Lane von Herzen: The Threat to Our Oceans at This Point in Time

My Third Novel's Conclusion, My Heartbreak

My heart begins to break when I think about completing this particular book -- because this narrative has sustained me like no other story I've known. It's both more personal and more universal than my other works. But beyond memory and archetype, it's a cri-de-coeur about needing to become the person one is destined to be. And in the writing, I have met my own life's work, my own fated journey -- having the sense all the while that the pages are suffused with a resonance, an energy, an electrified field that defies explanation. Writers hope and pray to be overtaken by a work in this way -- to be conscripted into passionate service of a profound story. To experience it even once in a lifetime seems a great privilege. I still have several months before this novel is complete, and this constitutes my reprieve. Because I'm not ready for the beauty to end.

Saturday, September 19, 2026

The Threat to Our Oceans at This Point in Time

What is the coastal problem right now? It is directly connected to the fact that we have approximately 400-500 nuclear reactors on coastlines worldwide. We have failed to understand how easily the globe could experience 50 to 100 Fukushimas under certain conditions.

In specific flood or tsunami conditions, or circumstances involving prolonged or intermittent power outages, most or all of these reactors could fail. rendering the oceans a wasteland for current marine life and the coasts virtually uninhabitable by human beings.

This is not an anomalous scenario, unfortunately. Rather, it is realistic given current overlapping global crises.

What would have prevented this astonishing risk? We needed an international regulatory framework that would have prevented the construction of nuclear power plants located on the coasts.

The earlier development and implementation of alternative energies, including fusion, would have rendered such a regulatory framework possible.

Without this, we have placed virtually all of our oceans, 2/3 of the planet, at risk, with no real comprehension of the implications.

This is one of the most astonishing environmental failures of mankind, yet it remains largely unrecognized as of this writing.

We need a re-approach to this challenge, and we need to prioritize that re-engagement right away.

I will answer questions regarding this issue later this weekend.

Right now, the most critical concern is who is most responsible for addressing this threat, and who is most responsible for further harm to our oceans in the event of nuclear reactor failure on one or more coasts of the world's continents and island nations?

In answer, I will say that we need to accurately assess who has the advance knowledge of specific tsunami risks, specific flooding risks, and specific power outages as they pertain to coastal nuclear power plants.

The truth is that the United States military is aware of these threats and is following the directives of our Commander in Chief Donald J. Trump regarding this matter and many others, in a chain of command provided for by our Constitution.