in the crossfire, ralph nader a consumer advocate who opposes nuclear power and michael shellenberger featured in the cnn film "pandora's promise." unlimited clean energy or toxic trouble tonight on "crossfire." >>> welcome to "crossfire." i'm brian schweitzer on the left. >> i'm newt gingrich on the right. in the crossfire tonight, ralph nader who opposes nuclear power and michael shellenberger who is for it. >> we're finally having an honest debate on nuclear power, one of the energy sources that can sustain civilization. tonight cnn is presenting a provocative new film called "pandora's promise." it argues that despite recent disasters like the one at japan's fukushima power plant, most of the fears expressed by anti-nuclear protesters are irrational. here's a quick preview. >> i came to realize they basically avoided looking at the whole picture. and only looked at the questions that seemed to prove to them that nuclear power was dangerous. as i had, too. the only reason i changed my mind is that i talked to experts, physicists in particular, who were the pioneers of nuclear energ

backing from michael shellenberg and stewart brand. o my question goes to public opinion and nuclear power. have you seen any volatility on that front in the course of the last two or three years? >> good question. i think you should check out the scholars network that you should check out. we'll be featured by two political scientist, one at georgetown, one at m.i.t., where they're making an argument for energy innovation approach. and i'm sure , they probably have public that n evidence to back up. is opinion varies by the united states, everyone knows that. opinions are likely to vary regionally. s i recall, they were arguing there's a lot of public support option and ear itself whereas the relative resources and the opinions would things like solar and wind more in the northeast and in the northwest. and they argue that we should encourage innovation at the regional level by setting up regional investments that would -- they're not really analyzing on what i'm here. they're not necessarily against or a cap in trade system. but they

in the crossfire, ralph nader a consumer advocate who opposes nuclear power and michael shellenberger cnn film "pandora's promise." unlimited clean energy or toxic trouble tonight on "crossfire." >>> welcome to "crossfire." i'm brian schweitzer on the left.

for more i'm joined by michael shellenberger, michael great to have you back. i want to start by asking you tell us who these four scientists are and why is this letter important? >> well, the climate executive vice president who is the most famous is dr. james hansen, a former nasa climate scientist. he is the scientist who brought the world's attention to global warming, along with al gore who he has been close with over the last couple of decades. the others are well regarded in their own right, dr. tom wigley, the most cited climate scientists, dr. kerrie emanuel, an expert in global warming and hurricanes and dr. ken cordera, what happens to the oceans when they're forced to absorb so much more carbon. >> this year global carbon emissions are supposed to hit a record 36 billion tons. china leads the way followed by the u.s., the european union and india. is there any way that those numbers can be turned around by replacing coal and other fossil fuels like wind and solar? >> well, it's very difficult, one of the most important statistics for people to reali

backing from michael shellenberg and stewart brand. o my question goes to public opinion and nuclear power. have you seen any volatility on that front in the course of the last two or three years?

. >> well i want to bring in michael shellenberger who tells his story in the film.lear power. he's joining us from berkeley, california, the president of the breakthrough institute, new york. we have dale brick, who joins us, the senior attorney director of the natural resources defense council, energy and transportation program, an anti-nuclear group. we'll all seen this, it's controversial, it's fascinating to watch. and it really takes you through from the very beginning, the development of nuclear energy. michael, i want to start with you, one of the things that struck me about this is how personal this is. to many of the people who are in this documentary. and you've got the protester who opens up screaming that this is a death industry, a cancer industry, a bomb-making industry. talking about nuclear industry. now you describe, you visit this power plant in high school. you later become a consultant for the green groups, fiercely against nuclear power. you change your mind. why. >> well we got clear about how much energy the world is going to consume over the

backing from michael shellenberg and stewart brand. o my question goes to public opinion and nuclear power. have you seen any volatility on that front in the course of the last two or three years? >> good question. i think you should check out the scholars network that you should check out. we'll be featured by two political scientist, one at georgetown, one at m.i.t., where they're making an argument for energy innovation approach. and i'm sure , they probably have public that n evidence to back up. is opinion varies by the united states, everyone knows that. opinions are likely to vary regionally. s i recall, they were arguing there's a lot of public support option and ear itself whereas the relative resources and the opinions would things like solar and wind more in the northeast and in the northwest. and they argue that we should encourage innovation at the regional level by setting up regional investments that would -- they're not really analyzing on what i'm here. they're not necessarily against or a cap in trade system. but they