As the world’s attention shifted to Dubai to discuss the future of energy across the globe, the Conservative Climate Foundation hosted a two-part panel at the Atlantic Council COP28 Green Zone hub. The first part, which was moderated by Jennifer Gordon of the Atlantic Council, featured Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), Rep. Diana DeGette, (D-Col.) and Rep. Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.) who discussed the future of nuclear energy in the United States.
Nuclear energy is a source of clean, reliable, and affordable power that has the potential to be a monumental step forward in clean energy for the nation and the world. Congress is working to pass bipartisan legislation that would make nuclear energy a larger part of the United States energy strategy. CRES has endorsed Sen. Shelly Moore Capito (R-W.V.)’s bipartisan ADVANCE Act, which passed in the U.S. Senate. Rep. Duncan’s Atomic Energy Advancement Act is another example of bipartisan collaboration that aims to speed up licensing and nuclear development in the United States.
“We realize we have to achieve our climate goals of zero by 2050, what that means for most of us is an all-of-the-above strategy, that includes nuclear energy,” said Rep. DeGette .
Members agreed that by embracing an all-of-the-above strategy that includes nuclear energy, the United States will be able to reassert themselves as a global leader in energy. As Rep. Williams stated, “Energy security is national security.”
Watch Part 1 of the Panel HERE.
In the second part, Gordon welcomed Dr. Kathryn Huff, Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, Kevin Hogan, Australia’s Shadow Minister of Trade and Tourism , and Maria Korsnick, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Nuclear Energy Initiative, to continue the discussion.
Huff and Korsnick offered a closer look at what the mechanics of expanding nuclear will look like in the United States: boosting existing reactors, building new reactors and incentivizing people to build first through tax credits. Each stated that the United States must begin to offer more encouragement to those looking to expand nuclear.
“We really need to keep moving, keep driving forward innovation and development,” Huff said.
Minister Hogan provided a global look at how nuclear is launching in Australia, a country that currently bans nuclear energy. Minister Hogan highlighted that the conversation around renewable energy, and especially nuclear, is changing. He said, “There was a perception that nuclear was bad, young people don’t have that fixation on nuclear that older generations have, so I’m very optimistic about the future.”
Unlocking the potential of clean energy will require everyone to embrace and encourage a spirit of innovation around nuclear, and we are well on our way. “This is the nuclear COP,” Korsnick said. “Nuclear is really rising to the value that it brings.”
Watch Part 2 of the Panel HERE.