Under Trump - Michigan’s Future Lies with Nuclear

President Trump has made it clear that he will abandon the entire Green Agenda and commit the nation to building hundreds and hundreds of new power plants, including Nuclear Plants. 

Trump made this promise about EVs at a North Carolina rally in October -

“On Day 1 of the Trump administration, I will terminate [Vice President] Kamala [Harris’] insane electric vehicle mandate, and we will end the green new scam once and for all. The green new scam will end.”

How will this affect the energy plans of our individual states? Are our State and County Republican leadership prepared to recognize the full implications of this shift and unleash its full potential for the creation of high skilled jobs and new manufacturing?

Michigan: A Case Study

We will see below that the earlier Democratic state projects focused primarily on the green agenda are going by the wayside. But at the same time, a certain level of foresight for a different direction was also put into motion. This has given our state a significant head start to orient to the policy shifts now opening up under Pres. Trump. 

In 2021, Governor Whitmer and the Republican Legislature created the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve Program (SOAR) to support “manufacturing” jobs. The problem was that the majority of the industries were oriented to Green Agenda projects.

Four of the investments were centered on EV battery projects, with three of them involving Chinese or Korean firms. Another project involving retooling one auto plant to solely produce EV cars, is facing severe cutbacks as consumer demand has collapsed. And finally, of the two semiconductor plant facilities being promoted, one is supposed to rely on a new Solar Component factory as its energy source. 

On December 4, 2024, the Detroit News headlined, “Michigan targeted 2.1B for new businesses, but few jobs created as new aid requests loom,” and that accurately sums up the overall disaster of this now three-year initiative.

Now, with Pres. Trump committed to scrap the entirety of the green energy agenda and eliminate the excessive environmental protection policies that make it almost impossible to rapidly bring new projects online, most of these SOAR projects will probably be scrapped.

Michigan Poised to Lead the Nation in Energy and Manufacturing 

Fortunately, in 2022, Governor Whitmer, with bipartisan legislative support, authorized Public Acts 166 and 218 to examine the role nuclear power could play in Michigan’s future. This resulted in the publication of the Michigan Nuclear Feasibility Report of 2024 conducted by the energy consultant firm Enerson Service East  It examined the impact of a nuclear expansion policy on the economy, manufacturing, the tax revenue base, the labor force and education.

It identified two sites, one in Ottawa County and another in Monroe County, for new nuclear plants to be built. With adequate funding these plants could be built and brought online rapidly, since feasibility studies have already been done. Also, DTE Energy already has an unused 2015 license to build a power plant, which if activated would allow for rapid construction.

In March 2024, Republican State Representative Graham Filler introduced three bipartisan bills, to examine how to streamline authorization of nuclear regulations to facilitate new nuclear power development. They would also establish a grant program to encourage college and university education programs to train qualified students for the skills required for a growing State nuclear industry. The grants would focus initially on our already existing nuclear departments at Monroe Community College and the University of Michigan.

It is up to the new, 2025, Republican-controlled legislature to pass these bills.

An additional impetus for recruitment of a cadre of science-oriented youth to help build our state and nation, is that the University of Michigan has one of the most advanced aerospace engineering research departments in the country. The UM Plasmadynamics and Electric Propulsion Laboratory headed up Prof. Benjamin Jorns, has just received a contract from the United States Space Force (USSF) to design an electric propulsion system using a combination of chemical and nuclear power which will allow future spaceships to have higher speeds and maneuverability, and a more efficient and sustainable long lasting fuel source.

This program, which will collaborate with private sector industries, combined with a state commitment to advanced nuclear power development, will encourage many young creative minds to come into the state for higher education, and to remain here afterwards for quality job prospects.    

Fortunately, Pres. Trump has nominated Chris Wright to be his new Energy Secretary and to serve on the new National Energy Council, which will coordinate with all energy-related departments to simplify the entire process from issuing the permits to construction of nuclear power plants.  

One of the obstacles to these nuclear development plans is the persistent argument that we have no means to deal with the nuclear waste, and this is a danger to the environment.

Chris Wright, besides being an ardent proponent of fossil fuels, also is on the Board of Directors of Oklo Energy which specializes in the production of small nuclear reactors, producing plants in the range of 15MW to 50MW of electrical power. Much of the production can be standardized, allowing factory component production to cut the construction time down. Most importantly, the plants use recycled waste for fuel, which takes away the main argument used by the environmentalists to sabotage nuclear projects.    

If the incoming Republican majority in the Michigan State Legislature and the Republican candidates for Party leadership and public offices, such as Governor, launch a visible and vocal campaign to implement President Trump’s policies to lower energy costs and revitalize manufacturing, we could make Michigan a premiere example for the nation. It would truly fulfill President Trump’s Platform promise to make the national and state Republican Party the party of Industry, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Workers.