Rep. Chuck Fleischmann: Clean energy – Biden and Republicans can work together. Here's how

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I am a strong believer that there is still a path forward for Republicans and Democrats to work together on clean energy.  

President Joe Biden has said he is committed to reducing carbon emissions, but real progress can only come from working with Congress, not through executive orders. If President Biden reached out to Congress, he may be surprised to learn that there is a large coalition of lawmakers from across the political spectrum who are eager to get involved in the fight to reduce carbon emissions.  

Specifically, there is growing bipartisan support for nuclear energy. Nuclear energy holds the key to reducing our country’s carbon footprint without sacrificing reliability and economic competitiveness, and it will take a champion in the White House and partners in Congress to revitalize America’s struggling nuclear sector.  

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Any serious conversation about the future of America’s energy production must include nuclear energy, which accounts for 20% of all American energy production and 55% of American carbon-free-energy production. Unlike wind and solar, nuclear energy can be reliably supplied on demand, not just when the wind is blowing or when the sun is shining. Nuclear-energy plants also have the advantage of using less land space than solar and wind farms. 

Many of my colleagues in Congress, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, have expressed their support for nuclear energy.  

It is also critical that we recognize the role nuclear energy has in not just our energy security, but also our national security. As nations like China and Russia heavily invest in nuclear energy, the United States has fallen behind. While China has 12 nuclear reactors currently under construction and Russia has 10 planned or underway, the United States currently only has two reactors under construction.  

Our potential adversaries recognize that dominance in the nuclear sector will position them to wield power in ways that will be hostile to our interests – it’s critical for our future that the United States does not allow ourselves to fall behind.  

The Biden administration should also take note of how the Trump administration made strides toward revitalizing America’s nuclear energy industry.

The Biden administration should also take note of how the Trump administration made strides toward revitalizing America’s nuclear energy industry – putting nuclear front and center in its strategy for United States energy dominance.  

Early in his tenure, President Trump convened the Nuclear Fuel Working Group to draft a comprehensive report on America’s nuclear energy leadership.

That report, released last year, recommended that the U.S. take "a whole-of-government approach to supporting the U.S. nuclear energy industry in exporting civil nuclear technology in competition with state-owned enterprises." This burden now falls upon the Biden administration, including the White House, the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to work with Congress if we have any hope of saving America’s clean energy sector.  

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Our national laboratories have also historically enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress. For example, in my district in East Tennessee, some of our nation’s brightest minds are hard at work at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory working to find ways to make nuclear reactors even safer, cheaper, more efficient and faster to deploy.

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Oak Ridge also conducts extensive research into nuclear fuels to support the deployment of advanced nuclear energy systems, which are an essential component of the Trump administration’s strategy to restore American leadership in the global nuclear market.  

Despite the many ideological differences between President Trump and President Biden, it would be a mistake to let the progress made under the Trump administration become a casualty of partisanship.  

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President Biden has an opportunity to build upon the work of the Trump administration, and reach across the aisle to support one of our nation’s most critical pieces of clean energy infrastructure.

I am hopeful that Democrats and Republicans will be able to join together to support the continuation of these efforts by the new Biden administration and in doing so, take concrete steps toward reducing our carbon emissions, while making America a more secure and prosperous nation.  

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