ICAN Parliamentary Pledge http://www.icanw.org/projects/pledge/Parliamentarians played a major role in realizing the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Now we are seeking their help to promote the signature and ratification of the treaty by all nations. The Parliamentary Pledge is a commitment by parliamentarians around the world to work for their government to join the treaty.
Pledge for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
We, the undersigned parliamentarians,warmly welcome the adoption of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on 7 July 2017 as a significant step towards the realization of a nuclear-weapon-free world.
We share the deep concern expressed in the preamble about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences that would result from any use of nuclear weapons and we recognize the consequent need to eliminate these inhumane and abhorrent weapons.
As parliamentarians, we pledge to work for the signature and ratification of this landmark treaty by our respective countries, as we consider the abolition of nuclear weapons to be a global public good of the highest order and an essential step to promote the security and well-being of all peoples.
People from all walks of life are joining together to form a giant human peace symbol. Its intention is to convey a unified message of world peace supporting a world free of nuclear weapons.
This may be the first time for the younger generation to celebrate our historic New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone and take part in creating a message of world peace.
New Zealand supports Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty: public event in Auckland Domain, June 11th.
The free public event in the Auckland Domain involves our Mayor Phil Goff, one of more than 7000 ‘Mayors for Peace’ globally who are committed to the abolition of nuclear weapons.
The Mayor will unveil a peace plaque beside a Pohutukawa tree, in honour of Nuclear-Free New Zealand and those who work for peace, and to support the United Nations Nuclear Weapon ban treaty negotiations that start in New York next week.
“The Nuclear Free New Zealand 30th anniversary celebration is a time to reflect on the horror of war, to learn lessons from our past and do everything we can to prevent the future use of Nuclear Weapons. New Zealand is proudly nuclear free and we must continue to strive for a peaceful world free of nuclear arms” says Mayor Goff.
“There are at least two undeniable existential threats to human survival – climate change and nuclear weapons. On the 30th anniversary of New Zealand’s Nuclear Free Zone status, it’s heartening to see our Government taking a strong stand on nuclear disarmament. We should always remember that our nuclear-free status was created by the people of New Zealand and in the process, they set an example that the rest of the world can follow” – Dr Russel Norman, Greenpeace New Zealand Executive Director.
Helen Clarke, former NZ Prime Minister, tweeted: “30 years and going strong. NZ became a nuclear-free nation by law in 1987. I chaired the parliamentary committee which examined the new law.”
Significant public support is expected at the Auckland rally which is the first of its kind and one of many nationwide being organised throughout this year to mark the staying power of this important legislation.
The Auckland event is an opportunity for people to take a stand for peace by forming a giant human peace symbol like one done publicly in 1983. (see attached Picture)
Join the citizens of Auckland as we recreate the largest Human Peace symbol in New Zealand to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of “No Nukes” in the land of the long white cloud, the very same peace symbol we created in 1983. Help send a signal to the world that together we stand for peace.
People from all walks of life are joining together to form a giant human peace symbol. Its intention is to convey a unified message of world peace supporting a world free of nuclear weapons.
This may be the first time for the younger generation to celebrate our historic New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone and take part in creating a message of world peace.
New Zealand supports Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty: public event in Auckland Domain, June 11th.
The recreation of the human peace symbol is scheduled for midday.
500K People Sign 500K People Sign Petition Barring Trump’s Nuclear Weapons Use, telesyr, 4 May 17 According to the bill, the President will be prohibited from using the Armed Forces to conduct a “first-use nuclear strike” until a congressional declaration of war expressly authorized such a strike.
Nearly half a million people have signed a petition supporting the “Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2017,” a legislative proposal submitted to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.
The legislation, introduced by Rep. Ted Lieu of California and Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, is aimed at keeping U.S. President Donald Trump from launching a nuclear weapon without Congress’ approval of declaring a war.
Calling out Trump’s rhetoric on North Korea and Russia, Markey called the action, “absolutely critical during the Trump administration,” adding that the petition is “a reflection of concern across our country of the use of nuclear weapons by the president.” Just recently, the president tweeted that there’s a possibility of a “major, major” conflict with North Korea over the ongoing tension between the U.S. and Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
“A nuclear first strike, which can kill hundreds of millions of people and invite a retaliatory strike that can destroy America, is war,” Lieu said.
