A recently published Bloomberg News house editorial highlights the strong support for nuclear power among the political center-left. Recognizing the environmental and climate benefits of zero-emissions nuclear power, Bloomberg News and others believe nuclear power must be a key component of America’s future energy mix.
“Nuclear power is crucial to the effort to stop climate change. It safely provides about 20 percent of electricity in the U.S., and some 60 percent of clean energy,” Bloomberg News reports.
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Nevertheless, political pressure from the fringe environmental left has cowed many policymakers to oppose nuclear power.
“When nuclear plants close, wind and solar power cannot pick up the slack. Instead power generators turn to coal and natural gas, increasing greenhouse-gas emissions. A smart, responsible energy policy would make addressing this problem a priority,” asserts Bloomberg News.
While the far left may demand wind and solar power or nothing, that will not happen in the real world. Wind and solar power are too intermittent and too expensive to replace nuclear power. For people concerned about global warming, the anti-nuclear sentiment of the far left is having the ironic impact of replacing zero-emissions nuclear power with other power sources that emit carbon dioxide.
Bloomberg News suggests amending state-specific renewable power mandates to include nuclear power, as well as hydro power. According to the house editorial, a good solution “is for states to expand their renewable portfolio standards — which require that a certain proportion of power come from renewable sources — to make them low-carbon portfolio standards, hence taking in nuclear as well as wind, solar and hydropower.”
The only remaining question is whether policymakers will respond to the growing nuclear power consensus – including a broad mix of conservatives and center-left liberals alike – or continue to be held willingly hostage by the extremist wind and solar absolutists.