Does President Obama You Know That Sweden Is 40% Nuclear?

President Obama swung through Sweden this morning on his way to Russia and took the occasion for yet another lecture on how the rest of the world is moving toward a clean energy economy and we should follow their example. “Sweden is obviously an extraordinary leader when it comes to tackling climate change and increasing energy efficiency, and developing new technologies. And the goal of achieving a carbon-neutral economy is remarkable, and Sweden is well on its way. We deeply respect and admire that and think we can learn from it,” the President said. Sweden does indeed have the lowest rate of carbon emissions in Europe. What the President didn't mention is that Sweden gets 40 percent of its electricity from nuclear energy, second in Europe only to France and tiny Lithuania. In a country the size of California with the population of North Carolina, the Swedes have 10 operating reactors and two held in reserve. Combined with its ample hydro, this gives Sweden 90 percent “clean energy” with almost no fossil fuels. As for solar panels and windmills, there aren’t any in sight. Of course no one in the press is mentioning this. The only story this morning about Swedish nuclear was a report in the Copenhagen Post that hydro has been so plentiful this year that Sweden has started exporting some of its excess electricity to Denmark, making that country 14 percent nuclear as well. Remember, Denmark is the land that runs on windmills. Unfortunately, the press has created a huge bubble surrounding the role of renewable energy in achieving carbon reductions.