Fourteen years after receiving its permit, the nation’s first new nuclear reactors in decades just fired up in Georgia. Massive, traditional nuclear reactors like this have faced so many cost overruns and construction delays that the investment market for them all but vanished. Despite a handful of recent technical breakthroughs in fusion power, its promise of virtually limitless power remains just a promise. But could a new wave of small, modular fission reactors bring new carbon-free power onto the market faster and cheaper (and safer?) than traditional nuclear plants in time to help the world decarbonize?
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Rebecca Solnit on Why It’s Not Too Late |
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Tuesday, October 24, 2023 | 6:00 p.m. PT
Writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit has been examining the concept of hope and the unpredictability of change through her work for over 20 years. Her 2014 essay, "Men Explain Things to Me," is credited with inspiring the term "mansplaining," and she was named the "Voice of the Resistance'' by the New York Times in 2017. The 2023 anthology she co-edited, "It’s Not Too Late," serves as a guidebook for changing the climate narrative from despair to possibility.
Join Climate One’s Ariana Brocious for a live conversation with one of the leading thinkers on feminism, popular power, insurrection, and environmental and social change as we discuss why new climate narratives are important, how change happens, and how she finds hope for the future in the midst of the escalating climate crisis.
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What We're Reading: With Three Months Left in 2023, U.S. Has Already Set Disaster Record |
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Despite only being midway through September, the United States has already broken the record for most billion-dollar weather catastrophes in a year with 23. The previous record of 22 was set in 2020.
In an analysis released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) this week, the government calculated that severe weather events from floods to wildfires to cyclones have collectively caused more than $57 billion in damage and taken at least 253 lives. The record is likely to continue growing, as NOAA has not yet finalized calculations for Tropical Storm Hilary and the wide-ranging Midwestern drought. "We’re seeing the fingerprints of climate change all over our nation," said NOAA economics and climatologist Adam Smith. "Exposure plus vulnerability plus climate change is supercharging more of these into billion-dollar disasters."
PLUS:
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Early in their semifinal matchup of the women’s U.S. Open, Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchová were forced to halt play for 50 minutes. Rather than the typical severe weather or electrical problems often responsible for stymieing athletic contests, the tennis competition was ground to a halt due to demonstrations by Extinction Rebellion activists calling for an end to fossil fuels.
Gauff, the young phenom and eventual tournament champion, wasn’t too perturbed, saying after "If that’s what they felt they needed to do to get their voices heard, I can’t really get upset at it." To understand the impact of climate protests designed to capture public attention, we spoke with Dana R. Fisher, Ilana Cohen, and Rose Abramoff. Their episode is available on all major podcast platforms.
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One more thing, Ben: we want to hear your story of community resilience. We want to hear about how you made it through a climate-related event and its aftermath with the help of your neighbors or local contacts.
What did it mean to have people close by to lend a hand? How did you help someone in need in your area? Give us a call and share your story.
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