PRESS

K2 Radio (Wyoming): Nuclear reactors may replace some aging Wyoming Coal-Fired Generators, by Zach Spadt, January 29,2020, https://k2radio.com/nuclear-reactors-may-replace-aging-wyo-coal-fired-generators/ Republican Rep. David Miller, House Bill 74’s primary sponsor, said the legislation would help keep several Wyoming power plants open as their conventional generators are taken offline.  “The infrastructure is all still there — powerlines, cooling, roads, office buildings — how about replacing them with this fifth-generation nuclear reactor design?” Miller asked. “This will hopefully will spur the utilities that operate in Wyoming to think a little bit.

Forbes,SMR Smart: Small Modular Reactors Are Nuclear’s Future, by James Conca, 2/16/17https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2017/02/16/smr-smart-small-modular-reactors-are-the-wave-of-nuclears-future/#38462f9e506b

UtilityDive, Nuclear power industry heading towards smaller, cheaper, faster build designs: ClearPath, https://www.utilitydive.com/news/nuclear-power-industry-heading-toward-smaller-cheaper-faster-build-design/557864/

Grist, Cory Booker’s Full Throated support for Nuclear, by Nathanael Johnson, Feb. 1, 2019:  https://grist.org/article/cory-booker-and-his-full-throated-support-of-nuclear-energy-enters-the-presidential-race/

Issues: A Roadmap for U.S. Nuclear Energy Innovation, by Richard K. Lester, https://issues.org/a-roadmap-for-u-s-nuclear-energy-innovation/

Third Way, 2019 Advanced Nuclear Map, by John Milko, Jackie Kempfer and Todd Allen, October 17, 2019, The number of private sector advanced nuclear projects grew by 19% from 54 to 64 since our 2018 report, even as the overall number of projects decreased slightly (from 75 in 2018 to 71 in 2019). https://www.thirdway.org/graphic/2019-advanced-nuclear-map

WilmingtonBiz: GE Hitachi Collaborates to bring Small Modular Reactor Design to Estonia, Oct. 4, 2019 

US NIC Press: https://www.genewsroom.com/press-releases/ge-hitachi-nuclear-energy-announces-new-reactor-technology-collaboration-estonia,  MOU signed with Fermi Energia OÜ to study the possibility of the construction of a GE Hitachi BWRX-300 Small Modular Reactor in Estonia.  The BWRX-3000 is a 300 MWe (megawatt electric) water-cooled, natural circulation small modular reactor with passive safety systems, according to the release. It leverages the Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) design, which has been certified by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This design is in vendor design review at the CNSC.  Also, in May 2018, Dominion Energy announced intent to invest in the BWRX and the DOE provided $1.9M is funding to examine ways to simplify the design, reduce plant construction costs and lower operations/Maintenance costs.

Forbes, A Very Fast, Very Safe, Very SLIMM Nuclear Reactor, James Conca, August 31, 2019, https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2019/08/31/a-very-fast-very-safe-very-sllim-nuclear-reactor/

Nuclear Rockets: https://www.universetoday.com/142689/earth-to-mars-in-100-days-the-power-of-nuclear-rockets/

Bloomberg: Floating Nuclear power plant gets backing from Quant Investor, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-07/floating-nuclear-power-plants-get-backing-from-quant-investor

Scientific American:  Safer Nuclear Reactors Are on the Way, – Medium.pdf, by Mark Fischetti (saved to computer: Nuclear Databank)

IPCC, 2018, WG3, AR5 Chapter 7
Nuclear energy is utilized for electricity generation in 30 countries around the world (IAEA, 2013a). There are 434 operational nuclear reactors with a total installed capacity of 371 GWe as of Septem-ber 2013 (IAEA, 2013a). Nuclear electricity represented 11 % of the world’s electricity generation in 2012, with a total generation of 2346 TWh (IAEA, 2013b). The 2012 share of global nuclear electricity gen-eration is down from a high of 17 % in 1993 (IEA, 2012b; BP, 2013). The United States, France, Japan, Russia, and Korea (Rep. of) — with 99, 63, 44, 24, and 21 GWe of nuclear power, respectively — are the top five countries in installed nuclear capacity and together represent 68 % of total global nuclear capacity as of September 2013 (IAEA, 2013a). The majority of the world’s reactors are based on light-water technol-ogy of similar concept, design, and fuel cycle. Of the reactors world-wide, 354 are light-water reactors (LWR), of which 270 are pressurized water reactors (PWR) and 84 are boiling water reactors (BWR) (IAEA, 2013a). The remaining reactor types consist of 48 heavy-water reactors (PHWR), 15 gas-cooled reactors (GCR), 15 graphite-moderated reac-tors (RBMK / LWGR), and 2 fast breeder reactors (FBR) (IAEA, 2013a). The choice of reactor technologies has implications for safety, cost, and nuclear fuel cycle issues.

