Closing Illinois Nuclear Plants Is Bad News for Climate

Third Way issued the following statement from Josh Freed, Vice President for Clean Energy:

“Exelon’s decision to close the Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear plants is very bad news for climate advocates. The closure of these plants due to challenging market conditions means 23% of Illinois’s clean electricity will be lost. This is the equivalent of adding almost 2 million passenger vehicles on the road - a massive increase of 9 million metric tons of CO2. At the very time we should be speeding ahead with as much zero carbon energy as possible, this is the equivalent of slamming into reverse.

Keeping today’s nuclear plants online, supporting the development of advanced nuclear reactors, and deploying more renewables must all be national priorities. We cannot create the affordable, reliable, and very clean electricity system we must have without all of these options.

This is the same position held by Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and the Obama Administration. Only last month, the Administration hosted a summit focused on keeping nuclear plants open. At the event, the Secretary warned that we needed to add as much zero carbon energy as possible – not subtract it or replace it.”