The Patriot Post® · Another Setback for Biden's Green Dream

The only truly viable means of replacing fossil fuel-based power production is via nuclear power. Of course, the conundrum for the climate cultists is the fact that their denunciation of nuclear power is almost as pronounced as their objection to fossil fuel.

Nevertheless, Joe Biden was so determined to push his “net-zero emissions by 2050” green dream that his administration was willing to embrace nuclear power — at least behind the scenes.

Yet Biden’s green dream once again has been hit by a cold dose of reality.

It all started two weeks ago when Danish wind energy company Ørsted announced that it was pulling the plug on its massive wind farm projects off the coast of New Jersey. Dubbed Ocean Wind I and II, the wind farms were part of a massive green energy initiative for New England that was projected to produce enough electricity to power 10 million homes.

The reason given by Ørsted had everything to do with costs, as the company said the project was no longer financially feasible, even with taxpayer dollars. One wonders if it ever could have been financially feasible without massive government handouts.

Now, Biden is getting more bad news. Oregon-based nuclear power company NuScale Power, the only company in the U.S. to have a certified design for the building of small modular reactors (SMRs), has just canned its years-long project to construct six SMRs at the Idaho National Laboratory. The first-of-its-kind nuclear power plant would have provided power to more than 300,000 households.

The Biden administration had intended for NuScale Power’s SMR plant, which had been slated to come online by 2029, to replace several coal-fired plants that are scheduled for closure. The advanced nuclear power plant would have provided needed supplemental support for wind and solar operations being developed.

Before shuttering those coal-fired power plants for good, the Biden administration might want to make sure it actually has the capability to produce reliable energy to meet the nation’s growing power demands. SMR technology does offer promising and exciting electricity-producing potential, and nuclear power has long been a proven energy-producing technology.

The trouble is the amount of government red tape. The regulatory costs associated with the development and construction of nuclear reactors has been nearly cost prohibitive. But investing in nuclear technology makes a whole lot more sense for true environmental and energy stewardship than does relying on the inherently and notoriously unreliable wind and solar power sources.