Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, September 12, 2024

September 12, 2024

https://thebulletin.org

LAURA KUHL, JAMIE SHINN
What the Mountain Valley Pipeline debacle says about energy permitting reform and ‘just transitions’

Permitting reform is necessary to meet US climate goals, but building infrastructure quickly cannot come at the expense of justice. Read more.

JOHN KEANE
How demagogues destroy democracy: a step-by-step global guide

Today’s demagogues are the harbingers of a new, 21st-century form of despotism: a corrupted, “phantom democracy” in which periodic elections are held but the rich become super-rich and omnipotent—while most of the populace is gripped by feelings of powerlessness. Part of our September magazine, this article is available to all readers for a limited time. Read more.

FILIPPA LENTZOS, JEZ LITTLEWOOD, HAILEY WINGO, ALBERTO MUTI
Apathy and hyperbole cloud the real risks of AI bioweapons

Researchers are divided on whether the rapid improvement in AI technologies in recent years makes bioterror or war more likely. The truth probably doesn’t lie in the extremes. Read more.

DUSTIN MULVANEY
Permitting reform is back from the dead. Will lawmakers sacrifice America’s public lands to the fossil fuel industry?

Accelerating the energy transition to renewables should not be contingent on the continued dominance and expansion of fossil fuels, nor should it undermine the very environmental laws that have helped clean our water and air. Read more.

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JOHN MECKLIN, THOMAS GAULKIN
No cats or dogs were killed during the completion of this debate scorecard

In Tuesday’s debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, the candidates made glancing references to existential threats the Bulletin emphasizes. But in a United States presidential campaign, something of existential import is better than nothing. Read more.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The long-term solution is we have to have enrichment [...] Even if we down-blended all that material tomorrow, we couldn’t supply the demonstration needs of all the advanced reactor companies the US has stated right now.”
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— Jeff Chamberlin, the acting principal assistant deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation, “The US is dismantling nuclear warheads to power the next generation of reactors,” CNN