In an article in Project Syndicate "As the World Burns" Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, criticized the environmental double standard of opposing nuclear power while called for a reduction of greenhouse gases. Nuclear power emits no greenhouse gases. Haass said:

Speaking of double standards, international efforts to slow climate change are hampered by opposition to greater reliance on nuclear power, even though it releases no carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Since the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan, operating existing nuclear reactors or building new, safer plants has become an uphill political battle.