Why this Bay Area think tank is the most controversial climate ... - San Francisco Chronicle
Bay Area's Breakthrough is the most controversial climate nonprofit
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Ted Nordhaus, co-founder and executive director of the Breakthrough Institute, is seen at the group's offices in Berkeley. “I’m not going to apologize for offending environmentalists,” Nordhaus said. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle Show More Show Less The Breakthrough Institute, a think tank that has clashed with Bay Area environmental groups, recently moved from Oakland to an office in Berkeley. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle
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Journals published by the Breakthrough Institute are seen at their offices in Berkeley in May. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle
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Tucked away in the heart of liberal Berkeley is one of the most controversial organizations in the environmental movement: the Breakthrough Institute, known for advocating for nuclear energy and a pugilistic approach to disagreement.
The think tank’s critics, who include prominent advocates and researchers, decry the group as advancing right-wing ideas and say its policy proposals would delay action on climate change. But if the Breakthrough Institute’s leaders are to be believed, they are reformers with a 21st-century strategy for solving the planet’s problems.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate diplomacy
Talks are well underway in preparation for the next major international meeting on climate change, 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28), scheduled to begin Nov. 30 in the United Arab Emirates.
Much like last year’s COP27, finances — specifically, aid to developing nations — will be at the center of conference deliberations.
The conference faces an even greater sense of urgency brought on by the Sept. 8, 2023, release of the first global stocktake, which calls for accelerated action to meet the goals set in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement (COP21).
Climate diplomacy: COP 27 | Climate diplomacy: COP 28 | Climate diplomacy: COP 29