Charles K. Ebinger

"By saying he supports a nuclear industry that is guided by rigorous, independent regulation and stringent safety standards, [President Obama] acknowledged a fact that has been largely ignored in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis in Japan: an abandonment of nuclear energy will likely end hopes for climate change mitigation. Although it accounts for just 14 percent of world electricity, nuclear energy is the only large-scale, readily available, zero-carbon source of power. While high-costs deter utilities from building nuclear power plants in the United States, such an announcement should buttress any lingering “renaissance” elsewhere in the world."