{"id":421436,"date":"2026-01-15T14:49:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T13:49:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=421436"},"modified":"2026-01-15T14:49:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T13:49:34","slug":"wapo-is-right-trumps-nuclear-power-push-is-great-but-not-for-climate-reasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=421436","title":{"rendered":"WaPo is Right, Trump\u2019s Nuclear Power Push Is Great, But Not for Climate Reasons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

From The Climate Realism<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Linnea Lueken<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Aerial<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A recent, surprising article in the usually climate-alarmist Washington Post<\/em> (WaPo) describes how President Trump\u2019s recent efforts to streamline and promote the development and expansion of nuclear power plants is great for the climate, will reduce U.S. dependence on fossil fuels, and help meet growing energy demand. While the climate angle is not something necessary to prioritize because there is nothing wrong with using fossil fuels, the article is correct that nuclear power has been hamstrung for too long, and more development of the technology will aid in covering growing energy demand more effectively than so-called renewables like wind and solar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article, titled \u201cTrump\u2019s Surprising Win for the Climate<\/a>,\u201d written by Ted Nordhaus, explains how the Trump administration has accelerated the commercialization of new nuclear energy technology, particularly small modular nuclear reactors, despite describing climate change \u201cas a Chinese hoax.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nordhaus writes that Trump \u201chas withdrawn<\/a> the United States from the Paris climate agreement, slashed funding for climate research and laid waste to greenhouse gas regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of this is true, and a good thing. Climate change is not an existential threat to mankind\u2019s survival or prosperity, as even Bill Gates lately acknowledges. However, the burdensome and frankly tyrannical efforts to stop the climate from changing, as they have been passed down by organizations like the United Nations, remain a real threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, the modest warming and growing  concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide of the past hundred-plus years seems to have had a net benefit to life on Earth, evidenced by a trend towards more precipitation<\/a> in the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere, decrease in deadly extreme cold spells<\/a>, and greening of the planet<\/a>. Plus, alongside technological improvements driven mainly by the use of oil and gas, agricultural productivity has skyrocketed<\/a> across the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nordhaus has nothing but good things to say about Trump\u2019s efforts on the nuclear energy front:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Love Trump or hate him, his administration\u2019s determination to quickly demonstrate, license and commercialize new nuclear technology is unprecedented. Executive orders that mandated sweeping reform at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are underway. [\u2026] the White House has appointed two remarkably qualified commissioners, Ho Nieh and Douglas Weaver. Both are nuclear engineers and seasoned regulators who were confirmed by the Senate with bipartisan votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[T]he NRC is expected to make public<\/a> a revision of its regulatory code. The Energy Department is on track to review, approve and demonstrate multiple small test reactors at the Idaho National Laboratory this year. The Defense Department has started a program<\/a> to offer contracts to deploy small reactors at military bases [\u2026] the Energy Department is revamping radiological health standards, setting practical thresholds<\/a> for exposure rather than assuming, without well-established epidemiological evidence, that exposure to vanishingly low doses of radiation creates significant public health risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It does make sense that someone concerned about carbon dioxide emissions would be appreciative of the administration\u2019s efforts, even if that concern is misplaced. Nuclear energy is emission-free aside from water vapor from cooling towers. The main benefit, though, of nuclear energy above all other \u201cgreen\u201d technologies, like wind and solar, is that it doesn\u2019t take up so much land, and it doesn\u2019t depend on the weather to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear is also less expensive<\/a> than wind and solar (as discussed in this<\/a> Climate Realism<\/em> post) when one accounts for the Levelized Full System Costs of Electricity<\/a>, which includes the cost of the intermittency of weather-dependent sources, the fact that they require some kind of equivalent power backup, and the cost of balancing to grid to manage the uneven and unplanned ebb and flow of electricity generated by them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compared to oil, gas, and coal, nuclear is more expensive because it is dependable and nuclear plants are very long lived. Thus, it is a worthwhile energy source to pursue. Moreover, most of the expense of nuclear is driven by excessive government regulatory cost, which the current administration could alleviate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end of the WaPo piece, Nordhaus says Trump\u2019s efforts qualify as \u201cclimate moon shots\u201d despite Trump\u2019s disinterest in pursuing climate goals. Unsurprisingly, Nordhaus maintains that even if Trump\u2019s nuclear agenda is successful, it still won\u2019t solve \u201cthe problem of climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate change is not a problem that needs solving, nor does the world need to reduce \u201cdependence on fossil fuels.\u201d More dependable energy available is a good thing, especially if it means the government will stop pouring money into wind and solar boondoggles that destroy pristine lands for the same \u2013 or, very often, less<\/a> \u2013 available electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

