Common Progress

‘Over 1 Million’ People Wanted a Cybertruck. Where Are They? “Demand is off the charts!” Elon Musk crowed at the end of 2023, citing more than a million reservations for Tesla's polarizing polygonic pickup—so why has it still sold less than 50,000?

On a 2023 earnings call, Elon Musk boasted that Tesla had bagged “over 1 million” Cybertruck reservations and that “demand is off the charts.”

So why has the company still sold less than 50,000 trucks since customer deliveries began 14 months ago?

Agree "federal support that Trump/congress want to take away" is an important issue.

Focused on regulatory reform without mention of federal support, because you can only cover so much in a single thread. This was not a judgement on relative importance of federal support vs. regulatory reform

Why Are Nuclear Power Construction Costs so High? Part II To briefly recap, we previously found that nuclear power construction costs in the US and around the world steadily increased from the late 1960s through the 1980s.

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www.construction-physics.com/p/why-are-nu...

Why Are Nuclear Power Construction Costs so High? Part I Nuclear power currently makes up slightly less than 20% of the total electricity produced in the US, largely from plants built in the 70s and 80s.

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www.construction-physics.com/p/why-are-nu...

The Shape of Nuclear Policy Book review: Nuclear Politics: Energy and the State in the United States, Sweden, and France

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www.construction-physics.com/p/the-shape-...

Brian Potter @const-physics.blogsky.venki.dev is an excellent resource for the context and opportunities here. The following three posts are a good place to start.

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How Interest Groups Shape U.S. Clean Energy Policy Energy policy research from the University of Pennsylvania

Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social has commented on impact of special interest groups on energy policy

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kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/commentary/p...

Reframing Nuclear Narratives with the Breakthrough Institute — MCJ Adam Stein is the Director of Nuclear Energy Innovation at the Breakthrough Institute , where he focuses on the technology, policy, risk and economics of nuclear energy. The Breakthrough In...

Adam Stein @astein.bsky.social has argued that nuclear energy offers a climate change solution.

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mcj.vc/inevitable-p...

YouTube video by Salem Center for Policy The Energy of Tomorrow: The Promise, Failure, and Possible Rebirth of Nuclear Power

Jason Crawford @jasoncrawford.org has made the point that nuclear power was “stunted in the 1970s in large part by a highly turbulent and rapidly escalating regulatory environment”.

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youtu.be/7tYlXY19I3c?...

Diane Coyle @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social has argued that the environmental movement has been foolishly romantic in rejecting technology solutions (including nuclear) and advocating for a turn away from economic growth

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www.the-independent.com/arts-enterta...

YouTube video by Planet: Critical Nuclear and Justice | Jessica Lovering

Jessica Lovering @lovering.bsky.social makes the case that “nuclear is a form of environmental justice”

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-qC...

Will Washington Halt the Global Renaissance of Nuclear Power? Hopes to slash emissions using nuclear energy are being dashed by U.S. regulators.

Ted Nordhaus makes the case that “hopes to slash emissions are being dashed by regulators”

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foreignpolicy.com/2023/04/08/n...

Shift Key with Robinson Meyer and Jesse Jenkins Business News Podcast · Updated Weekly · Every week, Heatmap News Executive Editor Robinson Meyer and Princeton University Professor and energy systems expert Jesse Jenkins make sense of the biggest s...

Jesse Jenkins @jessedjenkins.com points out “Nuclear Energy Is the One Thing Congress Can Agree On”

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podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

Thread below illustrates an openness to nuclear power regulatory reform from across the spectrum.

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Framing for the right: boost economy with affordable power; positive example of value from cutting red tape; move from prescriptive to outcomes based regulation; opportunity to become global leader in next gen nuclear technologies

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Framing for the left: carbon free power for green energy transition; increase environmental justice and lower health impacts by providing alternative to fossil fuels for baseload power; provide example of enabling innovation while enforcing safety and environmental goals

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Can we find common ground on nuclear power regulatory reform?

#EconSky

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Referenced paper

www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...

"Economic Policy Uncertainty index is now higher than it was during COVID"

This is shocking but to surprising