"I have been a climate activist for well over a decade. Sixteen years ago I was arrested once for protesting about tar sands and again for protesting about coal. In 2018 I was one of the main spokespeople for Extinction Rebellion UK and founder of its print newspaper The Hourglass, and in 2015 I authored an evidence-based book on green parenting.
"I try to ignore ad hominem attacks, since they only show that the attacker has a weak argument. But I want to respond to the latest: ‘Why is support for nuclear power noisiest just as its failures become most clear?’, an article here on openDemocracy by Andrew Stirling and Phil Johnstone.
"Since I started talking about nuclear positively, I have been accused of being an industry ‘shill’. But I have never taken money from the nuclear industry. I’ve said publicly that if the industry promoted its product better then I wouldn’t have to do the job for it. It has a clean product that requires little land compared with the alternatives, and doesn’t cause air pollution or climate change.
"The industry also provides green jobs that are unionised – supported by GMB Union, Prospect and others – unlike most renewable enterprises.
Conversely, renewables have such good branding that most people don’t even consider their environmental impact.
It was realising all of this that made me want to advocate for nuclear energy.
There is scientific consensus that we need nuclear power to address climate change. Nuclear energy is included in all of the IPCC’s pathways for decarbonisation in its landmark 1.5°C report."
Bob Meinetz
Top Contributor