Julian Castro at the Democratic debate in Miami, Fla., June 26, 2019. (Mike Segar/Reuters)

Julian Castro, like almost all of his peers in the 2020 Democratic primary field, believes that climate change is an “existential threat” to the human race. So existential is the threat posed by a gradual rise in global temperatures that Castro supports local bans on fracking, which could simultaneously displace thousands of workers from well-paying jobs and hinder domestic efforts towards energy independence.


You might think someone so willing to upend the lives of ordinary Americans to appease the climate gods would have little trouble sacrificing his own sacred cows for the cause. Au contraire! Castro told NPR that the country needs to “phase out” nuclear energy, in spite of its emission of near-zero levels of greenhouse gas and its relative cost-efficiency when produced to scale.

Strange response to an “existential threat.”