Colorado legislators on Wednesday will debate what might be the most important bill of the session, though not widely acclaimed as such. It goes to social justice, prosperity and saving the planet from carbon emissions.

Senate Bill 24-039, scheduled for hearing Wednesday in the Transportation and Energy Committee, could unite the right and left on energy. It could make possible the nearly impossible goal of electric cars for all, “Electrify Everything” and “Net Zero 2050.”

Sponsored by Republican state Rep. Larry Liston, the bill would classify nuclear electric generation as a “clean energy resource,” joining wind turbines and solar panels. Codifying nuclear as “clean” would give public utilities incentives to invest in nuclear, not just solar and wind assets.

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Colorado’s embrace of modern nuclear technology would do more than add capacity, redundancy and stability to our grid. It would stabilize and possibly lower utility bills for households and businesses, mitigating the damage done to our lowest-income residents by the costly race to go green.

As explained in this space last week, nuclear generation could save Pueblo and other communities in which low- and moderate-income households struggle to pay the costs of solar and wind conversions. For Pueblo, a nuclear plant is far and away the best hope of replacing tax revenues generated by the soon-to-be decommissioned Comanche power plant.

Other communities, such as Craig, also face financial devastation as we close coal mines and coal-fired power plants. Nuclear generation would reverse the damage.

Fear of nuclear power results from low, no, old or flawed information. Technology has advanced to the point where modular nuclear power plants provide the safest form of electrical generation.

Power Technology magazine reports that solar is three times more deadly to humans than wind power and over 10 times more dangerous than nuclear power.

Committee members will learn about the safety and efficiency of modern nuclear generators from the testimony of nuclear engineers, scientists, energy experts, business leaders and Grace Stanke – Miss America 2023, who recently handed the crown to Colorado’s Madison Marsh.

Stanke, a nuclear engineering student, used her national title to promote the environmental and humanitarian benefits of nuclear power. She explains how 95% of nuclear byproducts can be reused for energy or medical purposes such as radiopharmaceuticals to detect diseases and treat cancer.

“In Colorado Springs we are shutting down coal, and next will be natural gas,” Liston said. “In a few years, Colorado Springs and other cities will need nuclear just to meet demand. Wind and solar alone aren’t going to make it.”

Engineers, physicists and utility executives say our country lacks the generation capacity for everyone to have electric cars – let alone everything else running on electricity. Eliminating coal and gas exacerbates the problem by magnitudes.

Nuclear generation would address that problem, thanks to the efficiency of uranium – a natural element abundant in Colorado. One tiny uranium pellet creates as much energy as 1 ton of coal, 149 gallons of oil or 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas.

Unlike solar and wind, fission barely disturbs the earth. Turbine farms – important to a stable and efficient energy portfolio – require 376 times the acreage to produce the output of one small nuclear plant. Solar arrays require 75 times the land of a reactor.

We urge the committee to do the right thing and approve SB 24-039. Do so for electric cars, “electrify everything,” “Net-Zero 2050,” cleaner water and air and the financial welfare of those who struggle to afford the transition to green.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board