On April 29, We March for the Future We’ll either save or doom the planet during the Trump administration. Don’t sit the Peoples Climate Mobilization out., The Nation, 20 Apr 17 By Bill McKibben,
It is hard to avoid hyperbole when you talk about global warming. It is, after all, the biggest thing humans have ever done, and by a very large margin. In the past year, we’ve decimated the Great Barrier Reef, which is the largest living structure on Earth. In the drought-stricken territories around the Sahara, we’ve helped kick off what The New York Times called “one of the biggest humanitarian disasters since World War II.” We’ve melted ice at the poles at a record pace, because our emissions trap extra heat from the sun that’s equivalent to 400,000 Hiroshima-size explosions a day. Which is why, just maybe, you should come to Washington, DC, on April 29 for a series of big climate protests that will mark the 100th day of Trumptime. Maybe the biggest thing ever is worth a day……
This week of rallying is the logical extension of the climate-justice movement that emerged in the last decade, led by frontline communities and climate scientists, by indigenous people and farmers and ranchers. All the battles currently under way will be on full display as we march: against the Dakota Access and Keystone pipelines and now a dozen others; against fracking wells and mountaintop-removal coal mines; for solar panels, solar panels, and more solar panels. (Not to mention bikes, buses, and electric cars.) This march embraces, finally, large segments of the labor movement. Workers and citizens dying in the heat and floods will march next to scientists pale from too many hours in front of the computer. It is a march for the future.
But reaching the future depends on dealing with the present, and the present is uniquely bleak. Governments have been oblivious before, but it’s hard to remember one as actively, determinedly stupid. It was revelatory to watch, earlier this month, as even Fox’s Chris Wallace filleted Scott Pruitt, the head of Trump’s EPA. “What if you’re wrong?” he finally asked the flustered Pruitt, who couldn’t quite recall even climate denialism’s standard talking points. Pruitt, of course, is wrong, since his entire job is to represent the industry that has spent a quarter-century lying through its teeth about climate change. But he’s aggressively wrong—he hadn’t even started his new job before the transition team was leaking news that the administration was ready to defund the satellites we use to keep track of the climate. Think about that for a moment. We’re not just going to ignore the mounting evidence; we’re going to stop collecting it.
Which helps explain, I think, the mounting anger of the scientific community. They’ll march first, on April 22, to the National Mall, and in hundreds of satellite marches around the world. Expect lines of people in lab coats, pushing equation-laden blackboards down the streets of Washington. Scientists have been, for the most part, resolutely apolitical: Their job has been to provide the data, offer the analysis, and then stand back and let “policy-makers” take over. In a rational world, that would make sense. There’s no particular reason why someone who knows the best way to compute the melt rate of Greenland’s glaciers (no easy task, by the way) would also know the best way to move us off fossil fuel.
But as scientists have finally begun to realize, there’s nothing rational about the world we currently inhabit. We’re not having an argument about climate change, to be swayed by more studies and journal articles and symposia. That argument is long since won, but the fight is mostly lost—the fight about the money and power that’s kept us from taking action and that is now being used to shut down large parts of the scientific enterprise. As Trump budget chief Mick Mulvaney said in March, “We’re not spending money on that anymore. We consider that to be a waste of your money to go out and do that.” In a case this extreme, scientists have little choice but to be citizens as well. And given their credibility, it will matter: 76 percent of Americans trust scientists to act in the public interest, compared with 27 percent who think the same thing about elected officials………
the news isn’t all grim. In fact, what makes the current Trumpish backsliding so absurd is that it comes just as we’ve figured out at least some of what we need to do about climate change. The price of a solar panel has dropped 80 percent in the last decade and continues to plummet. In much of the world, wind power is now the cheapest way to generate electricity. That means that if we wanted to, we could take giant steps—fast. A few nations have shown the way: Denmark produced nearly half its power from wind in 2015, and Costa Rica ran its electricity system almost exclusively off renewables. The price of batteries is dropping just as fast now, and their capacity grows with each new iteration. It’s not just Elon Musk; the Chinese are starting to drive this revolution as they install vast quantities of renewable power.
Which is a good reminder that markets alone are not going to make this transition happen—at least, they’re not going to make it happen fast enough to catch up with the physics of global warming. For that we’ll need concerted government action, like the Senate bill that Bernie Sanders and Jeff Merkley will introduce in late April calling for 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. It won’t pass, obviously—but it will serve as the new standard for sensible people to rally around.