Third Way, Advanced Nuclear Summit & Showcase, January 27, 2016, demonstrating the bipartisan support for advancing nuclear innovation in the United States, Senator Lisa Murkowski, Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, gave opening remarks, and Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) provided closing remarks.  https://www.thirdway.org/events/advanced-nuclear-summit-showcase

UN Environment Programme, Emissions Gap Report 2019, November 2019, https://www.unenvironment.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2019

Scientific American, E&E News, CO2 Emissions Reached an All time High in 2018, by Chelsea Harvey, Dec. 6, 2018, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/co2-emissions-reached-an-all-time-high-in-2018/.  Global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels are likely to have increased by about 2.7 percent in 2018, after a 1.6 percent increase in 2017. The scientists project that fossil-fuel-related carbon dioxide emissions will hit a record high of 37.1 billion metric tons by the end of this year. And they estimate that total carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere will also hit their highest level ever, at 407 parts per million—about 45 percent higher than their preindustrial levels.

Climate Interactive, A Trillion Tons  by Hal Harvey, Franklin M. Orr, Jr., and Clara Vondrich, to keep temperature rise to no more than 2 degrees C, we need to stay below a trillion tons of CO2.  https://www.climateinteractive.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/A-Trillion-Tons.pdf

MIT News, Explained Radiative forcing, by David L. Chandler, March 2010, why our climate is heating up, http://news.mit.edu/2010/explained-radforce-0309

2014 National Climate Assessmenthttps://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/our-changing-climate/introduction

Power Magazine, IPCC confirms need for low-carbon nuclear to tackle climate change, Oct. 8, 2018,

Financial Post, Scientists endorse mass civil disobedience to force climate action, Matthew Green, Oct. 13, 2019, 400 scientists endorse civil disobedience campaign aimed at forcing governments to take rapid action to tackle climate change, whose failure could inflict “incalculable human suffering.” https://business.financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/scientists-endorse-mass-civil-disobedience-to-force-climate-action-2

Time Magazine, “It’s Time for Environmentalists and the Energy Industry to Work Together.” By Julia Stasch, President of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Chris Crane, President and CEO of Exelon Corporation, the largest operator of nuclear power plants in the United States, Oct. 12, 2018. https://time.com/5423273/climate-change-united-nations-exelon-macarthur/

The Nature Conservancy: The Science of Sustainability (see the section entitled: “A Changing Energy Portfolio”), October 15, 2018.  “In order to both meet increased energy demand and keep the climate in safe boundaries, we’ll need to alter our energy makeup to curtail emissions of carbon and other harmful chemicals.  The reduction in carbon-based energy could be offset by increasing the share of energy from renewable sources to 54 percent and increasing nuclear energy to one third of total energy output—delivering a total of almost 85 percent of the world’s energy demand from non-fossil-fuel sources.” https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/the-science-of-sustainability/

NYTimes Op-Ed: Climate Change Will Cost Us Even More Than We Think By Naomi Oreskes and Nicholas Stern, and companion piece with Q&A: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/05/opinion/climate-change-economics.html

Grist, The historic protest at the Harvard-Yale football game was years in the making, by Emily Pontecorvo, Nov. 25, 2019, https://grist.org/article/the-historic-protest-at-the-harvard-yale-football-game-was-years-in-the-making/

Northern European Power Perspectives (NEPP), Sustainability aspects on nuclear power: A literature survey 2019:607, https://www.energiforsk.se/media/26763/sustainability-aspects-on-nuclear-power-energiforskrapport-2019-607.pdf Study authors reflect the general public’s view, which is mixed, about nuclear’s role, although a majority do not see a way to achieve goals “well below 2 degrees C” without a significant contribution from nuclear energy.  Still there are hurdles that must be overcome.

