{"id":312422,"date":"2024-03-24T15:41:35","date_gmt":"2024-03-24T14:41:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=312422"},"modified":"2024-03-24T15:41:38","modified_gmt":"2024-03-24T14:41:38","slug":"uk-guardian-a-nuclear-plants-closure-was-hailed-as-a-green-win-then-emissions-went-up-shuttering-of-facility-raises-awkward-climate-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=312422","title":{"rendered":"UK Guardian: A nuclear plant\u2019s closure was hailed as a green win. Then emissions went up \u2013 \u2018Shuttering of facility raises awkward climate crisis\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Climate Depot<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0Marc Morano<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2024\/mar\/20\/nuclear-plant-closure-carbon-emissions-new-york<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When New York\u2019s deteriorating and unloved Indian Point nuclear plant finally shuttered in 2021, its demise was met with delight from environmentalists who had long demanded it be scrapped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there has been a sting in the tail \u2013 since the closure, New York\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions have gone up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Castigated for its impact upon the surrounding environment and feared for its potential to unleash disaster close to the heart of New York City, Indian Point nevertheless supplied a large chunk of the state\u2019s carbon-free electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the plant\u2019s closure, it has been gas, rather then clean energy such as solar and wind, that has filled the void, leaving New York City in the embarrassing situation of seeing its planet-heating emissions jump in recent years to the point its power grid is now dirtier than Texas\u2019s, as well as the US average<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom a climate change point of view it\u2019s been a real step backwards and made it harder for New York City to decarbonize its electricity supply than it could\u2019ve been,\u201d said Ben Furnas, a climate and energy policy expert at Cornell University. \u201cThis has been a cautionary tale that has left New York in a really challenging spot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The closure of Indian Point raises sticky questions for the green movement and states such as New York that are looking to slash carbon pollution. Should long-held concerns about nuclear be shelved due to the overriding challenge of the climate crisis? If so, what should be done about the US\u2019s fleet of ageing nuclear plants?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who spent decades fighting Indian Point, the power plant had few redeeming qualities even in an era of escalating global heating. Perched on the banks of the Hudson River about 25 miles north of Manhattan, the hulking facility started operation in the 1960s and its three reactors at one point contributed about a quarter of New York City\u2019s power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When New York\u2019s deteriorating and unloved Indian Point nuclear plant finally shuttered in 2021, its demise was met with delight from environmentalists who had long demanded it be scrapped.
\nBut there has been a sting in the tail \u2013 since the closure, New York\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions have gone up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":312427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818056,691818443,691818867,691827819,691827818],"class_list":{"0":"post-312422","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-climate-change","9":"tag-greenhouse-gas-emissions","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-nuclear-plant","12":"tag-uk-guardian","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/00Nuclear-Power-Plant-at-night-ratio-2.jpg?fit=1999%2C1138&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1jh4","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":375003,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=375003","url_meta":{"origin":312422,"position":0},"title":"Fritz Vahrenholt: What does net zero CO2 actually mean?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"14\/04\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The only new relevant change in the climate section compared to the position paper is an insertion according to which CO2 sinks are to be taken into account when achieving climate neutrality. 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But first: \"Who else besides Germany\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)\"","block_context":{"text":"carbon dioxide (CO\u2082)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=carbon-dioxide-co%e2%82%82"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0blackout-in-deutschland.webp?fit=1200%2C574&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0blackout-in-deutschland.webp?fit=1200%2C574&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0blackout-in-deutschland.webp?fit=1200%2C574&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0blackout-in-deutschland.webp?fit=1200%2C574&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0blackout-in-deutschland.webp?fit=1200%2C574&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":305416,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=305416","url_meta":{"origin":312422,"position":1},"title":"New York Strives For “Climate Justice”","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/03\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2019, New York enacted a Climate Act, imposing on the citizens various legal mandates for greenhouse gas emissions reductions and net zero targets, the most immediate of which is a mandate of 70% of electricity production from zero-carbon-emissions sources by 2030. 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Throughout the West, countries have made ambitious pledges to reduce \u201cgreenhouse gas\u201d emissions by specific percentages and by specific dates. Many such pledges were notably made in the Paris Climate Agreement of 2016. 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