< >>>Nothing nuclear will ever satisfy environmentalists<<<

That's waaay too sweeping a generalization. You're basically lumping suburban families who recycle in with Earth First!. Unless NASA really screws the pooch explaining the plan, I don't foresee overwhelming opposition. Like I said to Phil, don't create trouble by anticipating it.



Okay, that's that matter of definitions again. Like when I talk about Democrats, I generally mean the bigwigs in the Democratic Party--the guys in Washington who are either politicians, work for them at the DNC, or carry their water as pundits. I usually don't mean the guy who works at the auto factory who has voted Democratic all his life. When I talk about Joe Sixpack or the schoolteacher, I usually try to refer to them as a "Democratic voter." I'm not as consistent about this as I should be, and generally I hope the context makes it clear, like when I say "The Democrats give the press talking points," I assume people realize that Joe Sixpack does not go over to the local paper after work and give them advice.

When I say "environmentalist," I'm talking about the people in organizations that lobby the government, write columns for newspapers, go to Africa for conferences, and generally are instrumental in influencing government policies. When I'm talking about the crackpots who think humans should be extinct, which are a subset of the first category, I try and use the term "radical environmentalist." As for the folks down the street who recycle, volunteer to pull tires out of the stream, turn off lights, try not to waste gas, realize that people have a place in this world too, and would buy an electric car if they ever came up with an affordable one that works--well, I don't have a real name for them. I don't talk about them much since they do a bit of good, rarely do harm, and tend to stay out of other people's faces. Maybe just good, conscientious Americans.

The environmentalists will fight putting anything radioactive into space. Anything. The average environmentally-aware American will be more reasonable about it.

Then we have "liberal" and "leftist." Yech.

I really need to come up with a glossary.