That humming noise you’re hearing is the sound of nuclear power electrifying the national grid. At present, this electrification is only metaphorical, a manifest sense of excitement, but plans are being laid, and contracts are being signed that will turn it into the real thing, a flow of power urgently needed for our prosperity and continued thriving.

Ever since a caveman first struck one stone against another to spark a cooking fire, energy use has been a marker of progress and human flourishing. That is a big reason why green fanatics want to limit energy use. They hate development and wealth creation, at least in their own society and ours. In their bleak view, Earth is less man’s home, ripe for renovation and the pursuit of happiness, than it is a small, lonely, vulnerable blue and green planet in desperate need of protection from our species.