To paraphrase Bill Clinton: "Its the profits, stupid."
I'm generally going to agree with Kirt except I don't think its the anti-science crowd that prevented a more robust effort to develop nuclear energy, but rather the lack of any promise of profits, or rather insufficient promise of profits in the face of entrenched fossil fuel interests who would lose profits with a robust nuclear industry. In other words, one industry had the money for lobbyists, the other hadn't been born yet and there was not sufficient political will to birth one.
The know-nothings are useful idiots, but when they get in the way of making money, they will get steam rolled. They're a side show. That's the American Way.
There Will Be Blood
Again, this is why the Biden legislation is truly momentous. This legislation, along with the renewed Buy American policies, is going to kick start an American Green Tech industry that will soon have its army of lobbyists looking to extend and expand the tax credits designed to upgrade heating, insulation, electric grid, electrification, etc. I just found out, one of my neighbors is installing a $60,000 geothermal heating system for $15,000 out of pocket. The Federal and State governments are paying the balance. This is going to catch on and it is going to be huge. Jump starting this work is going to drive prices down, incentivize innovation, create a market for mass production... and then these companies are going to be looking overseas for customers which will either open to these mammoth American companies or spur governments around the world to nurture their own domestic green tech industries.
All along, I expect the US Gov. to continue funding fundamental research, and I anticipate as lawmakers realize this stuff is a boon to the economy, will direct spending to more research and development.
We're in the middle of an idiotic time in the US right now, but I am sensing we're shaking it off. There is too much money to be made upgrading everything. Its not going to be some utopian dream and its still going to be pretty dirty, but overall, I'm finally hopeful that we're going to mitigate the carbon disaster. Nature will start recovering if we just give it some time and space. We just need to keep tending the way we're going.
Sure, at some point we can have fusion batteries powering everything. That's a long ways off and will come or it won't. In the meantime, we've got the means and the emerging will to stop burning shit to stay warm and cook our food.