By Lenka Kollar
For the second time this week, I met a random group of young people, that, when the conversation of nuclear energy came up, they all went around the table and said that they support it. Both times, this happened before I went into any sort of explanation about why they should.
I have to admit that I'm surprised by these interactions this week because they happened in two of the most liberal cities in the US, San Francisco and Portland, where I always thought that people were "hippies" and didn't like anything hi-tech, especially nuclear power.
While this might be true with older generations that grew up in the 1970s and 80s with the environmental movement protesting against nuclear energy, my generation is made up of "hipsters" that also go against mainstream thinking - but in a much more pragmatic way.
We are coming to terms with the fact that we will see the effects of climate change in our lifetimes, and that we must use all available solutions to fight it. We realize that there are risks with every technology but that the risk of climate change is much greater. And access to energy is a human right, we can't live without it.
As someone who has had to be on the defensive many times about my chosen career, my interactions this week have been invigorating. There are people out there who believe in what we're doing and see a bright future ahead for nuclear energy.
This is the new environmental movement.
For the second time this week, I met a random group of young people, that, when the conversation of nuclear energy came up, they all went around the table and said that they support it. Both times, this happened before I went into any sort of explanation about why they should.
I have to admit that I'm surprised by these interactions this week because they happened in two of the most liberal cities in the US, San Francisco and Portland, where I always thought that people were "hippies" and didn't like anything hi-tech, especially nuclear power.
While this might be true with older generations that grew up in the 1970s and 80s with the environmental movement protesting against nuclear energy, my generation is made up of "hipsters" that also go against mainstream thinking - but in a much more pragmatic way.
We are coming to terms with the fact that we will see the effects of climate change in our lifetimes, and that we must use all available solutions to fight it. We realize that there are risks with every technology but that the risk of climate change is much greater. And access to energy is a human right, we can't live without it.
As someone who has had to be on the defensive many times about my chosen career, my interactions this week have been invigorating. There are people out there who believe in what we're doing and see a bright future ahead for nuclear energy.
This is the new environmental movement.
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