You know things are bad when Steven Chu pops his head up. And by the way, where's Gavin?
Bloomberg (11/8/21) reports: "California’s last nuclear power plant, scheduled to close in 2025, could aid the fight against climate change, cut energy costs and provide water to the parched state if allowed to stay open, according to a new study. The findings won the support of former U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who in a web presentation said countries prematurely shutting down nuclear plants ended up using more fossil fuels instead. 'We are not in a position in the near-term future to go to 100% renewable energy,' said Chu, who was not one of the report’s authors. 'We will need some power that we can turn on and dispatch at will, and that leaves two choices: fossil fuel or nuclear.' PG&E Corp. reached an agreement with environmental groups in 2016 to shutter the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant when its operating licenses expire, saying the plant’s energy would no longer be needed as cheap renewable power flooded onto the state’s grid. Since then, however, California’s energy supply has grown strained, with the state veering close to blackouts during heat waves. Researchers from Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said in the study released Monday that keeping Diablo Canyon open through 2035 would cut greenhouse-gas emissions from California’s power sector 10% each year, by reducing the amount of electricity needed from natural-gas plants. It would also save $2.6 billion for utility ratepayers."
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"We’ve done some important work since the Paris Agreement was signed six year ago, but we’re still nowhere near where we need to be on climate."
– Barack Obama
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