Nearly half of Democrats surveyed in one poll are in favor of expanding nuclear energy throughout America, an idea recently touted by former president Donald Trump.
Nuclear energy’s favorability has increased in recent years as more people recognize it as a clean energy source and alternative to fossil fuels, the use of which can exacerbate climate change. Trump spoke in favor of expanding nuclear energy across America, specifically in regard to how he sees nuclear power as an avenue to increase the nation’s energy supply needed for artificial intelligence (AI), in a discussion with Shawn Ryan, a former Navy SEAL and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) contractor, that aired on Monday.
“For AI you will need…more electricity than we have right now,” Trump said. “You’ll need double the energy that we produce right now just for that one industry if we’re going to be the big player.”
“President Trump has said he wants to utilize all forms of energy, while Comrade Kamala wants to demonize energy producers as she peddles her Green New Scam,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told Newsweek. Newsweek reached out to Harris’ campaign by email for comment.
However, current federal rules and regulations—many of which were passed decades ago to protect the environment but now slow infrastructure projects needed to meet the U.S. government’s environmental goals from occurring at the needed pace—make it difficult to construct nuclear power plants on an efficient timeline.
“So we have to produce massive electricity that we don’t have, but the environmental impact statements won’t allow us to do that,” Trump said. “The rules and regulations that we currently have won’t allow us to do any of it, not even a tiny fraction of it. But if I’m president, we’ll be able to do it.”
Trump’s plan to build more nuclear power plants is one that could prove agreeable among Democrats, according to a poll completed in May and updated in August by the Pew Research Center. The poll surveyed 8,638 randomly selected U.S. adults and found that 49 percent of Democrats said they were in favor of expanding nuclear energy sources across the U.S.
Democrats are more likely to support clean energy like wind or solar, with 88 percent and 91 percent of poll-takers voicing their support for each source respectively, but neither energy source is completely innocent in its impact on the environment, particularly with regards to harming wildlife. Far more Democrats support nuclear energy than energy acquired from offshore oil or gas drilling, hydraulic fracturing or coal mining.
“Nuclear now has become very good, very safe,” Trump said in the Ryan interview.
It’s also one of the cleanest forms of energy available, which helps bridge the gap between Democrats and Republicans, although the latter are more inclined to support the expansion of nuclear power plants. However, the Democrats voicing their support for expanding America’s nuclear energy profile has increased by 12 points since 2020, Pew Research Center reported.
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