Thread by @nuclearny

"The past few weeks have seen a radical change in the outlook for nuclear energy... France... European Union... the change in tone is remarkable..." nationalreview.com/2021/12/the-ne…

"[T]he arrival of a force of fierce female fission freedom fighters on the political battlefield is having a real impact, reshaping the nuclear message into a form congenial to progressives."

"[In 2016] Trump defeated Clinton in the presidential election. While many of Clinton’s disappointed supporters sought solace in blaming the defeat on racism, sexism, or Putin, a cold, hard look at the electoral map told a different story."

"Clinton lost the election in the industrial Midwest. Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin — the industrial heartland, whose unionized labor had been the base of the Democratic Party since FDR — was swept by Trump."

"The party clearly faced a problem, and at least some of its leaders recognized that the core of the issue was reconciling the passions of its environmentalist supporters with the real needs of blue-collar workers."

"But nuclear power is carbon-free. If the party embraced nuclear power, it could support both economic growth and environmental necessity. Not all Democrats saw things that way, but some did. Thus was born the @ThirdWayEnergy."

"To be sure, environmentalist leaders themselves have not changed their position. This summer saw the spectacle of the @EnvDefenseFund and the @NRDC cheering the shutdown of New York State’s #IndianPoint nuclear-power plant."

https://twitter.com/nrdc/status/1388206590864629760

"While the greens may have been using global warming as a pretext for their real deindustrialization goal, they have actually managed to convince a lot of people that C emissions need to be reduced. In fact, they have convinced so many... the issue [is now] out of their control."

"If you believe that human existence is at risk from fossil fuels, you would have to be insane to continue to shun or sabotage the demonstrably practical nuclear alternative."