With Climate Week NYC approaching, now is a good time to evaluate where we are with our climate and how we can all help it. After much discussion, it turns out that having a livable earth is indeed important. That means, we need to figure out a way to keep it that way. If we want to keep enjoying the natural world and let the next generation do the same, we need to figure out how to decarbonize our electricity grid while also generating a lot more electricity. Luckily, nuclear can help with that.
Thanks to a long history of myths and misinformation, a lot of folks wonder if nuclear is clean or not. Let me put that to rest: Yes, nuclear is clean and good for the environment. Our Clean Energy page lays out how nuclear hits many criteria that help the environment and lessen our environmental impact. A big part of that is that nuclear doesn’t cause air pollution like some other energy sources do—it doesn’t produce nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter (like smoke and dust), mercury, or carbon dioxide. These pollutants contribute to stroke, heart disease, neurological disease, lung cancer and respiratory diseases, including asthma.
Thanks to nuclear, the total emissions avoided in 2025 in the United States was the equivalent of:
- 2.4 million railcars’ worth of coal burned;
- 70% of the annual carbon emissions from the agriculture sector;
- or the annual transportation sector emissions for California, New York, and Texas combined.
By continuing to invest in our current fleet and by building new nuclear, we are doing a lot to protect the health of our communities. And nuclear is doing it without using much land: The current fleet generates about 17% of U.S. energy while only using 0.003% of land!
As our energy demands are increasing, we need this clean energy to fill the gap.
Vijay Vaitheeswaran, senior fellow and director of CFR’s Energy and Climate Program, put it well when he said recently, “This is the brightest moment for nuclear power globally in a couple of decades. Energy for development and prosperity is extremely important… and we have a climate crisis as well as a challenge of local emissions. So nuclear, and more of it, would be a very good thing.”
Considering a nuclear plant can operate 24/7 for at least 80 years, there’s a lot of potential to clean the air and power the world. That’s why we’re happy to be at Climate Week again this year and meet countless other folks who care about the future of the planet.
If you want to see what we’re up to, swing by the Heatmap House! We’ll be talking about nuclear and so much more.