And it will be popular—every poll shows that Americans of every ideology love solar power (close to 90 percent in some surveys). Not only that, but they’d love the jobs that come with the transition to solar: by first estimate, about 4 million. That job growth should put Trump’s endless posturing about coal miners in stark relief—thanks mostly to automation, there are barely 76,000 of them left; twice as many Americans work in car washes.
All these streams will converge on the National Mall on April 29, chosen because that weekend marks Trump’s first 100 days in office. This Peoples Climate Mobilization(#ClimateMarch) will be the big one, the sequel to the massive protest that filled the streets of New York in September of 2014. Expect—well, expect lots of people determined to show that they’re fed up with Trump’s nonsense and aware that there’s another future available. We’ll be marching from the Capitol, up Pennsylvania Avenue, and we’ll completely surround the White House—a kind of citizens’ arrest of the nincompoop inside. There will be a moment of silence and then tremendous noise, loud enough to shake the occupants of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to their senses if they had them. We’ll end with a closing event at the Washington Monument, where people will be able to gather in “circles of resistance” and talk about the road ahead. (There will also be candidate training the next day for climate activists who want to run for office.)…..https://www. thenation.com/article/on- april-29-we-march-for-the- future/
The Bulletin supports the March for ScienceApril 22nd is not just Earth Day, it’s the global March for Science. Find out everything you need to know about attending in your area, or about attending digitally through an online stream. The Bulletin will be present at the March for Science Chicago, and we’ll have a booth at the Science Expo at the end of the march route. Stop by and visit. And be sure to catch theBulletin‘s Rachel Bronson, Sonny Garg, and Daniel Holz in a “Fireside Chat,” hosted by the March for Science Chicago, onTuesday, April 18th.
The Fights to Protect Science, People and Planet Are Inherently Connected, Here’s how the Peoples Climate March and March for Science are working together, and how you can plug into both, April 06, 2017 by Common Dreams, by Lucky Tran, Jamie Henn,
The election of Donald Trump has sparked an unprecedented outpouring of public mobilization across the United States and around the world. From the Women’s March to rallies against the Muslim Ban, people are demonstrating creative and powerful ways to take action, in Washington, D.C. and beyond, to resist Trump and fight for the world they want.
This April, two powerful mobilizations will take place in D.C. and around the world, one to stand up for science and truth, the next to defend our climate, jobs, and justice. Together, the March for Science and the Peoples Climate March provide a powerful way for all of us to take action—together……..
The March for Science is dedicated to science and truth in all its forms: from combatting climate change, to curing diseases, to protecting our air and water. This powerful uprising of 400 (and counting) marches will demand evidence-based decision making from our politicians and unite local communities behind the importance of science.
Then, a week later, values represented by the March for Science will manifest in the Peoples Climate March. Because the Trump administration’s reckless affronts to truth, none is clearer and more dangerous than its attacks on climate science at the service of fossil fuel interests. The Peoples Climate March will call for bold solutions to address the climate crisis, action that doesn’t just protect our environment, but also creates and retains jobs, and delivers social justice for all. In contrast to Trump’s divisive, fossil fuel based economy, the Peoples Climate March will put forward a bold vision of a clean energy economy that works for all.
In some towns and cities, organizers will combine the two events. That’s great. Both mobilizations are intentionally open-source and encourage collaboration (and even combination) at the local level.
During the week between the two marches, many different organizations, networks, and individuals are putting on other events, film screenings, announcements, and more.
02/04/2017 WASHINGTON — Famed anthropologist and conservationist Jane Goodall wants everyone to stand up to those working to undermine scientific research by joining this month’s “March for Science.”
“Many scientists have spent years collecting information about the effect of human actions on the climate,” said Goodall, who turns 83 on Monday. “There’s no question that the climate is changing, I’ve seen it all over the world. And the fact that people can deny that humans have influenced this change in climate is quite frankly absurd.”
Asked by The Huffington Post about Trump’s climate actions, Goodall called them “immensely disturbing.” However, she believes the Trump administration has woken people up, citing the numerous marches and demonstrations.