USA Today, Want to stop climate change? Embrace the nuclear option., Bret Kugelmass, Jan. 22, 2020.  https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/01/22/climate-change-solution-nuclear-energy-our-best-hope-column/2821183001/

The Wall Street Journal, Only Nuclear Energy Can Save the Planet: Do the math on replacing fossil fuels: To move fast enough, the world needs to build lots of Reactors, by Joshua S. Goldstein and Staffan A. Qvist, Jan. 11, 2019.  https://www.wsj.com/articles/only-nuclear-energy-can-save-the-planet-11547225861

Joule, Storage Requirements and Costs of Shaping Renewable Energy Toward Grid Decarbonization, by Micah S. Ziegler, et al, Aug. 7, 2019, https://www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(19)30300-9

OECD Observer, Climate change: The case for nuclear energy, by Luis Echávarri, Director-General, OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, from 2008, Nuclear Energy Outlook, http://oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/3125/Climate_change:_The_case_for_nuclear_energy_.html

Forbes, Why the World Needs More Nuclear Power, by Rober Rapier, July 11, 2019, https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2019/07/11/why-the-world-needs-nuclear-power/#5f6853877bd6

MIT Study (PDF): The Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World: https://energy.mit.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/The-Future-of-Nuclear-Energy-in-a-Carbon-Constrained-World.pdf

BloombergNEF, Liebreich: We Need To Talk About Nuclear Power, July 3, 2019, by Michael Liebreich, Senior Contributor, BloombergNEF, https://about.bnef.com/blog/liebreich-need-talk-nuclear-power/. (Good overview of why we can’t rely on renewables and need nuclear/SMRs, heavy-handedly negative about old nuclear, not compelling argument for the new but just that we need them.)

Governing, Next-Generation Nukes May Be Key to Green New Deal, by Louis Livengood, Sept. 23, 2019
https://www.governing.com/news/headlines/Next-Generation-Nukes-May-Be-Key-to-Green-New-Deal.html

Grist, Cory Booker’s Full Throated support for Nuclear, by Nathanael Johnson, Feb. 1, 2019:  https://grist.org/article/cory-booker-and-his-full-throated-support-of-nuclear-energy-enters-the-presidential-race/

UtilityDive, Nuclear power industry heading towards smaller, cheaper, faster build designs: ClearPath, https://www.utilitydive.com/news/nuclear-power-industry-heading-toward-smaller-cheaper-faster-build-design/557864/

Inside Sources: Candidates should heed Obama and Clinton on Nuclear Power, https://www.insidesources.com/candidates-should-heed-obama-clinton-on-nuclear-power/

The Nature Conservancy: The Science of Sustainability (See the section entitled: “A Changing Energy Portfolio”), October 15, 2018.  “In order to both meet increased energy demand and keep the climate in safe boundaries, we’ll need to alter our energy makeup to curtail emissions of carbon and other harmful chemicals.  The reduction in carbon-based energy could be offset by increasing the share of energy from renewable sources to 54 percent and increasing nuclear energy to one third of total energy output—delivering a total of almost 85 percent of the world’s energy demand from non-fossil-fuel sources.”
https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/the-science-of-sustainability/

NYT Opinion: Nuclear Power Can Save the World: Joshua Goldstein, Steven Pinker, Staffan Qvist: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/06/opinion/sunday/climate-change-nuclear-power.html

The Guardian, Nuclear power paves the only viable path forward on climate change, by James Hansen, Kerry Emanuel, Ken Caldeira and Tom Wigley, December 3, 2015

Climate Interactive, A Trillion Tons  by Hal Harvey, Franklin M. Orr, Jr. & Clara Vondrich, Findings: Efficiency, renewables and technology innovation are all required to keep humanity within the trillion-ton budget.  Even so, these measures are not by themselves sufficient: changes in land use and a price on carbon emissions are also needed. https://www.climateinteractive.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/A-Trillion-Tons.pdf

Scientific American, Nuclear power may have saved 1.8 million lives otherwise lost to fossil fuels, may save up to 7 million more, by Ashutosh Jogalekar, April 2, 2013

Google White Paper: Achieving 100 Percent Renewable Energy Goals: https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//green/pdf/achieving-100-renewable-energy-purchasing-goal.pdf

Report from CBS News: Investors say Facebook, Tesla and many other companies are hiding climate impact: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-700-companies-tesla-amazon-facebook-carbon-footprint/

Energy Reporters:  Merkel Under Pressure to Delay Nuclear Power Ban: https://www.energy-reporters.com/environment/merkel-under-pressure-to-delay-nuclear-power-ban/

