Texas’ population is growing, and its energy needs are growing along with it.The Lone Star State must have an energy mix in place that allows it to stay competitive as the needs for power are expected to grow 48 percent by 2030. Nuclear is a critical part of that mix for a variety of reasons; its safety, reliability and relatively low cost of producing electricity among them. Another key reason for Texas to look seriously at enhancing the amount of electricity it gets from nuclear energy is air quality: No other reliable source, capable of producing the amount of electricity that nuclear can produce, can do it emission free. Nuclear power puts no harmful greenhouse gases into the air.

The state’s decreasing air quality makes clean energy essential. Some areas— including those around Houston, Beaumont, San Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth—have fallen into “non-attainment” classification by the Environmental Protection Agency. Austin is on the verge of non-attainment. Areas of non-attainment are high in ozone, the precursor to smog and a key cause of asthma and respiratory impairment. Non-attainment is expensive for businesses and government, as the EPA requires strict carpooling, gasoline type and usage, and other harsh measures once an area is classified as having poor-quality air. Nuclear power generation does not contribute to those problems, and in fact supplants other forms of electricity generation that make urban air quality worse.

Generating electricity with clean nuclear energy from one large plant is the equivalent of taking one million cars off Texas roads for one year. The state’s two nuclear plants are already doing their part in keeping Texas’ air cleaner. Thanks to South Texas Project and Comanche Peak, Texas avoids emissions of more than 70,000 tons of sulfur dioxide, 19,000 tons of nitrogen oxide and 28 million metric tons of carbon dioxide every year. The 19,000 tons of nitrogen oxide is the same amount of nitrogen oxide released in one year by one million passenger cars. For perspective, there are 8.7 million cars registered in Texas.