Nuclear energy and natural gas will still be considered environmentally sustainable investments in the European Union following a court ruling Wednesday, potentially driving massive amounts of financing toward projects that are not widely considered “green.”
Austria had sued the European Commission, the bloc’s executive, over the inclusion of gas and nuclear in the EU’s classification system for environmentally sustainable economic activities. The system helps direct investments to the projects that are most needed to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.
The General Court at the European Court of Justice on Thursday ruled in favor of the commission, dismissing Austria’s action.
Nuclear power is a carbon-free source of electricity but it is not typically labeled as green energy, like solar, wind and other renewables. Generating power this way requires mining and processing uranium to create nuclear fuel, an energy-intensive process that produces emissions. Nuclear reactors generate radioactive waste and there’s a risk of accidents.
Natural, or fossil, gas has lower carbon emissions than coal, but it still warms the planet when burned to produce electricity.
Not only is natural gas dependence a climate threat to Europe, good luck when the jet stream turns off, but it’s also a security threat. As long as they have to keep paying there main geopolitical adversary billions to keep from freezing in the winter, they will never be truly sovereign.