Richochet Podcast:  Alex Trembath on the Green New Deal and the case for Nuclear Energy, https://ricochet.com/podcast/political-economy-james-pethokoukis/alex-trembath-on-the-green-new-deal-climate-change-and-the-case-for-nuclear-energy/

Times Online: Lamb: We can’t afford to Let Nuclear Plants Close, https://www.timesonline.com/news/20190503/lamb-we-cant-afford-to-let-nuke-plants-close (The costs of allowing US NPP close: national security, economic and environmental)

E&E News at Scientific American: Scientists Back Efforts to Pull CO2 from the Atmosphere, by John Fialka, Oct. 25, 2018
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientists-back-efforts-to-pull-co2-from-the-atmosphere/

Scientists Have Been Underestimating the Pace of Climate Changehttps://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/scientists-have-been-underestimating-the-pace-of-climate-change/

Clean Air Task Force, “Potential Human Health Impacts Associated with Retirement of Nuclear Power Plants in Illinois” Oct. 8, 2019, Using EPA modeling tools, CATF has found that loss of nuclear power in Illinois would result in:  1,200 to 2,700 premature deaths; 30,000 additional asthma attacks; 140,000 lost work days; and $10 to $24 billion in monetized damages due to air pollution.

Inside Philanthropy, Philanthropy’s Critical Nuclear Moment, by Erik D’Amato, Oct. 7, 2019. Philanthropy’s potential role in the science and development of nuclear power is significantly constrained, both by the overlap with impact investors and the traditionally dominant role played by government, especially abroad. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2019/10/7/philanthropys-critical-nuclear-moment

Wired: Andrew Yang Wants a Thorium Reactor by 2027.  Good luck, Buddy  by Daniel Oberhaus, Oct. 21, 2018, Yang has defined himself as the tech candidate and he likes Thorium-based nuclear energy to solve our interim energy problems but there are issues remaining with completing that design.

American Council on Science and Health, Nuclear Power is the Only Realistic Option, So we Need a Good Waste Plan, by Alex Berezow, October 4, 2019.   https://www.acsh.org/news/2019/10/04/nuclear-power-only-realistic-option-so-we-need-good-waste-plan-14320

Forbes, Why Aren’t Renewables Decreasing Germany’s Carbon Emissions? By James Conca, October 10, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2017/10/10/why-arent-renewables-decreasing-germanys-carbon-emissions/

MIT Review, Why France is eyeing nuclear power again, by James Temple, Oct. 16, 2019, Why is France considering adding 6 more nuclear reactors?  France has committed to become carbon neutral by 2050, and now is looking to slash emissions from transportation, agriculture and heavy industry, as well as electricity. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614579/why-france-is-eyeing-nuclear-power-again/

Scientific American, Nuclear Power may have saved 1.8 million lives otherwise lost to fossil fuels, may save up to 7 million more., by Ashutosh Jogalekar, April 2, 2013 <https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/the-curious-wavefunction/nuclear-power-may-have-saved-1-8-million-lives-otherwise-lost-to-fossil-fuels-may-save-up-to-7-million-more/. Regarding a new paper from NASA’s Goddard Institute authored by Pushker Kharecha and James Hansen in the journal Environmental science and Technology, where the number of lives lost from having used fossil fuels was calculated.

World Nuclear Association:  Data on the amount of energy from Nuclear Power, https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/nuclear-power-in-the-world-today.aspx
450 NPP generate ~ 10% of the world’s electricity, a total of 2,563 TWh.
Nuclear is the 2nd largest source of low-carbon power @30% of the total.
50 countries use 225 research reactors for medical and industrial isotopes and training.
30 countries use nuclear power. There are 17,000 reactor years of experience.
Total World Electricity:  25,721 TWh in 2019.

Wikipedia: Deaths Compared with other energy types: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_and_radiation_accidents_and_incidents

Climate, Etc., Forgone benefits of disruption to nuclear power since late-1960s, by Peter Lang, reporting on the paper, Nuclear Power Learning and Deployment Rates: Disruption and Global Benefits Forgone

Westinghouse; Working on an advanced reactor called eVinci Micro Reactor, http://www.westinghousenuclear.com/new-plants/evinci-micro-reactor/fbclid/iwar1olircg2f_jgjech6bvp67gm5spzsfskexjtkg8yopnyssjprf68xpbac

Forbes: Conca: The Ten Biggest Power Plants in America: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2015/04/20/the-ten-biggest-power-plants-in-america-not-what-everyone-claims/

Our World in Data: What is the safest form of energy?  https://ourworldindata.org/what-is-the-safest-form-of-energy

