Boris Johnson’s green plan puts advanced nuclear in top three

Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister, penned an oped in the Financial Times calling for a 12 billion-pount, 10-point plan to effect Britain’s green recovery.  Johnson wants to create 250,000 new jobs and turn the UK into the world’s number one centre for green technology and finance.  It is worth quoting the first three points of his plan verbatim.

“One we will make the UK the Saudi Arabia of wind with enough offshore capacity to power every home by 2030. Two we will turn water into energy with up to 500 million pounds of investment in hydrogen. Three we will take forward our plans for new nuclear power, from large scale to small and advanced modular reactors.”

Britain, which hosts the COP26 global climate change summit in Scotland in 2021 and has committed to a net zero carbon economy by 2050, seeks to use its commitment to tackling climate change to help build a strong partnership with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden. Johnson even uses the phrase “build back better,” to show that he’s in synch with Biden, who has used those words for his transition plannning site.

According to Fortune, the most radical policy is the phasing out diesel and gas car sales by 2030, 10 years earlier than previously scheduled, and head of France and Spain, which have 2040 target dates. Interestingly, the Greenpeace U.K. head of politics, Rebecca Newsom, welcomed the “landmark announcement” signalling the end for polluting cars and vans, as “a historic turning point” in addressing climate change. “Although there are some significant question marks and gaps, overall this is a big step forard for tackling the climate emergency,” Newsom said.

Read more in the FT: “Boris Johnson: Now is the time to plan Britain’s green recovery”and Fortune’s “Facing an epic recession, Britain unveils its ‘green industrial revolution’ to jumpstart economy, create jobs.”

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