If Nuclear Energy Is Replaced By Natural Gas, Say Goodbye To Climate Goals
By Ken Silverstein
When Three Mile Island officially shuts down in September, it will mark the end of a noteworthy history — the one where a partial meltdown of the reactor’s core occurred in 1979, which then set in motion a long debate over nuclear energy’s future.
Blog: Addressing Climate Change Requires All Carbon-free Sources of Energy
By Carol Browner, former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
When it comes to economic opportunity generated by the inevitable transition to a clean energy economy and addressing the climate crisis by developing clean energy solutions, Illinois is leading the way.
Nuclear Power Can Save the World
Expanding the technology is the fastest way to slash greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonize the economy.
By Joshua S. Goldstein, Staffan A. Qvist and Steven Pinker
As young people rightly demand real solutions to climate change, the question is not what to do — eliminate fossil fuels by 2050 — but how. Beyond decarbonizing today’s electric grid, we must use clean electricity to replace fossil fuels in transportation, industry and heating. We must provide for the fast-growing energy needs of poorer countries and extend the grid to a billion people who now lack electricity. And still more electricity will be needed to remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by midcentury.
The Climate Needs Nuclear Power
By James Hansen and Michael Shellenberger
If governors are serious about global warming, they’ll preserve this vital source of clean energy.
Many environmentalists have changed their minds about nuclear energy over the past decade. While the share of energy produced by solar and wind has grown rapidly, nuclear remains America’s largest source of clean, zero-emissions electricity. Anyone seriously interested in preventing dangerous levels of global warming should be advocating nuclear power.
But two-thirds of U.S. nuclear plants in the U.S. are at risk of being closed prematurely and replaced by natural-gas generation, which is currently cheaper in many states. If that happens, carbon emissions could increase by an amount equivalent to adding 47 million new cars to the road.
Exelon Joins Group of Supporters Backing Legislation to Achieve 100 Percent Clean Energy in Northern Illinois
Environmental, community and business leaders join in support of House bill responding to new federal regulations that would prevent existing state clean energy programs from working as intended to support climate goals.
CHICAGO — Exelon today joined environmental organizations, community leaders, business groups and lawmakers in supporting legislation that will preserve and expand clean energy in Illinois, put the state on track to achieve 100 percent carbon-free power for customers in northern Illinois and meet statewide commitments under the U.S. Climate Alliance. The legislation also guarantees that customers will save money on their energy bills starting in the first year of implementation.
Introduced by state Rep. Larry Walsh Jr. (D-Joliet), the Clean Energy Progress Act addresses new federal regulations that interfere with existing state clean energy programs that were intended to support solar, wind, nuclear and other clean energy resources.
Among other provisions, the legislation will protect the progress achieved under the 2016 Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA), which laid a path for Illinois to lead the nation in clean energy through the preservation of zero-carbon nuclear power and the advancement of renewable energy. The bipartisan FEJA passed with support from more than 200 business, labor, environmental, faith-based and other groups and has worked to advance the state's climate goals and grow clean-energy jobs while keeping energy costs stable for customers.