ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Mark Jacobson has spent the majority of the last two decades developing roadmaps to completely transition states to wind, water and solar renewable energies — not nuclear. Host Heather Lynch and Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University and co-founder of the non-profit group, The Solutions Project, with actor/activist Mark Ruffalo, spoke in November 2025.
This is a director’s cut of America's Nuclear Future, a national radio broadcast special from American Public Media.
Learn more:
- "No Miracles Needed: How Today's Technology Can Save Our Climate and Clean Our Air" (2023)
- "100% Clean, Renewable Energy and Storage for Everything" (2020)“Review of solutions to global warming, air pollution, and energy security” by Mark Jacobson
Skip ahead to the chapter that interests you:
- 01:12 Meet Mark Jacobson
- 01:33 Why Wind, Water, Solar Works
- 03:58 From Global to State Plans
- 05:24 AI Data Centers Demand
- 07:56 Existing vs New Nuclear
- 11:25 China Nuclear Reality Check
- 12:59 Intermittency and Grid Balance
- 16:00 Policy Headwinds and Subsidies
- 17:25 Big Tech Bets on Nuclear
- 19:02 Closing Nuclear Is a ‘Duck’
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C4E Presents is a production of Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth.
Host: Heather Lynch
Editor: J.D. Allen
Producer: Jordan Vallone
Program Manager: Jennifer Gilday
