Third Way bills itself as a centrist think tank that is not satisfied with just thinking; they take action that gets results. Wednesday’s (Jan 27, 2016) Advanced Nuclear Summit and Showcase provided an excellent example of Third Way’s ability to seek common ground among people from both major political parties in the United States. The…
In August 2015, I had the distinct pleasure of introducing Rachel Pritzker to Atomic Insights readers and Atomic Show listeners with Atomic Show #241 – Rachel Pritzker, philanthropic problem solver. Since that show, Rachel and I have met face to face, exchanged several emails, participated on the same conference calls, and interacted via Twitter. I…
One of the highlights of the recent Advanced Nuclear Summit hosted in Washington, DC by Third Way was an inspirational talk by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) Here is a partial transcript, starting after Booker’s folksy story to set the talk’s tone. Here in this realm, we in government have to start acting boldly and let…
On January 25, 2016 the NOAAnews (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency news) web site published a brief article with the following alluring headline: Rapid, affordable energy transformation possible NOAA, CIRES study: Wind, sun could eclipse fossil fuels for electric power by 2030 As the headline creator hoped, I couldn’t resist reading more. I was shocked,…
On Sunday January 24, I invited some of my pronuclear colleagues to chat about the building phenomenon of people outside of the nuclear industry becoming more interested in its advantages and advocating for its increased use. We discussed Meredith’s book project, Gwyneth’s recent speaking engagement at NC State, organized events at COP21, the increasing interest…
As a native of South Florida, I’ve probably logged at least a million miles driving on its interstate and U.S. highways. Most Americans have probably had at least a small taste of that experience. The contrast between Florida’s highways and those in Vermont is stark; Florida’s are littered with billboards. They often advertise products or…
S. David Freeman and Leah Y Parks have published a book titled All-Electric America: A Climate Solution and the Hopeful Future. There are a number of visionary sections of the book that appeal to me. However, I was not surprised to find out that the book takes a strong position in opposition to nuclear energy….
The National Council on Science and the Environment (NCSE) is holding its annual conference this week at the Hyatt-Regency National Airport hotel in Washington, DC. This year’s conference topic is the food-water-energy nexus; it is aimed at bringing together people who are deeply engaged in science, actions, and policy development to address one, two or…
For the Democratic Party debate held last night, the scientists at MinuteEarth were asked to provide a video giving some context for their question to the candidates about climate change. Here is their video, their question and responses from Senator Bernie Sanders and Governor Mark O’Malley. Secretary Clinton wasn’t given a chance to answer; it…
Many advocates of unreliable power sources like wind and solar blithely toss out the concept of “storage” as the panacea that makes their favored energy sources viable competitors in the potentially lucrative business of supplying on demand power. I’m skeptical because I have some experience with operating and budgeting for power systems that use batteries…
Atomic Insights is tracking too many consequential energy stories this week to cover them with individual posts. Here is a rundown with some brief or not so brief commentary. Update: Just a few moments after posting, I opened a press release from the US Nuclear Infrastructure Council (NIC) announcing the results of a DOE Funding…
Naomi Oreskes is the Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. She is also the author of the December 16, 2015 opinion piece published in the Guardian titled There is a new form of climate denialism to look out for – so don’t celebrate yet….