New York City “had a nuclear power plant 36 miles away called Indian Point. It supplied carbon-free safe power that would mean no one would need to turn up their thermostats. But it was closed in 2021 by the degrowth Death Cult. Now NYC relies on fossil fuels for 90% of its power,” notes engineer Adam Rossi.
Due to closure of the nuclear plant, New York now has less energy capacity than it used to. That could lead to blackouts during heat waves. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani recently urged New Yorkers to scale back use of air conditioning to protect the overstretched “power grid,” and to increase home temperatures from room temperature (72 degrees) to 78 degrees.
But people are more productive at room temperature than at 78 degrees. A study found that for “every degree above 25°C (77°F), our cognitive performance declines by around two percent. And if synapses suffer, so does economic activity. At 30°C (86°F), office performance drops by almost 9%.”
“The human brain works best at 68 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s why offices need to be cold,” a journalist says.
New York’s greater reliance on fossil fuels was exactly the opposite of what progressives predicted when the nuclear plant was shut down. One of them exulted when the nuclear plant was shut down, saying, “This is a BIG deal — the first of Indian Point’s nuclear reactors is shutting down this month and New York is moving toward a 100% renewable energy future!”
New York City gets less of its energy from renewable sources than Texas, which gets 30% of its energy from renewable sources, and charges much less for electricity than New York does. That’s true even though New York City gets some of its power from hydropower generated at Niagara Falls, and can buy some of Quebec’s abundant cheap hydropower. New York State rates for electricity average 24 to 30 cents per kilowatt-hour compared to the Texas average of 10-11 cents per kilowatt-hour.
While New York shut down a nuclear plant, China has been building new nuclear plants, increasing nuclear energy production by 76%.
Despite having lots of oil, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently built four nuclear power reactors.
Right now, nuclear energy produces about 19% of the electricity generated in America. Nuclear energy produces no greenhouse gas emissions or air pollution. Nuclear plants generate most electric power in countries like France and Slovakia, but in the U.S., it has been much more difficult and costly to construct a nuclear power plant.
A nuclear plant in Florida is helping crocodiles thrive. Russia signed an agreement with Ethiopia to build a nuclear power plant.
Nuclear power is already “the safest form of energy we have, if you consider deaths per megawatt of energy produced,” notes Yale University’s Steven Novella. “Wind turbines, surprisingly, kill more people than nuclear plants,” notes an environmentalist. And “solar panels require 17 times more materials in the form of cement, glass, concrete, and steel than do nuclear plants, and create over 200 times more waste,” such as “dust from toxic heavy metals including lead, cadmium, and chromium.”
Nuclear plants emit no air pollution, only harmless steam. Unlike wind farms, nuclear power plants don’t kill birds. The biggest utility that generates wind power pleaded guilty to federal crimes for killing 150 eagles.
