Nuclear power does exactly what environmentalists want -- but they still hate it

Stu Burguiere can't understand why people who are passionate about energy efficiency and climate change, such as Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (I), hate nuclear energy.

After all, every time we shut down a nuclear power plant in the United States, carbon emissions go up by millions of metric tons. Isn't that a bad thing?

When Bernie's own state shut down the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, it was replaced by a plant burning a fossil fuel: natural gas. Emissions went up by five percent, the first increase since 2010.

Thirty million tons of carbon emissions spewed into the crisp Vermont air, partly blamed on the cold winter and New Englanders trying to not freeze to death.

Nuclear power is largely carbon neutral and in theory, "an environmentalist's dream," Stu said. Yet seven more plants are scheduled to close between now and 2025. The Energy Information Administration predicts an increase of 30-46 million metric tons of carbon emissions.

To see more from Stu, visit his channel on TheBlaze and watch "Wonderful World of Stu" live Fridays 8–8:30 p.m. or anytime on-demand at TheBlaze TV.