Every dollar spent on nuclear is one less dollar spent on clean

Mark Z. Jacobson, voice of science and conscience, warns with thunderous clarity: “Every dollar spent on nuclear is one less dollar spent on clean renewable energy and one more dollar spent on making the world a comparatively dirtier and a more dangerous place, because nuclear power and nuclear weapons go hand in hand.” In this saying he reveals the grave choice that lies before nations: to build a future of renewable energy, pure and life-giving, or to sink treasure into nuclear power, a path shadowed by waste, peril, and the specter of weapons. For every investment is a seed, and the harvest will either be a cleaner world or a poisoned one.

The ancients often spoke of such choices between life and death, between paths of virtue and ruin. Hesiod, in his Works and Days, described the two roads before mankind: one steep and hard leading to good, the other smooth and easy leading to destruction. Jacobson’s words echo this ancient wisdom, reminding us that resources, once spent, cannot be reclaimed, and the direction of wealth determines the destiny of the earth.

History bears grim testimony in the tale of the Cold War. Trillions were poured into nuclear arms, while poverty, hunger, and pollution spread across the globe. The link Jacobson speaks of—between nuclear power and nuclear weapons—was evident, for each reactor carried within it the shadow of the bomb. The Cuban Missile Crisis nearly plunged the world into fire, not because humanity lacked wisdom, but because it had chosen to place its treasure in destruction rather than renewal.

Yet there is also hope in his words, for he calls us to remember the power of renewable energy—the wind that has blown since creation, the sun that has shone since the dawn of time, the waters that flow unceasingly. These are sources that do not corrupt, that do not arm nations for war, but instead bless the earth with life. To spend upon them is to invest in peace, in health, and in the generations yet unborn.

Let the generations remember: every coin is a vote, every dollar a declaration of what we value. To spend upon nuclear power is to tie the future to danger, but to spend upon clean energy is to bind ourselves to the eternal gifts of creation. Jacobson speaks not merely of economics, but of morality: that the stewardship of earth is the sacred trust of mankind. Choose wisely, for in the treasury of nations lies the fate of the world.