Original Proposal

[Steve Kunath]

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Original Proposal – Oliver Stone’s “Nuclear Now” + “A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and the Rest Can Follow” – May 17

Originally posted by Steve Kunath » Mon Apr 10, 2023 9:09 am – 73 views in Sec. 3 (Possible Topics for Future Meetings) before being transplanted here


I propose we focus on two related items –

(1) Oliver Stone’s new 1 hour 45 minute documentary “Nuclear Now” to appear in U.S. theaters* beginning 4/28/2023 per Oliver Stone’s “official trailer”; and the book on which the documentary was based --

(2) “A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and the Rest Can Follow” by Joshua Goldstein and Staffan Quist (PublicAffairs Publishing hardcover 1/8/2019 & paperback 11/17/2020 – 226 pages sans notes & index – Hardcover $15.25 or Paperback $16.78 or Kindle $11.99 from Amazon.com).

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* Excerpt from our 4/22/2023 pre-dawn weekly newsletter –

Oliver Stone’s new 1 hour 45 minute documentary “Nuclear Now” will appear in U.S. theaters beginning 4/28/2023 per Oliver Stone’s “official trailer” released last month.

HOWEVER, IF YOU BLINK, YOU WILL PROBABLY MISS IT!!!

THE OFFICIAL “NUCLEAR NOW” WEBSITE (https://www.nuclearnowfilm.com/) LETS YOU SELECT “FIND A THEATER” AND THEN YOUR STATE, WHEREUPON IT WILL GIVE YOU A CURRENT LIST OF THEATERS AND DATES.

FOR UTAH, THERE ARE CURRENTLY ONLY 5 THEATERS IN THE ENTIRE STATE SCHEDULED TO SHOW “NUCLEAR NOW.”

AND EACH OF THE 5 HAS ONLY ONE SHOWING – THE EVENING OF MAY 1.

Accordingly, our focus book will be “A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and the Rest Can Follow” by Joshua Goldstein and Staffan Quist. And hopefully those who are able to see Oliver Stone’s “Nuclear Now” which is based on “A Bright Future” can provide extra context.

-----End of Excerpt from 4/22/2023 weekly e-mail-----


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IMDb Description of Oliver Stone’s “Nuclear Now”

As fossil fuels cook the planet, the world is finally forced to confront a massive disinformation campaign about humanity's cleanest, safest, and fastest energy source – nuclear energy. Beneath our feet, Uranium atoms in the Earth's crust hold incredibly concentrated energy. Science unlocked this energy in the mid-20th century, first for bombs and then to power submarines, and the United States led the effort to generate electricity from this new source. Yet in the mid-20th century as societies began the transition to nuclear power and away from fossil fuels, a long-term PR campaign to scare the public began, funded in part by coal and oil interests. This campaign would sow fear about harmless low-level radiation and create confusion between nuclear weapons and nuclear power. With unprecedented access to the nuclear industry in France, Russia, and the United States, director Oliver Stone explores the possibility for the global community to overcome the challenges of climate change and energy poverty to reach a brighter future through the power of nuclear energy.


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Description of “A Bright Future” by Amazon.com

The inspiration for Nuclear Now, the new Oliver Stone film, co-written by Joshua Goldstein

As climate change quickly approaches a series of turning points that guarantee disastrous outcomes, a solution is hiding in plain sight. Several countries have already replaced fossil fuels with low-carbon energy sources, and done so rapidly, in one to two decades. By following their methods, we could decarbonize the global economy by midcentury, replacing fossil fuels even while world energy use continues to rise. But so far we have lacked the courage to really try.

In this clear-sighted and compelling book, Joshua Goldstein and Staffan Qvist explain how clean energy quickly replaced fossil fuels in such places as Sweden, France, South Korea, and Ontario. Their people enjoyed prosperity and growing energy use in harmony with the natural environment. They didn't do this through personal sacrifice, nor through 100 percent renewables, but by using them in combination with an energy source the Swedes call käkraft, hundreds of times safer and cleaner than coal.

Clearly written and beautifully illustrated, yet footnoted with extensive technical references, Goldstein and Qvist's book will provide a new touchstone in discussions of climate change. It could spark a shift in world energy policy that, in the words of Steven Pinker's foreword, literally saves the world.


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Author Bios per Amazon.com

Joshua S. Goldstein is an International Relations professor who writes about the big issues facing humanity. He is the author of six books about war, peace, diplomacy, and economic history, and a bestselling college textbook, International Relations. Among other awards, his book War and Gender (2001) won the International Studies Association's "Book of the Decade Award" in 2010. Goldstein has a B.A. from Stanford and a Ph.D. from M.I.T. He is professor emeritus at American University in Washington, DC, and research scholar at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he lives. See www.joshuagoldstein.com.

Staffan A. Qvist is a Swedish engineer, scientist and consultant to clean energy projects around the world. He has lectured and authored numerous studies in the scientific literature on various topics relating to energy technology and policy, nuclear reactor design and safety, and climate change mitigation strategies -- research that has been covered by Scientific American and many other media outlets. Trained as a nuclear engineer (Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley), he is now involved in renewable energy development projects and also works with several "fourth generation" nuclear start-ups. For more information, see www.staffanqvist.com.


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Editorial Reviews per Amazon.com

The most important book about climate change since An Inconvenient Truth.
―from the foreword by Harvard Psychology Prof. Steven Pinker

"A Bright Future starts with a bang. 'Few books can credibly claim to offer a way to save the world, but this one does,' the psychologist Steven Pinker writes in his foreword. That is a bold assertion, but by the time I had finished the book, I was half-convinced he was right."
―Ed Crooks, Financial Times

"A Bright Future addresses the fears that people have around nuclear as an energy source and illuminates a path to making it a more significant part of our energy portfolio. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to preserve the planet for our children and grandchildren."
―Christine Todd Whitman, former head of the EPA

"A Bright Future lays out the only viable path that has been proposed for rapid global decarbonization."
―James Hansen, climate scientist, Columbia University

"A Bright Future comes along at a critical time for our planet. Its key message: the climate is changing, the consequences are serious, and we can and must take action."
―George P. Shultz

"A rational if somewhat unlikely strategy to reverse global warming using current technology and without self-denial... The authors argue for nuclear power, and the facts are certainly on their side....A reasonable argument directed at a lay audience."
―Kirkus Reviews

"Goldstein and Qvist offer food for thought, making this a viable resource in the arsenal of arguments for and against the best methods of staving off a global energy crisis."
―Booklist