"If somebody tells us to stop using the cost-plus pricing formula, we would say, 'We are not in a philanthropic business,'" said a power-industry person in the Oct. 10 article "Tepco guarding its ground."
This quote by itself perfectly sums up why Tepco needs to be nationalized. Japan needs energy to be supplied by an entity that has as its primary focus the people of the society to which it is providing energy.
No other community in Japan should be asked to sacrifice its very existence in order to supply energy the way Fukushima has been forced to do. We've seen ample evidence now that the risk is not worth it. Who wants to be next? I'm betting no one.
The world is at a turning point with climate change already upon us, and Japan has an opportunity to use the March disaster as a way to change and lead the way in developing environmentally sustainable forms of energy.
Rewarding Tepco for permanently contaminating Fukushima is not the way forward. Nationalizing the company, firing and/or jailing those responsible for not maintaining these plants properly (because, after all, they "are not in a philanthropic business") and using those assets to rebuild not only Fukushima, but Japan's energy infrastructure as a whole, would be a great first step toward making society about human beings again, not about company profits.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.