The American Nuclear Society (ANS) Winter Meeting in Washington, DC, is underway with the opening plenary this morning featuring prominent speakers from industry, government, and congress (former). A common topic between some of the speakers has been climate change, which is surprising because the ANS has traditionally not addressed the issue of climate change because we are a technical organization for nuclear technology, and do not research climate science. However, many ANS members strongly believe that nuclear energy needs to be a large part of the energy mix in order to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The opening plenary featured current U.S. Secretary of Energy, Ernest Moniz (pictured above), who outlined the President's action plan for addressing climate change. The three pillars of his plan are mitigation, adaptation, and international cooperation. Most notably, the plan is based entirely on existing authorities and not new legislation. This means that organizations within the government can use their current authority to institute rules or procedures to achieve the goals in the climate action plan. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making rules for power plants that include carbon capture. Also speaking in the opening plenary, James Rogers, the board chairman of Duke Energy (one of the largest nuclear power plant operators), has a different opinion. He states that addressing climate change should be the role of Congress and not the EPA and that new climate change and energy legislation is needed.
The American Nuclear Society recently issued a policy statement on Nuclear Energy's Role in Climate Change Policy which states:
The American Nuclear Society recently issued a policy statement on Nuclear Energy's Role in Climate Change Policy which states:
"While the science of climate change is still maturing, the risks presented by rising temperatures across the globe are sufficiently large to justify enactment of policies at the national and international level."
Secretary Moniz cautions against usithe statement that the science of climate change is still maturing. We do not want to devalue the science that does exist and we need to make the point that actions on mitigating climate change need to happen now. Moniz also states that there is not one magic solution to meeting our energy needs and that we must take an "all of the above" approach. Low-carbon solutions will be different across the world and different in regions across the United States. What works for one area, like solar in the Southwest, will not necessarily work in other regions. The ANS also agrees that nuclear energy is not the solution, but rather that nuclear energy needs to be included in the energy mix in order to effectively mitigate climate change.
Do you think new legislation is needed to address climate change in the United States or are existing authorities (e.g. EPA rules) enough?
Do you think new legislation is needed to address climate change in the United States or are existing authorities (e.g. EPA rules) enough?
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