Published on July 22, 2019.
Based on a Wall Street Journal article dated June 17, 2016, this post introduces how several influential U.S. environmental groups softened their long-standing anti-nuclear stance and began supporting the continued operation of nuclear power plants as a climate-change measure.
It discusses nuclear power as a stable carbon-free electricity source that emits no greenhouse gases and is more reliable than wind or solar power.

July 22, 2019.
They support the continued operation of roughly 100 reactors at about 60 nuclear power plants.
This is because nuclear power is a stable source of electricity compared with unstable wind and solar power.
The following is a chapter I published on July 22, 2018, under the title “U.S. Environmental Groups Shift Toward Supporting Nuclear Power: Prioritizing Carbon-Free Electricity.”
It is an excerpt from an article published in The Wall Street Journal on June 17, 2016.
Several of the most influential environmental groups in the United States are softening their long-standing anti-nuclear stance.
The priority of environmentalists has shifted to climate change, and a major change is occurring in the anti-nuclear movement.
In the United States, some reactors whose profitability has deteriorated are being closed, but the softening attitude of environmental groups is lowering the greatest political hurdle faced by the country’s nuclear industry.
Joe Dominguez, executive vice president of Exelon, the company that owns the largest number of nuclear power plants in the United States, said, “Historically, these groups have opposed nuclear power, so the fact that their presence among the opposition is becoming less visible is quite noticeable.”
Nuclear power plants emit no greenhouse gases, and according to federal government data, they supply about 20 percent of U.S. electricity and 60 percent of carbon-free electricity, meaning electricity that emits no carbon dioxide, or CO2.
Recently, however, under pressure from cheap natural gas and state policies that prefer renewable fuels over nuclear power, more than a dozen reactors across the United States are scheduled to close over the next several years or have already been closed.
Omission.
In Illinois, environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, EDF, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC, are working with Exelon and state legislators to draft legislation to reverse the company’s decision made in early June to close two reactors over the next two years.
If realized, this would promote energy efficiency and renewable fuels while also guaranteeing the continued operation of reactors that generate electricity without emitting carbon dioxide.
Omission.
Over the past two or three years, climate change has become the top priority of almost all major environmental groups, and leaders who have influence in both climate science and policy have changed their positions; now, those who support electricity that emits no carbon dioxide are in the majority.
They support the continued operation of roughly 100 reactors at about 60 nuclear power plants.
This is because nuclear power is a stable source of electricity compared with unstable wind and solar power.
Remainder omitted.