A recent, surprising article in the usually climate-alarmist Washington Post (WaPo) describes how President Trump\u2019s recent efforts to streamline and promote the development and expansion of nuclear power plants is great for the climate, will reduce U.S. dependence on fossil fuels, and help meet growing energy demand. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":421442,"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":"Explore how Trump\u2019s push for nuclear energy could revolutionize U.S. power, offering reliable alternatives to fossil fuels without climate alarms.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"Trump's Nuclear Energy Push: A Game Changer for U.S. Energy","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":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvY2xpbWF0ZS1zY2llbmNlLnByZXNzXC93cC1jb250ZW50XC91cGxvYWRzXC8yMDI2XC8wMVwvQVFNZWw5ZDdPRTBCbzdYVmJVdU5JYkdpaFBFMGZOREhFeU1vc2JiR0NlVjFKYnB0Z0NOb0hYTkZLV04tYW9LRUV1Q2FBRVRtVkdrZnZvc1Jtb3lTQ0tNeHNpMEY2RjdVMHk0VmlxcGhTRDUyOFRRUjlrbmlSSEh6ZWYxbVd3LTEtMTAyNHg1NzQuanBlZyIsInR4dCI6IldhUG8gaXMgUmlnaHQsIFRydW1wXHUyMDE5cyBOdWNsZWFyIFBvd2VyIFB1c2ggSXMgR3JlYXQsIEJ1dCBOb3QgZm9yIENsaW1hdGUgUmVhc29ucyIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiaGlnaHdheSIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNTU4MTI0NDl9.Wh2UybRtxi8nNornVDbM4wW2ddEoe2J4r2K_cNOIdUwMQ"},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691829997,691818056,691818206,691819094,691837147,691827533,691840733],"class_list":{"0":"post-421436","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-carbon-dioxide-co","9":"tag-climate-change","10":"tag-nuclear-power","11":"tag-renewable-green-energy","12":"tag-small-modular-nuclear-reactors","13":"tag-ted-nordhaus","14":"tag-washington-post-wapo","16":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQMel9d7OE0Bo7XVbUuNIbGihPE0fNDHEyMosbbGCeV1JbptgCNoHXNFKWN-aoKEEuCaAETmVGkfvosRmoySCKMxsi0F6F7U0y4ViqphSD528TQR9kniRHHzef1mWw-1.jpeg?fit=1491%2C836&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1LDm","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":371837,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=371837","url_meta":{"origin":421436,"position":0},"title":"No, Washington Post, Climate Change is Not Racist Against Australian Aboriginal People","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"25\/03\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A recent article at\u00a0The Washington Post, \u201cIn the Australian outback, climate change widens the racial divide,\u201d blames both racism and climate change for Australian Aboriginal people living in a hot Australian outback town. 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Poverty is the main cause of their suffering, and part of the cause is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Australian Aboriginal people\"","block_context":{"text":"Australian Aboriginal people","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=australian-aboriginal-people"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0Coober_Pedy_-_Underground_house.jpg?fit=1200%2C857&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0Coober_Pedy_-_Underground_house.jpg?fit=1200%2C857&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0Coober_Pedy_-_Underground_house.jpg?fit=1200%2C857&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0Coober_Pedy_-_Underground_house.jpg?fit=1200%2C857&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0Coober_Pedy_-_Underground_house.jpg?fit=1200%2C857&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":349505,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=349505","url_meta":{"origin":421436,"position":1},"title":"Right, Washington Post, Climate Change Isn\u2019t To Blame for Billion Dollar Disasters","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"30\/10\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Washington Post (WaPo) recently published an article titled \u201cThe real reason billion-dollar disasters like Hurricane Helene are growing more common,\u201d which accurately explained that billion dollar disasters are not getting more common because the storms are getting more extreme or common, but rather that economic and population trends have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"billion-dollar disaster\"","block_context":{"text":"billion-dollar disaster","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=billion-dollar-disaster"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/00Screenshot-2024-10-30-095249-1024x695.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/00Screenshot-2024-10-30-095249-1024x695.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/00Screenshot-2024-10-30-095249-1024x695.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/00Screenshot-2024-10-30-095249-1024x695.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":194226,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=194226","url_meta":{"origin":421436,"position":2},"title":"WaPo Rehashes Tired Allergy-Climate Change Connection, Misses the Bigger Good News","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"01\/04\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The\u00a0Washington Post\u00a0(WaPo) published a story today, titled\u00a0\u201cClimate change is making pollen season even worse across the country,\u201d\u00a0claiming the modest warming experienced over the past century is worsening allergy seasons. 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