The Debate over Pandora’s Promise

On Monday, I attended an advanced screening of the documentary Pandora’s Promise at the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville. The film makes a convincing case for nuclear power as a carbon-free source of energy that may be the answer to solving, or at least reducing, the effects of climate change. 

Director Robert Stone attempts to sever the association between nuclear energy and nuclear weapons once and for all using scientific evidence to demystify this largely misunderstood energy source. He also successfully demonstrates how what he calls “climate deniers” and “anti-nuclear activists” agree that the real power backing up wind and solar is natural gas – a carbon-emitting fossil fuel. 

While I am not a film critic, I suggest you get a ticket and watch the film yourself. No matter where you stand on the issue of nuclear energy, the environmental impacts of climate change are hard to ignore. 

Following the screening, Stone engaged in a discussion with environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. about the information presented in the documentary. Kennedy called the film an “elaborate hoax” and specifically denounced Stone’s inclusion of a speech he delivered where he offered support for natural gas plants. He argued that the film did not do a good enough job explaining why he supports building wind and solar farms next to natural gas plants. When I later asked Kennedy about this comment, he replied, “It’s my company’s strategy [in order] to mitigate reliability issues with renewable energy.”  

During the discussion, event moderator and New York Times reporter Andrew Revkin asked, “Why should we trust you Mr. Kennedy? You too have money invested in these renewable energy projects the same way the other side does. Given these facts, what makes you more right than them?”  

Kennedy directed the audience to the findings of a study by anti-nuclear advocate Dr. Helen Caldicott, which claims that there were more than million deaths following Chernobyl. He added that he witnessed the effects of nuclear first-hand when he visited a hospital built by Fidel Castro to service children from the Ukraine in Cuba. 

Stone responded, “To call me a liar and assert that the World Health Organization, United Nations, and the Centers for Disease Control are in cahoots with the nuclear industry to cover up one million deaths is fundamentally wrong.” Revkin then pointed out that the film showed Dr. Caldicott admitting she too didn’t know for certain the source of her “more than one million deaths” estimate. 

Stone finally addressed the 800-pound gorilla in the room during his concluding remarks, saying “It appears that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is going to shut down Indian Point, but that is not an environmental victory – it will be replaced by natural gas and represents a major loss to the fuel diversity [critical for] combatting climate change.” 

For full disclosure, I am a nuclear proponent, I support Indian Point’s continued operation, and I work for an organization that includes Indian Point owner Entergy among its 150-plus members. Like Robert Stone and the converted environmental activists featured in Pandora’s Promise, I too am eager to hear opponents come up with a comparable alternative to nuclear – a large, non-carbon emitting generator of reliable, affordable, and baseload power.