Cory Booker: Democrats Who Oppose Nuclear Energy Are Like Climate Deniers

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) told HuffPost in an interview published Thursday that Democrats who reject the use of nuclear power are like Republicans who deny the theory of human-caused climate change.

Booker reiterated his support for nuclear energy, which he highlighted in CNN’s special climate town hall Sep. 4, saying that the emissions-free technology was the only realistic way for the country to achieve the goals of the “Green New Deal.”

HuffPost reported:

In a wide-ranging interview with HuffPost, the Democratic presidential hopeful said he once shared progressives’ skepticism of nuclear power but became convinced that reaching net-zero emissions from the utility sector by 2030 was impossible without the source that generates more power than all forms of renewables combined.

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“As much as we say the Republicans when it comes to climate change must listen to science, our party has the same obligation to listen to scientists,” Booker said. “The data speaks for itself.”

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“If we had a president who was going to pull us out of nuclear, we’d be more reliant on fossil fuels,” Booker said. “It’s as simple as that.”

As Breitbart News reported, Booker told the CNN town hall that  “people who think we can get” to zero emissions by 2030 “without nuclear being part of the blend just aren’t looking at the facts.”

Of the frontrunners for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, only former vice president Joe Biden has not ruled out nuclear energy. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) both reject it. Businessman Andrew Yang is the only other Democratic candidate, aside from Booker, who has fully embraced nuclear energy.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He earned an A.B. in Social Studies and Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.