The Breakthrough Blog
Your destination for short, pragmatic commentary on the news of the day as well as our thoughts on wicked problems of all stripes.
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Take a Deep Breath
Rani Franovich rebuts NPR coverage of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant firefight Read more →
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The Media’s Hysterical Coverage of Attacks on Ukraine’s Nuclear Power Plant
Last night, a firefight between Russian and Ukrainian forces at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant raised alarms for officials and the media around the world. Proclamations of imminent… Read more →
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Blog: NRC revises previously issued subsequent license renewal for existing nuclear power plants
by Adam Stein & moreIn a surprising move, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reversed license renewal approvals for two operating nuclear power plants issued in 2019 and 2020, while the license… Read more →
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Sign On: Urge the IEA to Make its Data Free and Accessible
Access to energy-related data is essential to an efficient and equitable transition to clean energy. However, the International Energy Agency, one of the world’s largest repositories of… Read more →
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Blog: The Need for NEM Reforms and the False Argument About the Cost of Diablo Canyon
by Zeke Hausfather & moreRooftop solar has in many ways been a clean energy success story in California. Generous tax credits and net metering — the ability to use excess generation to offset home energy costs —… Read more →
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Blog: Takeaways from the Save Diablo Canyon Rally
by Seaver Wang & moreLast weekend, a crowd of more than one hundred people filled the courtyard in front of the San Luis Obispo Superior Court in vocal support of keeping the neighboring Diablo Canyon nuclear… Read more →
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Closure of San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant Increased Emissions in California by 37 Million Metric Tons of CO2e
by Adam Stein & moreClosing nuclear power plants consistently increase emissions. As momentum is building for California to reconsider the planned closure of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, it’s instructive… Read more →
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Blog: Plant-Based Meat Prices are Falling. What Does That Mean for Beef and Emissions?
by Saloni Shah & moreAs prices fall for plant-based meats like the Beyond and Impossible Burger, many expect them to replace a large portion of conventional meat consumption and production. Kearney, a… Read more →
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Blog: The True Face of the Anti-Nuclear Movement
In the popular imagination, the central character in the decades-long campaign against nuclear energy is a hippy with a No Nukes sign. This caricature has served both nuclear advocates, who… Read more →
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Blog: Update from the Trenches of COP26 in Glasgow
There is a cold drizzle outside all day in Glasgow, but inside the convention center, the COP26 negotiations are hot and hectic. Political celebrities like Nancy Pelosi and AOC stroll down… Read more →
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Blog: Lessons from NuScale's Design Certification Process
by Adam Stein & moreIn August 2020, NuScale Power reached a significant milestone, becoming one of the first developers to receive a design approval for its small modular reactor (SMR) from the Nuclear… Read more →
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Climate Change is Not Pollution Problem
Last week the Supreme Court announced that it would hear an appeal to the DC Circuit Court’s rejection of the Trump Administration’s constitutional argument that the US Environmental… Read more →
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Blog: Build Back Better Recognizes Climate Benefits of Agricultural Research
The most recent version of the Build Back Better Act, the result of months of negotiations that are still ongoing, includes $2 billion in new spending for agricultural research, research… Read more →
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Blog: Environmental Justice, the NRC, and Our Future
Between the national importance of expanding American clean energy generation and the national obligation to clean up sites still impacted from prior uranium mining and nuclear weapons… Read more →
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Blog: Is Cultivated Meat a Bad Bet?
It's a risky climate bet, but it's one of many worth taking. Read more →
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Can NRC Reform Itself?
This week, I had the privilege of introducing a webinar that Breakthrough hosted with Third Way entitled Forging Near-Term Pathways for Licensing Advanced Reactors — about the current state… Read more →
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Blog: The New IEA Report Shows How We Are Flattening the Curve of Future Emissions
The new World Energy Outlook 2021 from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows how the world is making progress on clean energy and emissions and provides further evidence that very… Read more →
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Blog: The Road Between the UN Food Systems Summit and COP26
Thursday, September 23rd marked the first day of the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) which convened government leaders, producers, civil society, and private sector leaders… Read more →