The EPA Cancer Risk Assessment Default Model Proposal: Moving Away from the LNT, by Edward Calabrese, Jaap Hanekamp and Dime Sharmoun, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6088500/

NEI Setting the Record Straight on the Most Common Misconceptions Around Nuclear Energy, by Mary Love, Senior Media Relations Manager, mcl@nei.org, https://www.nei.org/news/2019/setting-record-straight-on-nuclear-energy

NYT, BlackRock C.E.C. Larry Fink: Climate Crisis Will Reshape Finance, by Andrew Ross Sorkin, January 14, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/14/business/dealbook/larry-fink-blackrock-climate-change.html
Grist, Why did Lindsey Graham join a climate group?, by Zoya Teirstein, Nov. 15, 2019, (probably to come up with an alternative to the Green New Deal?) https://grist.org/article/why-did-lindsey-graham-join-a-climate-group/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly&utm_content=why-did-lindsey-graham-join-a-climate-group%3Futm_medium%3Demail
Canadian Climate attitudes/policies:  https://www.policynote.ca/climate-poll-2019/
Washington Post, The winning conservative climate solution, by George P. Schultz and Ted Halstead, Jan. 16, 2020
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-winning-republican-climate-solution-carbon-pricing/2020/01/16/d6921dc0-387b-11ea-bf30-ad313e4ec754_story.html. The winning Republican climate answer is the third option: carbon pricing. Just as a market-based solution is the Republican policy of choice on most issues, so should it be on climate change. A well-designed carbon fee checks every box of conservative policy orthodoxy. Not surprisingly, this is the favored option of corporate America and economists — including all former Republican chairs of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers.
The Bulwark, What Changed My mind about climate change?, by Jerry Taylor,
https://thebulwark.com/what-changed-my-mind-about-climate-change/amp/
Yale’s Swenson’s Climate Change Overview:  https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55db7b87e4b0dca22fba2438/t/5bbcf4bce79c70ae71531616/1539110076569/Climate+Change.pdf,  Yale Investments Office: Ethical Investment Policy: http://investments.yale.edu/social-responsibility
New York Times: Kathryn Murdoch Climate Change Voting, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/26/climate/kathryn-murdoch-climate-change-voting.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
 
Inside Philanthropy, Philanthropy’s Critical Nuclear Moment, by Eric D’Amato,
https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2019/10/7/philanthropys-critical-nuclear-moment

The Economist, How to Design Carbon Tax, The Economist | When the levy breaks

https://www.economist.com/node/21748229?frsc=dg%7Ce. (Behind a paywall, Aug. 2018)

 
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/nevada-legislators-introduce-100-carbon-free-bill-with-provision-to-inclu/550850/
Nevada legislators introduced a bill on Monday that would double the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) to 50% by 2030, and require 100% carbon-free emissions by 2050.  SB 358
New Mexico has passed the ETA, Energy Transition Act, which officially became law June 14, 2019, which will bring the state to 100% carbon-free power by 2045.  Here a Judge ruled to effectively bypass New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act.
Machinery Market, EPSRC grants for nuclear fission reactor,  Oxford University has received a grant from the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to work with US partners to study the impact of corrosion from high-temperature liquid coolants on materials to be used in next-generation nuclear fission reactors.The Oxford-led grants both aim to accelerate the understanding of the specific corrosion mechanisms involved and the development of new materials that can operate in these extreme conditions.
http://www.machinery-market.co.uk/news/25081/EPSRC-grants-for-nuclear-fission-reactor
Local Actions on Climate 4
Palo Alto Online, Palo Alto to ban natural gas in new building: Council moves to require “all-electric” homes in April 2020, by Gennady Sheyner, November 5, 2019, https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2019/11/05/palo-alto-to-ban-natural-gas-in-new-buildings
Berkeley led the way in July with an ordinance banning natural-gas infrastructure in new buildings (with exceptions for cases where natural gas is shown to serve the public interest). Menlo Park followed in September with an ordinance requiring non-residential and high-rise residential buildings to go all-electric, with exceptions for life-science buildings, emergency-operations centers and non-residential kitchens. Mountain View passed a similar ban on natural gas in new homes on Oct. 22, though the council there opted not to include an exemption for stoves. The Palo Alto ordinance for new homes, much like the one in Mountain View, would kick in next year and would not include exemptions. The question of whether larger developments, including commercial developments and apartment complexes will see some exemptions will remain open until next year, when the council considers an ordinance governing these structures.

