We Will Likely Turn Again to Nuclear Energy

Other climate solutions require discipline humans don’t possess

Nuclear waste in temporary casks, at the closed San Onofre Nuclear Plant. Photo: Southern California Edison

Thanks to cheap, plentiful fossil fuels, casual consumption defines us.

Facing the specter of climate change from burning all that carbon, we look for ways to address it that won’t change our lifestyle.

But we love our comforts.

Instead of getting smaller and more efficient, popular new electric vehicles are ridiculously overpowered. Installing home solar panels tends to cause homeowners to use more electricity. And everyone wants to blame the oil and gas companies for our consumption, instead of looking inward and using less.

When it comes to renewable energy, building enough wind and solar to replace gas, oil and coal is a tall order. Making that energy 24x7 reliable is harder still.

Obviously, Tesla is about helping solve the consumption of energy in a sustainable manner, but you need the production of energy in a sustainable manner — Elon Musk

I love wind and solar, but practically speaking, there are limits to what we’re likely to do with them over 20 to 30 years. Over a longer term, certainly, but we can only expect so much by 2050.