{"id":9263,"date":"2014-10-08T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-08T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cna.ca\/?post_type=news&p=9263"},"modified":"2020-03-10T13:55:28","modified_gmt":"2020-03-10T17:55:28","slug":"prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/2014\/10\/08\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\/","title":{"rendered":"Prominent Environmentalists Embrace Nuclear"},"content":{"rendered":"

October 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

I used to be anti-nuclear. But, several years ago I had to reevaluate my thinking because if you agree with the world\u2019s leading climate scientists that global warming is real and must be addressed immediately then you cannot simply oppose clean, low-carbon energy sources.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– Carol Browner, former director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy<\/p>\n

\"Carol

Carol Browner<\/p><\/div>\n

Before climate change topped the environmental agenda, environmentalists often stood on opposite sides of the nuclear debate.<\/p>\n

Even today, many big-name environmental groups, such as Greenpeace and the Sierra Club, remain opposed to nuclear power.<\/p>\n

However, a growing number of prominent environmentalists and scientists have converted to the pro-nuclear camp, including those who had vehemently opposed nuclear power.<\/p>\n

The reason is simple: Climate change is the top issue, and countries cannot meet both their energy needs and greenhouse-gas reduction targets using renewable energy sources alone.<\/p>\n

\"Mark

Mark Lynas<\/p><\/div>\n

Look no further than Germany and Japan to see countries that closed nuclear power plants only to see a rise in their use of coal and gas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout nuclear, the battle against global warming is as good as lost,\u201d environmentalist Mark Lynas wrote in a recent op-ed for The Guardian<\/a>. \u201cEven many greens now admit this in private moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lynas admits that he \u201cgrew up hating nuclear,\u201d but converted to the pro-nuclear side after discovering the dangers had been exaggerated.<\/p>\n

Another prominent pro-nuclear environmentalist is James Lovelock, the British scientist best known for the \u201cGaia hypothesis,\u201d which proposes that the Earth functions as a self-regulating system, similar to a living organism.<\/p>\n

\"James

James Lovelock<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI think nearly all of the arguments against nuclear energy are just false and highly political,\u201d Lovelock recently told the Globe and Mail<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s a question of how you compare: What\u2019s the risk of powering your nation by nuclear power, compared with coal or oil? I think the case in favor of nuclear is enormously strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most prominent pro-nuclear environmentalist is James Hansen, the former head of NASA\u2019s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, who has been credited for being one of first to warn politicians and policy makers about the dangers of climate change.<\/p>\n

Hansen was one of four environmental scientists who wrote a 2013 open letter<\/a> urging the green movement to give up its opposition to nuclear power.<\/p>\n

\"James

James Hansen<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWhile it may be theoretically possible to stabilize the climate without nuclear power, in the real world there is no credible path to climate stabilization that does not include a substantial role for nuclear power,\u201d the letter said.<\/p>\n

(Hansen is also the featured speaker at the 2015 Canadian Nuclear Association conference<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Other prominent pro-nuclear environmentalists include Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace; author Gwyneth Cravens; and Carol Browner, former director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy.<\/p>\n

