How Old Nukes Can Help Green New Dealers
Closing existing plants, as Bernie Sanders wants to do, would delay a carbon-free future.
Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren: chummy, but different ideas on nuclear power.
Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North AmericaThis is a time of burn-it-all-down politics, and climate change is right in there. Several decades of delay in facing the challenge, and denialism on the part of primarily Republican politicians, have spawned a backlash. Last week’s Democratic climate town halls were notable chiefly for the absence of old debates about carbon cap-and-trade, replaced with more prescriptive proposals (see this).
One issue that causes division within the ranks of climate-change activists is nuclear power. Though it doesn’t emit greenhouse gases, it does produce radioactive waste and carries the potential for rare but potentially catastrophic accidents.