New York’s electric grid got 46% dirtier over the last two years thanks to the two-part closure of the Indian Point Nuclear Plant. The plant’s second and final reactor was shut down April 30th, a year to the day after then-Governor Andrew Cuomo had the first disconnected. In a tough year for Cuomo that resulted in his disgraceful resignation from office, this was a rare win — one that was two decades in the making.
Cuomo wasn’t alone in his vendetta against Indian Point. Democrats, in alliance with anti-nuclear organizations, have been suffocating the nuclear industry for decades through misinformation, regulation, and reckless subsidization of renewables. Despite global acceptance of nuclear energy, the war Democrats have waged against it has put the industry, and our emissions goals, in danger.
Whenever nuclear plants are retired, clean energy is replaced by fossil fuels. While politicians may promise to provide abundant solar and wind energy to fill the gap, that’s not what happens.
Nearly all of the zero-carbon power Indian Point provided has been replaced by burning natural gas — and lots of it, given that the plant's two reactors supplied 25% of New York City’s power. In June 2019, prior to Indian Point’s decommissioning, natural gas and nuclear contributed an almost equal share to New York’s electric grid — each about 35%, while wind and solar contributed 3.5%. Two years later, natural gas’s share has shot up to 51%, nuclear is down to 21%, and wind and solar barely increased to 4.5%. If you include hydroelectric dams, the share of renewables actually decreased. As one would expect, this resulted in the aforementioned 46% increase in carbon intensity of the electric grid.
Cuomo thought this was great; he even boasted about it: “I have personally been trying to close it down for 15 years… (it) eliminates a major risk, provides welcome relief, and New Yorkers can sleep a little better.”
Yes — much like his decision to send COVID patients to nursing homes, Cuomo’s decision to tank nuclear power in his state was all about the safety of New Yorkers. Indian Point was apparently a “ticking time bomb.” The Emmy award-winning ex-governor persistently used such apocalyptic language about categorically impossible disaster scenarios to prey on his constituent’s fears. It didn’t matter that the Nuclear Energy Commission (NRC) cleared Indian Point for safety time after time.
Nuclear is actually the safest energy source. The total death count ever attributed to radiation from nuclear power is around 100. In comparison, an estimated 100 to 150 people die per year falling off rooftops while installing solar panels.
This hasn’t stopped the anti-nuclear crowd from fear-mongering about its dangers. It has been an effective tactic for decades. In 1974, the executive director of the Sierra Club explicitly stated their strategy was to stress the hazards of nuclear to “supply a rationale for increasing regulations” and “add to the cost of the industry.” And they’ve used politicians to do it.
Cuomo’s father, Mario, used “safety” as the reason to shut down the fully constructed Shoreham nuclear plant on Long Island before it ever generated any power.
In California, Jerry Brown spent four terms as California’s governor killing its once-impressive nuclear industry, while openly favoring fossil fuels as replacements. Gavin Newsom plans to finish the job by closing the state’s last nuclear reactor in 2025, while he pleas for approval to burn more natural gas.
In 1994, John Kerry led Senate Democrats in shutting down the Federal Integral Fast Reactor program, which had already created the safest, cheapest, and most efficient reactor technology, only to be abandoned.
These days, the nuclear industry is so damaged that most plants are retiring because they are unprofitable. The market has been distorted in favor of renewables while natural gas has boomed. Together, these developments have all but crushed nuclear profitability. Without policy intervention leveling the playing field, half of the remaining nuclear fleet is projected to close by 2030.
Indian Point’s operators wanted to re-license for another 20 years, but Cuomo sued them until it became too expensive, so they settled, citing $20 million in annual litigation and booming natural gas.
So what has been the cost of abandoning nuclear? A recent study estimated that if the nuclear industry had continued on its trajectory before the antinuclear movement stalled it, up to 9.5 million air pollution deaths could have been prevented, and nuclear power could have been around 10% of its current cost.
Republicans are often deservedly called out for being in bed with fossil fuels, but anti-nuclear Democrats need to be held accountable, too, for essentially putting our largest source of clean energy out of business based on false propaganda. If climate change does turn out to be as catastrophic as alarmists claim, we will all be victims of Cuomo’s corruption.
Patrick Hynes is a Young Voices contributor and an editorial associate at The Conservation Coalition. He also serves as chairman of the Libertarian Party of Washington, DC, and ran for DC’s Delegate to Congress in 2020. Follow him on Twitter @PatrickHynesDC.