Cravens, Lynas, writer Stewart Brand, and writer Michael Schellenberger were among the notable environmentalists once opposed to nuclear who were featured in the 2013 documentary Pandora\u2019s Promise<\/a>. The film focused on the environmental movement\u2019s opposition to nuclear, even though it is a safe, low-carbon energy source needed to combat climate change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More environmentalists and decision-makers say nuclear energy has a big role to play in slowing down climate change. UN experts think it\u2019s time to triple nuclear output. So how did Ontario figure this out decades ago? Will the rest of Canada follow suit? And how is the move away from nuclear affecting countries like Germany?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[106,104,109,105,110,107,116,114,113,111,112,117,115,108],"topic":[],"class_list":["post-9263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature-clean-air","tag-carol-browner","tag-clean-air","tag-climate-change","tag-environmentalists","tag-germany","tag-greenpeace","tag-gwyneth-cravens","tag-james-hansen","tag-james-lovelock","tag-japan","tag-mark-lynas","tag-pandoras-promise","tag-patrick-moore","tag-sierra-club"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nProminent Environmentalists Embrace Nuclear - Association nucl\u00e9aire canadienne<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/2014\/10\/08\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Prominent Environmentalists Embrace Nuclear - Association nucl\u00e9aire canadienne\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"More environmentalists and decision-makers say nuclear energy has a big role to play in slowing down climate change. UN experts think it\u2019s time to triple nuclear output. So how did Ontario figure this out decades ago? Will the rest of Canada follow suit? And how is the move away from nuclear affecting countries like Germany?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/2014\/10\/08\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Association nucl\u00e9aire canadienne\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/canadanuclear\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-08T11:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-03-10T17:55:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cna.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Sky-cropped-v2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1120\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"467\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cna_admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cna_admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/08\\\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/08\\\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cna_admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b0c8179b9b04ade90057bc7a30b2fbd2\"},\"headline\":\"Prominent Environmentalists Embrace Nuclear\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-08T11:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-10T17:55:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/08\\\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":557,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/08\\\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/Sky-cropped-v2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Carol Browner\",\"clean air\",\"climate change\",\"environmentalists\",\"Germany\",\"Greenpeace\",\"Gwyneth Cravens\",\"James Hansen\",\"James Lovelock\",\"Japan\",\"Mark Lynas\",\"Pandora's Promise\",\"Patrick Moore\",\"Sierra Club\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Feature: Clean air\"],\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/08\\\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/08\\\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\\\/\",\"name\":\"Prominent Environmentalists Embrace Nuclear - Association nucl\u00e9aire canadienne\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/08\\\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/08\\\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/Sky-cropped-v2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-08T11:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-10T17:55:28+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/08\\\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/08\\\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/08\\\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/Sky-cropped-v2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/09\\\/Sky-cropped-v2.jpg\",\"width\":1120,\"height\":467,\"caption\":\"Grass and sky\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/08\\\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Prominent Environmentalists Embrace Nuclear\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/\",\"name\":\"Canadian Nuclear Association\",\"description\":\"The national voice of the Canadian nuclear industry since 1960\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Canadian Nuclear Association\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/cropped-cna-logo-only.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/cropped-cna-logo-only.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Canadian Nuclear Association\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/canadanuclear\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/canadanuclear\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/canadanuclear\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/CanadaNuclear\",\"http:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/canadian-nuclear-association\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b0c8179b9b04ade90057bc7a30b2fbd2\",\"name\":\"cna_admin\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cna.ca\\\/fr\\\/author\\\/cna_admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Prominent Environmentalists Embrace Nuclear - Association nucl\u00e9aire canadienne","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/2014\/10\/08\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\/","og_locale":"fr_FR","og_type":"article","og_title":"Prominent Environmentalists Embrace Nuclear - Association nucl\u00e9aire canadienne","og_description":"More environmentalists and decision-makers say nuclear energy has a big role to play in slowing down climate change. UN experts think it\u2019s time to triple nuclear output. So how did Ontario figure this out decades ago? Will the rest of Canada follow suit? And how is the move away from nuclear affecting countries like Germany?","og_url":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/2014\/10\/08\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\/","og_site_name":"Association nucl\u00e9aire canadienne","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/canadanuclear","article_published_time":"2014-10-08T11:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-03-10T17:55:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1120,"height":467,"url":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Sky-cropped-v2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cna_admin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cna_admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/2014\/10\/08\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/2014\/10\/08\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\/"},"author":{"name":"cna_admin","@id":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/#\/schema\/person\/b0c8179b9b04ade90057bc7a30b2fbd2"},"headline":"Prominent Environmentalists Embrace Nuclear","datePublished":"2014-10-08T11:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-03-10T17:55:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/2014\/10\/08\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\/"},"wordCount":557,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/2014\/10\/08\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Sky-cropped-v2.jpg","keywords":["Carol Browner","clean air","climate change","environmentalists","Germany","Greenpeace","Gwyneth Cravens","James Hansen","James Lovelock","Japan","Mark Lynas","Pandora's Promise","Patrick Moore","Sierra Club"],"articleSection":["Feature: Clean air"],"inLanguage":"fr-FR"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/2014\/10\/08\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\/","url":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/2014\/10\/08\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\/","name":"Prominent Environmentalists Embrace Nuclear - Association nucl\u00e9aire canadienne","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/2014\/10\/08\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/2014\/10\/08\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Sky-cropped-v2.jpg","datePublished":"2014-10-08T11:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-03-10T17:55:28+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/2014\/10\/08\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"fr-FR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/2014\/10\/08\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/2014\/10\/08\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Sky-cropped-v2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Sky-cropped-v2.jpg","width":1120,"height":467,"caption":"Grass and sky"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/2014\/10\/08\/prominent-environmentalists-embrace-nuclear\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Prominent Environmentalists Embrace Nuclear"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/","name":"Canadian Nuclear Association","description":"The national voice of the Canadian nuclear industry since 1960","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"fr-FR"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/#organization","name":"Canadian Nuclear Association","url":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cropped-cna-logo-only.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/cropped-cna-logo-only.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Canadian Nuclear Association"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/canadanuclear","https:\/\/x.com\/canadanuclear","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/canadanuclear","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/CanadaNuclear","http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/canadian-nuclear-association"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/#\/schema\/person\/b0c8179b9b04ade90057bc7a30b2fbd2","name":"cna_admin","url":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/author\/cna_admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9263"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25675,"href":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9263\/revisions\/25675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9263"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cna.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=9263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}