THE GLOBAL FUTURE OF NUCLEAR ENERGY
- David Gargaro
- Feb 7
- 2 min read
In declaring his intent to withdraw the United States from its role in the Paris Agreement in June 2017, President Donald Trump sent a signal to the rest of the world that the administration’s outlook on the realities of climate change were in direct conflict with the opposing views held unanimously by all other nations on earth. However, in the months that followed the withdrawal, it became rapidly clear that an overwhelming majority of Americans did not share those views on climate change and further, that they would actively reject the proposal to sweep the issue under the rug (Figure 1). In an unprecedented wave of enthusiasm for reaching— and in some cases, surpassing—previously established emissions-related goals, states, cities, institutions, businesses, and organizations both large and small, banded together to rebuke the administration’s decision to leave the Paris Agreement in a concerted effort to let the rest of the world know: “We Are Still In”.1
As of today, an amalgamation of over 3,500 organizations, corporations, and U.S. states have now joined force by developing movements aimed at either meeting or surpassing America’s previously-established targets in the Paris Accord. As noted in Bloomberg’s Fulfilling America’s Pledge2 report, these real economy actors wield an astounding financial footprint in that they represent over half of the American population; an economy totaling a staggering $11.4 trillion. To put that figure into perspective, $11.4 trillion could also represent the third largest world power’s nominal GDP (Figure 2). More importantly, it is estimated that over 35% of annual greenhouse gas emissions are produced by this slice of the U.S. population.
Therefore, continued real economy action is crucial in order for state-level governments, businesses, and organizations to continue doing their part to tackle the woes of global climate change. Most importantly, a boost in these efforts may ultimately help to spur on technological innovations by highlighting the necessity to expand on public-private partnerships in the energy sector. However, while a rapid expansion of intermittent renewables is a vital—and welcome—component in our collective attempts to curb future emissions, it should be understood that the U.S. and other global leaders can only realistically meet or surpass the goals set forth in the Paris Agreement by implementing an expansion of nuclear energy. In summarizing the recent 2018 MIT study, The Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World, Study Co-chair, Jacopo Buongiorno declared that their “… analysis demonstrates that realizing nuclear energy’s potential is essential to achieving a deeply decarbonized energy future in many regions of the world.”3
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