Utility Dive, At a crossroads: The connected future of EVs, solar, energy storage and software.  By Wes Diane and Lion Handelsman, Jan 31, 2020
 
EuraCTIV, Council Maintains Nuclear as Eligible for “Green” Finance, by Jorge Valero, 9/25/19, https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy-environment/news/council-maintains-nuclear-as-eligible-for-green-finance
Despite objections from Germany, Austria and Luxembourg, the 28 member council enabled nuclear to qualify for green financing.  The technical expert group on sustainable finance recognised last June that nuclear energy “makes a substantial contribution to mitigation objectives but that more evidence and analysis were needed,” the spokeswoman added.

Calif. bill aims to keep Diablo Canyon plant in operation

California State Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham, R-District 35, plans to introduce a bill that could keep the Diablo Canyon. Nuclear Power Plant operating past the Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s proposed 2025 shut-down date. The bill classifies nuclear power as renewable energy under the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard and includes a provision forcing the state to reject any PG&E bankruptcy or settlement plan that fails to keep the plant open. Cunningham’s bill would:
  • Classify nuclear power as a renewable under the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard
  • Mandate that California’s Public Utility Commission not approve a PG&E bankruptcy or settlement plan that does not include a plan to continue operation of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant
  • Mandate that no less than $1 billion of the proceeds of any sale of the Diablo Canyon plant shall be earmarked to pay fire victims
  • Mandate that no less than $300 million of any proceeds of the Diablo Canyon sale shall be spent on hardening the electrical grid to help prevent catastrophic wildfires.
https://www.ksby.com/news/local-news/cunningham-to-introduce-bill-aimed-at-keeping-diablo-canyon-power-plant-open
 
BBC News, What happens to all the old wind turbines? By Padraig Belton, Feb 5,2020
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51325101

CityWire, Sustainable fund flows hit all-time high in 2019, by Alex Steger, Jan 13, 2020, Research from Morningstar show that flows into sustainable mutual funds and ETFs hit an all-time high of $20.6 billion, quadrupling flows from 2018.  There were 300 funds tracked, and excluded funds with just exclusionary screens.  https://citywireusa.com/professional-buyer/news/sustainable-fund-flows-hit-all-time-high-in-2019/a1312817
 
Goldman Sachs “Announcing the Formation of the Sustainable Finance Group” July 24, 2019, a message sent out to the company by David M. Solomon, John E. Waldron, Stephen M. Scherr, https://www.goldmansachs.com/media-relations/press-releases/current/announcement-24-JUL-2019.html
 
Morning Consult, Ocasio-Cortez: Green New Deal “Leaves the Door Open” on Nuclear, by Jacqueline Both, May 6, 2019, Green New Deal sponsor Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez still has an “open mind” on nuclear energy and differentiates between the decades-old plants in the United States and more advanced technologies under development. https://morningconsult.com/2019/05/06/ocasio-cortez-green-new-deal-leaves-door-open-nuclear/
 
Utility Dive:  Nevada’s Legislators Introduce 100% Carbon Free Bill with Provision to Include Hydro, Nevada’s regional neighbors, New Mexico and California, both have legislation in place to bring their states to 100% carbon-free energy by 2045 and a number of other states have bills pending to modify their RPS including Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington. Washington, D.C., in December, passed the most aggressive renewable energy bill in the country, mandating 100% renewables by 2032. https://www.utilitydive.com/news/nevada-legislators-introduce-100-carbon-free-bill-with-provision-to-inclu/550850/
Also see: State and Utility Climate Change Targets, https://www.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/State-and-Utility-Climate-Change-Targets.pdf
Morning Consult, Ocasio-Cortez’ Green New Deal Leaves the Door Open to Nuclear, https://morningconsult.com/2019/05/06/ocasio-cortez-green-new-deal-leaves-door-open-nuclear/
Stanford Sustainable Finance Initiative: https://energy.stanford.edu/sustainable-finance-initiative
Carbon Pricing Leadership https://www.carbonpricingleadership.org
CDP (Previously Carbon Disclosure Project) Emily Kreps, Global director of investor initiatives. CDP, formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project, pushes corporations and cities to disclose their environmental risks in a standardized format, focusing on risks around climate change, deforestation and water scarcity. It also grades companies based on what they report. A grade of “F” means that a company discloses nothing in CDP’s system, while a grade of “A” means a company is well-prepared to transition to a low-carbon world, said Kreps.  88 Investors managing $10 trillion are pushing some 700 large companies worldwide which have not disclosed their environmental impacts.
https://www.cdp.net/en/investor/engage-with-companies/non-disclosure-campaign#companies
WaPo: More US businesses making changes in response to climate concerns:  June 11, Steven Mufson: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/more-us-businesses-making-changes-in-response-climate-concerns/2019/06/10/a30c86ac-8944-11e9-98c1-e945ae5db8fb_story.html
US Climate Alliance, Earlier this month, Gov. Steve Sisolak, D, made Nevada the 23rd state to join the U.S. Climate Alliance, committing to reduce carbon emissions at least 26% below 2005 levels by 2025. His move and the RPS bill illustrate growing state-level action on clean energy across the country.
(N) Reuters, Banks worth $47 trillion adopt new U.N.-backed climate principles, by Matthew Green, Sept. 22, 2019,
Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), Citigroup (C.N) and Barclays (BARC.L) were among 130 banks to join the new framework on the eve of a United Nations summit in New York aimed at pushing companies and governments to act quickly to avert catastrophic global warming.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-un-banks/banks-worth-47-trillion-adopt-new-u-n-backed-climate-principles-idUSKBN1W70QO

