Pro-nuke activist from Berkeley to run for California governor

Michael Shellenberger, a think tank founder who urges use of nuclear power as a solution to climate change, announced he will seek the governorship. Michael Shellenberger, a think tank founder who urges use of nuclear power as a solution to climate change, announced he will seek the governorship. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Pro-nuke activist from Berkeley to run for California governor 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The latest candidate to replace Gov. Jerry Brown is a Berkeley resident best known as one of the nation’s most vocal advocates for nuclear power.

Michael Shellenberger, the 46-year-old founder of the Breakthrough Institute think tank, announced his candidacy for governor Thursday afternoon during a panel conversation at the ClimateTech conference in San Francisco. Shellenberger, who in an interview called himself a lifelong Democrat, plans to run as an independent.

He will join a growing field that includes well-financed front-runners Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Antonio Villaraigosa, the former mayor of Los Angeles.

Shellenberger rose to prominence as a writer and public speaker arguing that nuclear power is essential to fighting climate change, a position he says the environmental movement has grown too calcified to accept. More recently, he has campaigned against plans by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to close Diablo Canyon, California’s last nuclear power plant. In 2016, he launched the organization Environmental Progress to push for nuclear technology’s use.

Although he announced his candidacy Thursday during a panel discussion of nuclear power’s future, he said beforehand that his campaign would focus on other issues as well.

“We have some of the highest taxes in the country and some of the lowest-performing schools,” he said. “It’s a broken system.”

Should he win, however, Shellenberger said, he would create a “citizens’ jury” to decide the fate of both Diablo Canyon and Southern California’s San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, which shut down in 2012.

“I feel pretty confident that the public, once they weigh the evidence, will want to keep Diablo Canyon open and restart San Onofre,” he said. “But if they don’t, I’ll respect the will of the people.”

David R. Baker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dbaker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DavidBakerSF