47 years ago today, the Swedish Prime Minister decides on a referendum
“The nuclear policy controversy came to a head following the 1979 Three Mile Island accident. Olof Palme, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, had for a long time been a strong supporter of nuclear power and against a nuclear referendum. On April 4, 1979, however, after a week of intense media coverage of the nuclear accident, Palme, afraid of losing more antinuclear supporters to the Center Party in the upcoming September 1979 elections, announced that he was in favor of a nuclear referendum. Within hours the other parties agreed to Palme’s suggestion.” (Lofstedt 1992: 4)
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was roughly 336ppm. As of 2026 it is 428ppm, but check here for daily measures.
The broader context was that Palme had been made aware about climate change from carbon dioxide quite some time ago. In April 1974 he had been briefed on it by Herman Flohn. In November 1974, Palme had spoken about it publicly.
The specific context was that energy politics is always messy!
What I think we can learn from this is that energy politics are always messy. And that some referenda matter more than others.
What happened next:
A non-binding referendum on nuclear power was held in Sweden on 23 March 1980.[1] Three proposals were put to voters. The second option, the gradual phasing out of nuclear power, won a narrow plurality of the vote, receiving 39.1% of the ballots cast to 38.7% for option 3.[2] Option 1 was the least popular, receiving only 18.9% of the votes.[2]
The actual long term result of the nuclear power politics in Sweden after the referendum has been most similar to option 1 which did not change ownership of nuclear power plants. Some were fully private and others owned by the government, and this did not change much. High profits in hydroelectric generation were not excessively taxed. Although some of the nuclear power plants were decommissioned, the Swedish government decided to reverse the policy.[3]
1980 Swedish nuclear power referendum – Wikipedia
Also on this day
April 4, 1964 – Revelle’s PSAC Working Group Five
April 4, 1957 – New Scientist runs story on carbon dioxide build-up
April 4, 1964 – President Johnson’s Domestic Council on climate…
April 4, 1978 – UK Chief Scientific Advisor worries about atmospheric C02 build-up
April 4 – Interview with Ro Randal about “Living With Climate Crisis