By State Rep. Pauline Wendzel

There’s a moment in every great policy shift — every meaningful change in direction — when leadership stands up, clears the cobwebs of delay and indecision, and says: We’re going to build something again.

That moment just happened.

Last week, President Trump signed a series of executive orders to turbocharge America’s nuclear energy industry. These orders do more than shape energy policy — they signal that the era of stagnation is over. We’re not going to wait ten years to permit a reactor. We’re not going to send critical minerals overseas while our engineers sit idle. We’re going to move — and we’re going to lead.

This isn’t unprecedented. France didn’t become the world’s nuclear powerhouse by accident. They built — with focus and discipline. They regulated smartly, not sluggishly. They put science ahead of politics. Today, nearly 70% of their electricity is clean, domestic, and nuclear. That didn’t happen because they held more hearings. It happened because they chose to follow the science, cut the red tape, and build a better energy future.

Now, it’s our turn.

In Michigan, we’re not waiting for Washington to catch up. We’re writing the next chapter of America’s nuclear story. As Chair of the House Energy Committee, I’m proud that a bipartisan package of nuclear legislation is already advancing in Lansing—with a second wave of pro-nuclear reforms soon to follow. Our goal is simple: make Michigan the national model for building next-generation nuclear power.

This isn’t about nostalgia for a golden age of American industry. It’s about a very real future — a future where AI and data centers drive energy demand higher than ever before. A future that demands reliability. That demands scale. That demands innovation.

Nuclear energy can meet that demand—and Michigan will meet that moment.

My committee isn’t just cheering for a renaissance—we’re building it. And we’re doing it with the same spirit that built the highways, split the atom, and put a man on the moon.

The Great American Nuclear Renaissance has begun, and Michigan isn’t waiting —we’re leading.