If I openly support nuclear power will I lose my friends?

That has not been the experience of most of us environmentalists who’ve changed our minds on this issue. As more and more people begin to speak out on this issue, many after seeing Pandora’s Promise, being pro-nuclear is becoming less and less of a contentious issue. Only the most hardcore anti-nuclear activists are unwilling to discuss this issue or would put a friendship in jeopardy over it.

What we’ve found is that talking openly about nuclear energy sparks a fascinating conversation and gets people very excited and wanting to learn more. Most people know deep down inside that it’s unlikely that we’ll ever really power the entire world with wind and solar alone. They tend to feel quite pessimistic and even a little apocalyptic about the future when the issue of climate change comes up, but the discussion of nuclear energy lifts that cloud because it offers a very real sense of hope and optimism about the future.

Nothing about being pro-nuclear need diminish your support for wind and solar and energy efficiency. Those are all vital elements of any fully effective way forward. There are places where wind is the best option, places where solar makes sense, places that are favorable to geothermal energy or tidal energy. There are also places where nuclear makes the most sense. All of it will be needed in order to solve the climate problem. More and more people are coming to see this as the most sensible approach.