on in the Silkwood movie. Brokovich, like Karen Silkwood, became a target by the power plant. These two stories can also be related to the story of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.

While Carson did advocate for the more responsible use of chemicals in the environment, her views were limited to personal interests and societal perspective. As limited use of pesticides are not as beneficial in developing countries as in America. The sparking of the environmentalist movement in Silk wood’s case has contributed to lobbying for restricted nuclear energy usage throughout the global community.