COLUMBUS, Ohio — Right now, a bill is heading to the governor’s desk that would define nuclear energy as green energy and also expand the term of standard oil and gas lease for state land.

What You Need To Know

  • HB 308 is heading to the governor’s desk

  • It would define nuclear energy as green energy, and it also expands the terms of standard oil and gas lease for state land

  • Nicholas Breyfogle, professor of environmental history at The Ohio State University, said this bill would increase consumption instead of addressing the problem

  • Greg Lawson, a research fellow with the Buckeye Institute, said nuclear energy could be cleaner and that there’s a bigger issue that Ohio is currently facing

If Gov. Mike DeWine signs House Bill 308, it would become law.

Nicholas Breyfogle, a professor of environmental history at The Ohio State University, said this bill is part of a bigger plan.

“There’s been a tremendous shift in terms of how humans are thinking about this as they attempt to deal with climate change,” Breyfogle said. “Nuclear power plants produce waste for which we have no, which stays radioactive often for thousands of years.”

Greg Lawson, a research fellow with the Buckeye Institute, said nuclear energy could be cleaner and that there’s a bigger issue that Ohio is currently facing.

“Nuclear energy is zero carbon emission, and from that standpoint, it certainly addresses a lot of the concerns that folks have when they’re concerned about what happens to the climate,” Lawson said. “Right now, Ohio is facing a real challenge. We’ve got a lot of data centers coming into Ohio. This is a massive issue. These things consume just incredible amounts of electricity.”

Breyfogle said this bill would increase consumption instead of addressing the problem.

"In the United States, we have no central plan for dealing with high-level waste,” he said.

But Lawson said Ohio is going to need a lot more energy in the future.

“There is no pristine perfect solution that resolves the dilemma we face, and the dilemma is we have massive demands,” Lawson said.

Another big problem this bill would bring is the cost.

“Solar and wind and geothermal as three options that are out there and ready to go that are much cheaper upfront, much cheaper at the end,” Breyfogle said.

But Lawson said these solutions aren’t always reliable.

“There is a role for things like solar and wind,” Lawson said, "but the key thing for I think folks need to understand is those are intermittent resources, they don’t always work.”

Lawson said there are new future concepts out there such as microgrids, which would allow big consumers to use energy without pulling all of it from the grid in the future.

But Breyfogle believes the solution lies in the people and in reducing consumption.

“Making sure we use less electricity, making sure that we use, we grow, and eat and waste less food, that we produce fewer, you know, fewer clothes that we consume,” Breyfogle said.

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