The “March for Science” is supported by a nonpartisan coalition of scientific groups and is scheduled for Earth Day — April 22. While the main rally will occur in Washington, D.C., satellite marches have been organized in more than 400 locations around the globe. The D.C. event is “a call for politicians to implement science-based policies, as well as a public celebration of science and the enormous public service it provides in our democracy, our economy, and in all our daily lives,” according to the official website of the march.
“I really hope that everybody who can will take part in this march,” Goodall said. “I so wish I could be marching with you. I can’t, I will be far away. But there will be a cardboard, life-size Jane marching, showing everybody that I want to be there and that I shall be there with you all in spirit.”
East Mendip Green Party in Somerset have launched Switch Off EDF, a consumer boycott campaign against the energy firm EDF which plans to build a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset.
The campaign organisers estimate that for every thousand customers who switch away from EDF, its profits will be shaved by about a million pounds.
To further lubricate the wheels of change, every customer who switches away from EDF, or any other nuclear supplier, to either of the green energy companies Ecotricity or Good Energy will receive, from the East Mendip Green Party, £20 for a single-fuel switch or £40 for a dual-fuel switch.
This is the money that these two energy providers normally pay to the Green Party for new customers who quote the Green Party when signing up.
Many switch campaigns challenging the dominance of the Big Six energy firms in the electricity and heating markets focus on getting the cheapest deals, and whilst what we pay for our energy is an important issue, it’s not the only issue that we should be concerned with.
As a consumer I want to know that the energy I buy is as clean as possible and that the people who work for the companies I buy from are paid fairly and treated well.
Earth Hour is an annual global event, during which people are encouraged to switch off their lights on the last Saturday in March from 8.30pm to 9.30pm local time as a symbolic gesture marking the environmental challenges facing our planet.
This year, WWF-SA has decided to go one step further for Earth Hour by asking citizens to sign a petition addressed to Eskom, which has been stalling over the implementation of renewable energy contracts.
Since 2016, Eskom has refused to sign further contracts under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) which would put more renewable energy on the grid.
Instead, the utility is resolutely pursuing an electricity programme that relies heavily on coal and is actively promoting an expensive and environmentally questionable nuclear build.
Ultimately, South Africa should be aiming for 100% of our energy to come from renewable sources if the country is to honour its climate action commitments to the Paris Agreement.
Renewable energy will not only reduce carbon emissions, but can also be scaled up and deployed quickly to match the country’s need for energy – far quicker than large coal and nuclear new builds.
Some renewable energy can already supply cheaper electricity than the newest coal power plants. The cost gap will only increase in the future, with renewables getting cheaper and coal likely to get more expensive.
Dr Morné du Plessis, CEO of WWF South Africa, commented: “In order to avoid the extreme impacts of runaway climate change, we need to reduce our carbon emissions urgently by introducing more renewable energy into the energy mix. Yet, the bulk of South Africa’s carbon emissions come from electricity generated by fossil fuels such as coal and oil. This has to change.
“We know that Eskom has the power to unblock this hold-up, and thus enable all the socio-economic and environmental benefits that will result from the renewable energy programme. By signing this petition, South Africans will be calling on the utility to exercise this power for the greater good of all.”
We urge all supporters to visit the website at www.wwf.org.za/earthhour to sign the petition before Earth Hour which takes place on 25 March 2017 between 8.30pm and 9.30pm this year.
Of course it’s not a good idea to bury radioactive nuclear waste near the Great Lakes, a source of drinking water for 40 million Canadians and Americans.
Yet OPG plans to bury nuclear waste 1km from Lake Huron, 400 metres below the water level threatens the drinking water for 40 million people.
Speak out now to help protect our water. Deadline for input is March 6.
We’ve made it easy to send a letter to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency through our form below.
#NuclearIsDirty Nuclear Information and Resource Service By all rights, nuclear power is on its way out. And that is thanks to the actions of thousands of activists all across the country. This year’s fifth anniversary of the ongoing Fukushima Dai-Ichi disaster was the warning — and the #NuclearIsDIrty! campaign is the answer!
The only way to guarantee another such disaster never happens again is simple: we need to get rid of nuclear power, and stop making radioactive waste.
But powerful nuclear corporations are not willing to accept that fate. They are waging a war against renewable energy, in a last-ditch effort to block solar and wind and steal every last penny that could be invested in a clean energy future.
