The New Orleans-based Deep South Center for Environmental Justice is a left-leaning 501(c)(3) climate policy nonprofit that promotes the use of weather dependent power systems, such as wind and solar energy, and opposes the use of hydrocarbons and carbon free nuclear power.  ¹

Opposition to Nuclear Energy

In a May 2021 statement, the Deep South Center claimed nuclear power “disproportionately harms Black and Indigenous communities” and is “not ‘renewable’ or ‘clean.'” ¹

Nuclear power plants produce no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions, and as of 2021 accounted for 20 percent of American electricity production—the largest source of zero carbon electricity in the United States. ² An October 2018 proposal from The Nature Conservancy noted that zero-carbon nuclear plants produced 7.8 percent of total world energy output and recommended reducing carbon emissions by increasing nuclear capacity to 33 percent of total world energy output. ³

1. “New Orleans Gains Ground on Renewable Energy.” Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. May 21, 2021. Accessed January 6, 2024. https://dscej.org/2021/05/21/new-orleans-gains-ground-on-renewable-energy/
2. “Nuclear explained.” U.S. Energy Information Administration. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/nuclear/us-nuclear-industry.php
3. “ The Science of Sustainability.” The Nature Conservancy. October 13, 2018. Accessed August 16, 2021. https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-insights/perspectives/the-science-of-sustainability/