Author: Adam Stretford
Something incredible just happened. Right-wing political commentator Ben Shapiro and left-wing political commentator Ana Kasparian just agreed on something…and that thing is nuclear energy.
Ben Shapiro, editor-in-chief of The Daily Wire and host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and Ana Kasparian, producer, and co-host of “The Young Turks”, are known for making headlines and being fiercely devoted to their respective political ideologies. However, being on opposite sides of the political spectrum hasn’t stopped these two heavyweight political pundits from recently agreeing with each other that we need nuclear energy.
Whether you love or hate either of these two controversial and polarizing figures, the mere fact that they can agree on any topic is amazing in its own right. Look no further than their October 2021 debate or countless public criticisms of one another as proof of this. But a recent one-on-one interview between these two on the Ben Shapiro Show has sparked hope that even the most passionate political ideologies can find common ground in the most surprising places, which is, in this instance, energy policy. As Ben Shapiro noted to Ana during their interview, “If you and I can agree on a thing, it’s a pretty good notion that that’s a fairly commonsensical thing…if we can agree on something like nuclear energy, then really there isn’t that much to argue about.”
This conversation on nuclear energy started when Ana expressed that people need to think critically about their opinions and investigate further when they hear new information that they disagree with. Ana said she took it upon herself to do this with nuclear energy.
“Once I realized right now the technology for renewables isn’t quite where we need it to be, where we can just give up fossil fuels and be okay, [I realized] a good clean energy solution to close that gap, at least for now would be nuclear…a lot of people on the left have a negative reaction to it [nuclear], but I think it’s partly because they are not typically exposed to other perspectives, everyone is kind of in their ideological bubble.
It’s a huge problem in my opinion.” Ana later said, “I used to be 100% against nuclear. I thought nuclear would be super dangerous.” However, these preconceived notions of nuclear went out the window as she discovered the “necessity for nuclear energy”.
Ben Shapiro responded by saying, “That’s a great example. I’ve always used nuclear energy as the litmus test on people who take climate change seriously…There are people on the right who will say that it [climate change] doesn’t exist, that there has been no global warming over the last hundred years, or who say there is no anthropogenic global warming…and my perspective has always been that I don’t have the expertise to challenge the IPCC (the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) when they suggest there will be a certain amount of climate change…so the question becomes what do we do to prevent as much of this as possible while still maintaining a lifestyle Westerners are used to, and [a lifestyle] that we should aspire to for the rest of the world. Nuclear energy has always been a great way of doing that.”
These comments highlight one of the main benefits of nuclear energy. Not only do nuclear reactors produce clean, reliable, safe energy, but they are also able to do this while meeting the goals of both political parties. Whether you care about climate change on the left or energy security on the right, nuclear energy ticks off both boxes.
Current events are highlighting the benefits of nuclear energy even further. For example, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has plunged Europe into a severe fuel shortage, dramatically increasing inflation, devastating the economy, and producing immediate environmental concerns. This has made it clear that an overreliance on foreign fossil fuels and intermittent renewable energy is no longer an acceptable solution.
Our climate stability and national security depend upon clean, reliable energy production, so generating more nuclear energy is key to ensuring we meet our climate and energy security goals. Fortunately, as evidenced by the exchange of views between Shapiro and Kasparian, even opposite sides of the political spectrum can come together to support nuclear energy.