We’ve won a lot of battles to stop them, but we’re in danger of losing the war. Nuclear corporations know a basic truth of public relations: repeat a lie often enough and long enough, and people will start to believe it. And the lie they are telling over and over and over again is … Nuclear Energy Is Clean.
That is why we launched this new campaign: #NuclearIsDirty.
We are going to expose the industry’s lies, arm people with the truth about nuclear power, and make sure when anyone hears the word “nuclear,” they know it is one of the most poisonous, dangerous, and polluting technologies on the planet. http://nuclearisdirty.nirs.org/
With the stroke of a pen, President Barack Obama could take our nuclear missiles off high alert, making sure that President Trump could not launch them rashly. If he doesn’t do this, we will all regret it.
It’s like wishing you had locked the door before you left the house. Or made sure the gun wasn’t loaded before you put it on the shelf. Or wishing you hadn’t stored gasoline quite so close to the furnace.
President Obama should take our nuclear missiles off hair-trigger alert before Donald Trump gets control of them. Ploughshares Fund has launched a new petition to do just that.
The Danger On January 20, the military officer carrying the nuclear codes who follows the President everywhere, will follow Barack Obama to the inaugural platform. When he leaves, the officer will start following President Donald J. Trump. From that moment on, Trump will have the unfettered ability to launch one or one thousand nuclear warheads whenever he pleases. Four minutes after he gives the order, the missiles will fly. No one can stop him, short of a full-scale mutiny. Once launched, the missiles cannot be recalled.
Almost 1,000 nuclear warheads, each many times the size of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, are kept on missiles ready to launch in minutes. This is called high alert, or launch-on-warning, or, more commonly, hair-trigger alert.
It is a relic of the Cold War. Nuclear commanders wanted the ability to launch their land-based missiles before an enemy attack could destroy them. For years, experts have warned that this was a dangerous practice, subject to false alarms, mistakes, misunderstanding and human error. And it is not necessary. The weapons in our alert subs and bombers are not vulnerable to surprise attack. We have more than enough weapons to deter an attack or respond to one.
While running for the presidency in 2008, Obama said:
“Keeping nuclear weapons ready to launch on a moment’s notice is a dangerous relic of the Cold War. Such policies increase the risk of catastrophic accidents or miscalculation. I believe that we must address this dangerous situation — something that President Bush promised to do when he campaigned for president back in 2000, but did not do once in office.”
Obama didn’t do it, either. Many of the very people he appointed to implement his reforms sided with the nuclear bureaucracy to stop him. The State Department posted a condescending explanation about why we need to be able to destroy the world within 4 minutes, assuring us that this was safe and reasonable. Rereading the post now, one can see the how much of the argument rests on supreme confidence in the judgment of the president of the United States.
Few people have that confidence now. Obama has thirty days to fix his mistake. Thirty days to prevent the worst disaster imaginable.
The Solution
Yes, this will be hard. Yes, much of the defense bureaucracy will argue against him. Yes, Obama has said he doesn’t want to “box in” his successor.
“Obama has used his final weeks in office to press for new rules on coal mining pollution, offshore drilling and the venting of planet-warming methane — all of which are likely to be challenged or repealed by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress.”
If the president can do this for parts of the environment, he can take this one simple step to safeguard the entire planet.
Scores of leading nuclear scientists wrote to the President asking him to take nuclear missiles off hair-trigger alert. You can now add your voice.
Ploughshares Fund has started a public petition to President Obama. Join us.
Tell the president to end this obsolete policy. President Trump could still launch nuclear weapons in an emergency, but it would take hours or days. This gives time for consultations, consideration, time to check mistakes and blunt the impulses of the moment. More time doesn’t weaken our national security; it strengthens it.
“Now more than ever, we call on you to ensure calmer heads prevail. Taking this critical step would bring profound security benefits for all Americans by reducing the risk of nuclear disaster.”
Urge the President to lock the nuclear door before he leaves.
US promised US$3bn towards fund, which was part of historic Paris agreement, but so far has transferred only $500m, Guardian, Michael Slezak, 21 Dec 16, More than 100 climate and development organisations, along with 70,000 people, have called on Barack Obama to help secure the future of the Paris agreement by transferring the remaining $2.5bn committed by the US.
