Emperor Akihito's Statement

Although it may have fallen out of the media, Japan is still reeling from the losses we suffered last year after an earth quake triggered a tsunami which caused three of our nuclear reactors to fail at our Fukushima plant.  This has not been the first occurrence of a power plant failure.  It is clear to all how dangerous they are and how volatile the effects can be should something go wrong.

That being said, we as a planet are currently running out of oil.  Loathe as I am to admit it, using such fossil fuels for decades has begun to trigger climate changes that will only worsen in severity as we continue to burn fossil fuels.  Despite the hazards, nuclear power seemed a necessary and viable alternative fuel source.  Many nations with nuclear power have been lax in their supervision of their power plants, many of which lack the necessary precautionary safety features that would help to prevent or control a disaster.  If the proper considerations were taken into account and safety features were put in place to deal with ANY CONTINGENCY, nuclear power could have been the answer to our planet’s dire energy crisis.  However, it is as clear to me now as it has been to the Japanese public in years past that there is no way to plan for every possibility and that the events that trigger a failure are equally impossible to predict.

Japan has always been at the forefront in supporting the use of nuclear power.  There comes a time when one must reevaluate one’s own choices and evaluate just how realistic they are.  Being the resource poor nation that we are, relying on imported fossil fuels would be far too costly to be an economically viable option.  Looking at the current state of the world, it becomes clear that there is absolutely no way responsible human beings can continue using oil at the rate we are today.  The United States currently uses 68.672 billion barrels per day per thousand people to support their lavish life style.  Who wants to be the next United States?  Almost every second or third world country today.  There is no way to even begin to measure the impacts on the world’s climate should every country reach that standard.

In lieu of the stark reality we are faced with, Japan has no other option than to develop sustainable means of supplying energy through renewable resources and alternative energy.  As of this day, Japan will spearhead the efforts to find alternative means to supply our energy demands.  We have been highly impressed with Brazil’s ethanol production from sugar cane, but unfortunately sugar cane is not something that can be easily cultivated across the globe.  More research must be done to find solutions that work for every nation.  This is an issue that needs to be taken seriously, funded heavily, and solved quickly.  I highly urge the rest of the world’s leaders to get behind what may be our only hope of surviving the next century.