Welcome to Sunday Snacks, folks.

It’s been a hot ass July, so naturally we have to talk about climate change. We were gonna cover the writers strike but we’ll save that for Wednesday.

NOTE: JUST BECAUSE WE’RE TALKING ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE DOESN’T MEAN WE’RE WRITING DOOM AND GLOOM.

We’re talking about the surprising competence of the Biden administration in this area (relatively speaking), and some other economic stuff….that we may have to think about.

Here’s the run-down for this week:

Homer Simpson will always have a job

Joe Biden is betting on nuclear energy in a big way. Here’s what’s happening

• Nuclear energy companies will now qualify for the same tax credits as other clean energy sources

• There’s also a $6B fund to keep current reactors maintained and running

• This is essentially child born from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the infrastructure bill, where tax credits + the 6bn fund will make Nuclear energy part of the conversation in clean energy sources

What to tell the guy who won’t stop talking about the solar panels on his house

This is a HUGE step in the right direction. Clean energy independence, an eventual shit ton of new jobs, and investing in ‘long forgotten’ parts of America is only a good thing. Another important aspect is national security, where the US would be potentially less sensitive to the volatility of global energy prices.

There’s 3 big challenges here, though:

1. Cost: Nuclear plants are really expensive to build. They’re technical things to conceive, build, and operate

2. Fuel/Waste: Where are we gonna buy process uranium? Russia has a metric shit ton of this stuff. Doesn’t ‘look great’ to be a trading partner with them right now.

3. Labor market: There’s 3 modular plants coming in the short-term, and who knows how many in the long-term. We need people to operate and maintain these things. While it’s a long term need, it would only result in cost overruns to kick-start construction on new Nuclear initiatives (whether it’s test sites or full-blown plants).

Coal Miners always getting the shaft

So, we just talked about the US as we already know is transitioning away from fossil fuels toward clean energy, but here’s the immediate/short-term things we have to consider, Nuclear safety net be damned.

• While this shift is expected to create many clean energy jobs, it could also lead to significant job losses in regions dependent on coal, oil, and gas industries.

• The Biden administration is trying to mitigate the impact by offering tax advantages for renewable energy projects in vulnerable regions.

• However, some economists, researchers, and union leaders are skeptical that these measures will be sufficient to offset job losses.

Okay, fine. You don’t care about coal miners. But why does this matter?

Okay, so you’ve heard this before. It’s America so someone is always getting left behind.

But in this case, it’s one of the most predictable emergencies next to pandemics.

The economic decline from closing fossil fuel industries affects not just workers but also schools, roads, and law enforcement. If we don't address this transition carefully, it could leave behind struggling communities and lead to political backlash.

Over time, the switch to clean energy from run-of-the-mill sources is not 1:1. A lot of these workers in these industries happen to be men, some of which who are already experiencing a generational crisis.

Again, none of this is investment advice.

What AI made this week

Have a great week!

Ahmed and Peter