First, Finland applies to join NATO, now this.
In a historic shift, Finland’s Green Party voted overwhelmingly to adopt a fully pro-nuclear stance at its national meeting.
The party manifesto now states that nuclear is “sustainable energy” and demands the reform of current energy legislation to streamline the approval process for SMRs (small modular reactors). Finland’s is the first Green Party to adopt such a position.
“I am very happy and proud,” said Tea Törmänen, who attended the conference as a voting member as chair of the Savonia/Karelia chapter of Viite, the pro-science internal group of the party. “This is a historical moment in the history of the green movement, as we are the first green party in the world to officially let go of anti-nuclearism.”
The action was taken at the two-day Vihreät De Gröna (Green Party) party conference, which included 400 participants representing local party groups and other interest groups from across the Nordic country. It ended yesterday in the town of Joensuu. . . .
Finland’s Green Party holds 20 seats in the national parliament and is part of the government coalition, holding the foreign ministry, the internal ministry and the ministry of environment and climate.
And for a bonus point:
The Finland branch of Fridays for Future, the group started by Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, released a statement last December disavowing an anti-nuclear statement by Greta and other climate youth leaders.
The Finnish Fridays for Future group wrote in response that: “Opposition to nuclear power will complicate and increase the already enormous task [of addressing the climate emergency].” They continued: “If we want to stop global warming below 1.5 degrees, we need every possible means, including nuclear power, to achieve that goal.”
Incidentally, my opening sentence should not be read to suggest that there is a direct link between the shattering of the two taboos. Finland’s Greens have been moving in this direction for a while.
See this for example (from 2020):
The Greens are not categorically against building small nuclear reactors as a means of combatting climate change, Green Party Chair and Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo said on Saturday’s morning show broadcast by the Finnish Broadcasting Company.
Essentially, Finland’s Greens appear to be recognizing that the strain of 1970s environmentalism which was centered on opposition to nuclear power is not compatible with belief in a climate “crisis” (and dealing with it). Whatever one may think about the reality of a climate crisis (something different from an acceptance of climate change), at least Finland’s Greens are recognizing that attempting to manage it will involve trade-offs of the type that many climate fundamentalists refuse to recognize, either through stupidity, or because at some level they regard net zero as a form of punishment for a sinful mankind: It is supposed to hurt.
It’s encouraging that the EU Commission’s proposed “green taxonomy” is following a similar logic. We’ll have to see if it gets through. Meanwhile, Germany continues to stick with its anti-nuclear stance, one largely embedded in longstanding superstitious dread and an even more longstanding German obsession with “nature.” The latter, of course, has been part of the country’s political and psychic landscape for a long time, not always in a good way.
But back to Finland:
The latest public opinion polls from Finland show a strong majority in support of nuclear power in the country as a whole. The latest poll, conducted in 2021, showed 74 percent backing nuclear, with only 18 percent opposed. This represents a huge shift from 2011 — in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster — when 42 percent opposed the technology.
The Russian attack on Ukraine is also likely to have solidified support for nuclear, as Europe rushes to extract itself from a dependence on Russian oil and gas…