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Nuclear lobby buoyant as Europe warms up to atomic energy |

Nuclear lobby buoyant as Europe warms up to atomic energy DEUTSCHE WELLE  Mirjam Stöckel 20 May 09

EU warms up to nuclear energy

The nuclear lobby has certainly been banging the drum in recent years and with increasing success………………….The nuclear industry has stepped up efforts to advertize the potentially positive effects of atomic energy in cutting carbon emissions and limiting global warming as well as reducing Europe’s energy dependency.

Critics have condemned the rethink on nuclear power, pointing out that many EU parliamentarians are letting themselves be fooled by the nuclear lobby’s “climate” arguments.

“If you wanted to be really cynical you could say that the nuclear industry had to invent the whole climate discussion in order to see a chance for themselves,” said Rebecca Harms, an MP from Germany’s Green party.

“I know of no other case in which a huge industry tries so hard to benefit from a huge global problem as the nuclear industry does in the case of climate change.”……………………………….

Critics deplore lack of transparency

But for some, the nuclear lobby’s methods of networking with policy makers remain foggy.

That was illustrated in the case of former Euro MP Rolf Linkohr who worked as a special consultant for EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs after the end of his parliamentary term.

In 2007, Linkohr was fired after it emerged he had been on the board of nuclear energy giant EnBW and had been consulting energy companies with a private firm during his work for the Commission.

For non-governmental organizations such as the Corporate Europe Observatory CEO, Linkohr’s case was proof of the murky links between politics and the influential nuclear lobby.

CEO says the nuclear lobby is marked by a persisting lack of transparency. The EU Commission is advised by various expert groups and some of them are from the nuclear sector, Yorgos Vassalos of CEO said.

“Most of the time we have no access to the protocols of the meetings and to the list of participants. It’s generally very difficult to find out anything about the ties between decision-makers and the nuclear lobby,” Vassalos said.

Powerful and flush with cash

What is known for a fact is that the nuclear lobby in Brussels is — much like the nuclear industry — one of the most influential and well-funded groups. According to Foratom’s Web site, the group spent 1.6 million euros ($2.2 million) on lobbying the various arms of the EU in 2007.

Nuclear lobby buoyant as Europe warms up to atomic energy | Environment & Development | Deutsche Welle | 19.05.2009

May 20, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized