With artificial intelligence putting a damper on its clean energy goals, Microsoft has struck a first-of-its-kind deal with a nuclear plant. The massive amount of energy needed to power AI has contributed to a resurgence of interest in nuclear power — a turn for an industry that was on its way out. 

Symbolism of the deal
Three Mile Island, the dormant Pennsylvania nuclear plant at the center of the Microsoft deal, became "shorthand for the risks posed by nuclear energy after one of the plant's two reactors partly melted down in 1979," said The New York Times. The other reactor closed down for economic reasons five years ago. But with the Microsoft deal, a "revival is at hand." 

The tech giant needs massive amounts of electricity for its growing number of data centers, and Microsoft has agreed to use as much power as possible from the plant over the next 20 years. The plant's owner, Constellation Energy, will spend $1.6 billion refurbishing the reactor, hoping to restart it by 2028. 

To fulfill its energy needs, Microsoft is also pursuing power from nuclear fusion. This potential power source is a "potentially abundant, cheap and clean form of electricity that scientists have been trying to develop for decades," said The Washington Post. 

Microsoft's new deal will move it closer to the goal of running its global network on clean energy in 2025, said Bobby Hollis, Microsoft's vice president of energy, according to Bloomberg. The agreement is a "major milestone in Microsoft's efforts to help decarbonize the grid." 

Resurgence of nuclear power
The unprecedented deal is the "latest sign of surging interest in the nuclear industry as power demand soars," said Bloomberg. Over the past decade, more than a dozen nuclear reactors have gone dark. Now, policy makers and businesses have a renewed appreciation for nuclear plants that can "provide carbon-free power around the clock."

Unfortunately, tech's bullish approach to securing nuclear power has some experts worried there will not be enough to go around. Nearly a third of the country's nuclear power plants are now in talks with tech companies, said The Wall Street Journal. 

For three decades, The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has been a reliable partner among the various stakeholders in the Democratic Party's coalition of allies. That streak ended this month when the union announced it would not be endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris or Donald Trump for president. In a press release, the group explained that it had been "left with few commitments on top Teamsters issues" from the candidates and found "no definitive support among members for either party’s nominee."

What does the nonendorsement mean for the election?
Although the national governing body may have declined to endorse a candidate this year, a "wave of local and regional Teamsters union branches in battleground states rushed to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris" in the immediate wake of the group's decision to abstain, The Washington Post said. And Teamsters President Sean O'Brien's rightward overtures and the decision not to endorse a candidate this year, whether in good faith or not, has "pissed off the Democratic Party. He has pissed off the Harris campaign. He has pissed off the rest of the labor movement and his union allies. He has pissed off the most politically astute segment of his own membership," said In These Times. 

Where do the Teamsters and both political parties go from here?
Should Democrats win in November, O'Brien will have to "try to rebuild all of these bridges that have been burned" both within and beyond the Teamsters union itself, said In These Times. And if the Republicans win, "being Trump's buddy is not going to save you from the end of the NLRB [National Labor Relations Board] and a return to pre-New Deal hostility to all forms of union power." 

Ultimately, Democrats should be "taking a step back and saying something's wrong" for having missed an endorsement opportunity, O'Brien said to The Boston Globe. Conversely, for a GOP that brags about being the "party for workers of America, this is an opportunity to not just talk about it but to prove it."