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The Presidential Candidate With a Plan To Run the US On 100% Clean Energy
merbs writes: Thus far, no other candidate has said they're going to make climate change their top priority. Martin O'Malley has not only done that, but he has outlined a plan that would enact emissions reductions in line with what scientists say is necessary to slow global climate change—worldwide emissions reductions of 40-70 percent by 2050. He's the only candidate to do that, too. His plan would phase out fossil-fueled power plants altogether, by midcentury.
Doesn't really talk about nuclear in any way. You can read between the lines a bit, though.
It talks about mandating clean energy by 2050. Clean energy is not strictly defined -- by most standards I've seen, nuclear is clean because it doesn't have significant carbon emissions. And there's a lot about capping carbon emissions.
Other parts of the document talk about increasing renewable energy use, which is not nuclear but doesn't contradict nuclear also being used.
Parts of the document talk about ending all subsidies for fossil fuels. Nuclear is definitely not a fossil fuel.
The same guy has been on the record in the past (2009) as pro-nuclear, but I didn't find any more recent statements (other than Iran): http://us.arevablog.com/2009/0...
nuclear is extremely expensive; far more expensive than wind or solar, on average.
True, but Nuclear works when its dark and there's no wind. Nuclear is a base load source so should only be compared against other base load sources.
Some people fudge their figures in various ways (not taking into account decommissioning costs and waste handling costs, etc.) to make it look like it isn't, though.
Nuclear probably has the most accurate and transparent cost model of all the base load options. So if it looks expensive, it's because all power generation is, but Nuclear is forced to include ALL costs, while the likes of coal get a free ride. If you include the costs of climate change, which is a cost of Coal Power, it's pretty much the most expensive thing ever in all of human history.