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Ted Nordhaus

Ted Nordhaus

Executive director of the Breakthrough Institute

Aug 11, 2026

16:58
Uh, Ted, ecomodernism, um, does it require a rethinking of our current economy in the US, or economies that are better? [chuckles]
17:07
No, it doesn't.
17:07
It doesn't.
17:07
I mean, I think, you know, what I think, uh, uh, you know, I think it's a feature, or Josh probably thinks it's a bug.
17:13
Uh, but I think one of the great things about ecomodernism is that it's pretty plug and play with industrial modernity.
17:20
We basically are saying we should be leaning in to these very robust long-term modernization processes, and, you know, we can power all of that increasing energy demand with nuclear energy and also solar.
17:37
Those are the two things we identified in the Ecomodernist Manifesto as, as energy, clean energy technologies that are virtually unlimited, and that's a world where people have, you know, more leisure, more surplus, and more opportunities for people to choose their own path without necessarily, uh, sort of destroying all of our natural inheritance in the process.
20:37
Mm-hmm.
16:58
Uh, Ted, ecomodernism, um, does it require a rethinking of our current economy in the US or economies that are better or-
17:07
No, it doesn't.
17:07
It doesn't.
17:07
I mean, I think, you know, what I think, uh, uh, you know, I think is a feature, Josh probably thinks it's a bug.
17:13
Uh, but I think one of the great things about ecomodernism is that it's pretty plug and play with industrial modernity.
17:19
We basically are saying we should be leaning into these very robust long-term modernization processes.
17:29
And, you know, we can power all of that increasing energy demand with nuclear energy and also solar.
20:37
Mm-hmm.

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