There is a lot of irrational, even magical thinking in some activist groups, especially on the left. There are too many folks who think they can force a desired outcome by wishing for it and believing in it, really really hard. It's a sort of Wizard of Oz kind of thing; everything looks shiny and hopeful as long as you pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
When it comes to climate scolds, the man behind the curtain is nuclear power. Why? Because it is the only option that combines reducing carbon emissions while still providing clean, abundant, affordable energy. That's what climate scolds claim to want, but only if it comes with a decrease in energy density - the opposite of human progress. Every significant advance in human technology has come with an increase in energy density, not a decrease, but the climate scolds want to take us backward. It's magical thinking, just as described - they think they can force an outcome by really, really wishing for it.
One aspect of this magical thinking was humorously and accurately described in a recent X post.
Trying to shoot a hole in this argument. Can’t. Any takers? https://t.co/imK5XuS4Cu
— SpaceWeatherNews (@SunWeatherMan) December 2, 2024
Humor and sarcasm are well-employed here to make a point. Well done. The text on the image reads:
There exist magic rocks that can boil water.
Boiling water gives us energy.
We stop using magic rocks because they exploded that one time.
Are we re****ed? Imagine if pre historic (sic) peoples stopped using fire because some re***d burnt his house down once.
It's an interesting question. It's also a great illustration of the irrational thinking in some quarters when things like climate change are concerned. The fact is that nuclear energy is safer, with a lower rate of injury, than any energy method other than solar.
Climate scolds, people who want to keep the earth at some human-approved level, are all about "clean energy." They love the intermittent, low-energy-density sources - windmills, solar power - but can't abide and will not discuss nuclear power or "magic rocks." And when it comes to energy density, there just isn't any comparison. One fuel pellet of uranium in a light-water reactor produces as much energy as 1.3 tons of coal, 250 gallons of oil, and 34,000 cubic feet of natural gas. In a breeder reactor, the numbers are much higher: 22 tons of coal, 4,350 gallons of oil, and 590,000 cubic feet of natural gas.
See Related: Could Canada Be the Saudi Arabia of Uranium?
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Consider the irony here. Small modular reactors have the enormous potential to provide clean, high-density energy. They’re uniquely useful in small, isolated communities. (Like, say, much of Alaska.) After a long, torturous approval process, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved one design, but each application will have to be rigorously scrutinized and will have to overcome determined opposition at every step of the way, making it almost impossible to use them to provide the abundant, clean energy that these opponents of nuclear power claim to want.
Forget what climate scolds claim to want. Look at what they are in favor of: You (not they) reducing your standard of living to meet their claimed goals. Look at the actions of the high-profile members of the opposition: Jetting around the globe in private jets, living in huge mansions a few feet above the tide line in the oceans they claim are rising out of control. They expect you to pay the price they aren’t willing to.
Do you want clean energy? This is clean energy. It's safe energy. No “still just thirty years away” fusion boondoggles are required. Not that fusion wouldn’t be even greater if we can make it work on an industrial scale, but how long have various organizations been trying to make that happen? This technology, nuclear power, especially the promising small modular reactors, is a technology we have now.
The new, improved small modular reactors described above could and should be built today. Technological societies like ours are dependent on abundant, cheap energy, and nuclear power has the ability to provide that power. Throughout our history, every major technological advance in power – from animal to machine, from wood to coal to oil to gas – has had one key characteristic in common, and that is increased energy density. Nuclear power represents just such an increase over generating electricity with coal or gas. Solar and wind power run in just the opposite direction, which is why they don’t scale up.
There is still and likely will always be a need for natural gas and gasoline. But nuclear power is an essential part of our energy future. It’s time to streamline the regulatory process and get cracking on building reactors. This is something that the incoming Trump administration should prioritize, right alongside "Drill, baby, drill."