Bloomberg, The Biggest ESG Funds Are Beating the Market, by Mathieu Benhamou, Emily Chasan, Saijel Kishan, Jan 28, 2020, Nine of the biggest ESG mutual funds in the US outperformed the S&P’s 500 Index last year. Ave Maria Growth Fund, Calvert Equity Fund and Putnam Sustainable Leaders Fund all posted gains of 35% or greater. (See AVEGX, CSIEX, PHOPX, MGGPX, BIAWX, MIOPX, PGWAX, IMANX, AMAGX and the ranking at the bottom of the article.)
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-ten-funds-with-a-conscience/
 
New York Times, A Call for Investors to Put Their Money Towards a Green Future, by Paul Sullivan, Jan 24, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/24/business/green-investments-climate-change.html
Applying Asset Pricing Theory to Calibrate the Price of Climate Risk, by Kent Daniel, Robert Litterman and Gernot Wagner 10/18, https://www.nber.org/papers/w22795
New York Times, Companies Climate Change Financial Impact, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/04/climate/companies-climate-change-financial-impact.html
Blackrock: Climate Risks Impacts to Portfolios, https://www.blackrockblog.com/2019/04/17/climate-risks-impact-to-portfolios/
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Declining CO2 Price Path, by Gernot Wagner, Oct. 1, 2019,
http://gwagner.com/ezclimate/
Recommended “green” investments, as seen in various articles (starting with NYT, A Call for investors . . .):
iShares Global Clean Energy Fund: a fairly inexpensive way to make energy investments, is large for a green E.T.F., with about $430 million in assets.
Etho Climate Leadership Fund, but it has only $75 million in assets
Sustainability Career Landscape:  Google Doc:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nhHUhYtpC7TbjmTRUSd5XBJ1trztgs6zLAnF0Pd9CLI/pubhtml#

President Obama held a White House Forum on Nuclear Power, after which he announced  2015 Actions to Ensure that Nuclear Energy Remains a Vibrant Component of the US’ Clean Energy Strategy: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/11/06/fact-sheet-obama-administration-announces-actions-ensure-nuclear-energy
 
Lisa Murkowski, Murkowski, Booker, and 13 Colleagues Reintroduce the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act, Press Release of March 27, 2019, The Nuclear Energy Leadership Act (NELA), aims to reestablish U.S. leadership in nuclear energy. It will bring together private and public sector innovators to develop next-generation advanced reactor concepts. https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/press/release/-murkowski-booker-and-13-colleagues-reintroduce_the-nuclear-energy-leadership-act
 
YouTube, Sheldon Whitehouse Champions Advanced Nuclear, March 6, 2018, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) may be the most outspoken champion of climate action in Congress and he sees advanced reactors as a key way to get the job done. Senator Whitehouse greeted Third Way’s Advanced Nuclear Summit to share his support for policies that will these vital low-carbon technologies into the market. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiQIix5bLCg
Associated Press, Energy Dept. names Finan to lead National Reactor Innovation Center, by Keith Ridler, 10/3/19, https://www.apnews.com/b1381cb72f0a4e43af453db78f1af4d2
https://www.thirdway.org/blog/third-way-joined-eight-other-advanced-nuclear-advocates-in-applauding-the-introduction-of-the-nuclear-energy-leadership-act
Morning Consult, Nuclear Advocates Receive DOE Funding for Exploratory Study on Puerto Rico, by Jacqueline Both, Oct. 1, 2019, https://morningconsult.com/2019/10/01/nuclear-advocates-receive-doe-funding-for-exploratory-study-puerto-rico/?amp=1

