The Ecomodernist

American author and environmental policy writer Michael Shellenberger explains how nuclear energy can prove advantageous to a world coping with the impact of climate change

- Chit L Lijauco

In the spring of 2015, Michael Shellenberger joined 17 environmental activists in signing a manifesto that would promote the belief that renewable energy is not enough to stop the harmful effects of climate change. The group further posited that an answer to this environmental threat could be clean energy, the largest source of which is nuclear power. They called themselves ecomodernists.

As expected, the manifesto was disparaged and condemned; its authors pilloried and denounced by those, of course, who thought otherwise. And yet they prevailed, gaining more converts through the years.

Shellenberger was honoured by Time magazine as Hero of the Environment in 2008. He shared the recognition with Ted Nordhaus, his co-founder in the environmental research company Breakthrough Institute. One of ecomodernism’s staunchest advocates, he holds the record of saving—or helping save—14 nuclear power plants all over the world. He now believes that another one, the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) in the Philippines, can and must be revived.

His interest in the Philippines was piqued by a kindred spirit, former congressman Mark Cojuangco. Himself a believer in nuclear energy, Cojuangco has been championing this cause since August 2007, during his last term as congressional representative of Pangasinan’s 5th district.

He communicated with Shellenberger via the Internet and on a trip to San Francisco, they met. When Cojuangco extended an invitation to come to the Philippines, Shellenberger countered with another, quid pro quo. Would Cojuangco join him in Taiwan where the government was holding a referendum on its anti-nuclear law that mandates that its nuclear plants be closed by 2024?