Politico, The new science fossil fuel companies fear, by Zack Colman, 10/22/2019, Researchers can now link weather events to emissions —and to the companies responsible. A string of lawsuits is about to give “attribution science” a real-life test.  Just 90 companies contributed nearly 2/3rds of the world’s industrial emissions. Richard Heede began digging and found attribution.  (Continue reading: https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2019/10/22/attribution-science-fossil-fuels-climate-change-001290)
IMF Tax Subsidies: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fossil-fuel-subsidies-cost-5-trillion-annually-and-worsen-pollution/
IMF Tax subsidies: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2015/wp15105.pdf
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2019/06/a-new-report-says-the-pentagon-isnt-prepared-to-battle-climate-change/
Nuclear Energy and The Fossil Fuels, by M. King Hubbert, Chief Consultant (General Geology): Mar, 1956:
The Intercept, GOP Leadership huddles with Fossil Fuel Industry during Climate Week, by Lee Fang and Nick Surgey, Sept. 22, 2019, https://theintercept.com/2019/09/22/gop-fossil-fuel-fundraisers-climate-week/
Republican lawmakers, including leadership, huddled with the fossil fuel industry, maintaining the very ties that bind U.S. policymakers and prevent them from addressing climate change.
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/10/6/16428458/us-energy-coal-oil-subsidies
A conservative estimate of fossil fuel subsidies is $20 billion a year, done by Oil Change International, a more inclusive estimate is several trillion, if you count the costs of military interventions, addressing climate damage and other intangible aspects.
FT, Big Oil should rebel against customers, by John Gapper, (look up link) Oct. 10, 2019
Shell’s share price has tumbled by more than 4.5%, after the Anglo-Dutch energy giant reported a 23% profit drop between 2018 and 2019. The culprits are lower oil and gas prices and the global economic slowdown, which Shell warned could impact the timescale of its $25 billion share buyback program. CNBC

Bloomberg: Floating Nuclear power plant gets backing from Quant Investor, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-07/floating-nuclear-power-plants-get-backing-from-quant-investor
Harvard OpEd: Why Private Investors Must Fund ‘New Nuclear’ Power Right Now, by Joseph Lassiter, April 2018, Joseph Lassiter has high hopes for “new nuclear” technology, which he believes can meet the world’s urgent demand for power. But its success requires big, immediate investments from the private sector.
Grist, Cory Booker’s Full Throated support for Nuclear, by Nathanael Johnson, Feb. 1, 2019:  https://grist.org/article/cory-booker-and-his-full-throated-support-of-nuclear-energy-enters-the-presidential-race/
Issues in Science and Technology, What’s the Big Idea? By Ray Rothrock, Winter 2016, https://issues.org/whats-the-big-idea/.  “Aren’t we VCs supposed to be ruthlessly focused on finding ideas that we think can be brought to market with reasonable investments and in reasonable periods of time? Of course. But sometimes an opportunity presents itself that, if it works, can change the future forever and for everyone. . . “

Engadget: Wisconsin firms hope to make radioactive isotopes for nuclear medicine, by Christine Fisher, October 2, 2019, https://www.engadget.com/2019/10/02/mri-medical-isotope-shine-phoenix/

https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2019/09/arctic-ice-is-melting-faster-than-expected-these-scientists-have-a-radical-idea-to-save-it/
Phys.org, Carbon dioxide capture and use could become big business, by University of California, Los Angeles, November 7, 2019, https://phys.org/news/2019-11-carbon-dioxide-capture-big-business.html, A comprehensive study investigated the potential future scale and cost of 10 different ways to use , including in fuels and chemicals, plastics, building materials, soil management and forestry.  the authors also considered processes that use carbon dioxide captured biologically by photosynthesis.  A top-end scenario could see more than 10 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide a year used, at a theoretical cost of under $100 per tonne of carbon dioxide.
Livermore Laboratory Foundation, ClimateWorks Foundation,  Getting to Neutral: Options for negative carbon emissions in California, by Sarah E. Baker, Joshua K. Stolaroff, et al,  January 2020