The Green Climate Fund was a key aspect of the historic Paris agreement signed in 2015, which aims to keep global warming “well below” 2C and aspires to keep warming to 1.5C.
The fund, established in 2010, is financed by wealthy countries and used to assist developing countries with adaptation and mitigation. It was widely seen as a key measure to bring both rich and poor countries to the negotiating table.
The US pledged $3bn towards the fund, making up nearly a third of the $10.3bn pledged in total. But so far, it has only transferred $500m.
“This is one of the only things Obama can do now that Trump can’t undo,” said Jesse Bragg from Corporate Accountability International, the group that organised the petitions. “Once those funds are transferred, Trump won’t be able to take them back.”
As of today, 117 organisations including 350.org, Friends of the Earth and the League of Conservation Voters have joined with Corporate Accountability International to deliver a petition signed by more than 70,000 to the Obama administration.
The organisations signed a letter saying: “The world cannot afford Donald Trump’s steps backward on climate. Right now, people around the world are mobilising to counter Trump’s anticipated actions. You can help us protect your climate legacy by fulfilling your pledge to contribute $3bn to fund climate justice measures in the Global South.”
The petition those organisations delivered said: “Donald Trump plans to do everything he can to reverse progress on climate change. His policies threaten disaster for people and the planet. But there’s one thing President Obama can do before he leaves office that Trump cannot undo.”
Trump has nominated a series of climate deniers to his cabinet, including Rex Tillerson, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, as secretary of state. He has also nominated Scott Pruitt, who is known for suing the Environmental Protection Agency, to direct that agency.
Tamar Lawrence-Samuel, associate research director at Corporate Accountability International, said: “Donald Trump’s administration will be of, by and for the fossil fuel industry and if we don’t act now, millions will suffer.”
“President Obama must do whatever it takes to fulfil the US’s commitment to the Green Climate Fund before Donald Trump and his Big Oil cabinet take over,” she said.
350.org’s founder, Bill McKibben, said: “The debt for the damage inflicted on the global climate by American carbon will never be fully repaid – and the Trump administration can be counted on to do nothing for the most vulnerable people on the planet … so this call makes both practical and moral sense.”
The first $500m was transferred through a State Department fund, which Obama could use without congressional support. Corporate Accountability International argues that Obama could draw from several relevant funds to fulfill his pledge, including those within the State Department, Treasury Department, Defense Department and other agencies.
US promised US$3bn towards fund, which was part of historic Paris agreement, but so far has transferred only $500m, Guardian, Michael Slezak, 21 Dec 16, More than 100 climate and development organisations, along with 70,000 people, have called on Barack Obama to help secure the future of the Paris agreement by transferring the remaining $2.5bn committed by the US.
The Green Climate Fund was a key aspect of the historic Paris agreement signed in 2015, which aims to keep global warming “well below” 2C and aspires to keep warming to 1.5C.
The fund, established in 2010, is financed by wealthy countries and used to assist developing countries with adaptation and mitigation. It was widely seen as a key measure to bring both rich and poor countries to the negotiating table.
The US pledged $3bn towards the fund, making up nearly a third of the $10.3bn pledged in total. But so far, it has only transferred $500m.
“This is one of the only things Obama can do now that Trump can’t undo,” said Jesse Bragg from Corporate Accountability International, the group that organised the petitions. “Once those funds are transferred, Trump won’t be able to take them back.”
As of today, 117 organisations including 350.org, Friends of the Earth and the League of Conservation Voters have joined with Corporate Accountability International to deliver a petition signed by more than 70,000 to the Obama administration.
The organisations signed a letter saying: “The world cannot afford Donald Trump’s steps backward on climate. Right now, people around the world are mobilising to counter Trump’s anticipated actions. You can help us protect your climate legacy by fulfilling your pledge to contribute $3bn to fund climate justice measures in the Global South.”
The petition those organisations delivered said: “Donald Trump plans to do everything he can to reverse progress on climate change. His policies threaten disaster for people and the planet. But there’s one thing President Obama can do before he leaves office that Trump cannot undo.”
Trump has nominated a series of climate deniers to his cabinet, including Rex Tillerson, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, as secretary of state. He has also nominated Scott Pruitt, who is known for suing the Environmental Protection Agency, to direct that agency.
Tamar Lawrence-Samuel, associate research director at Corporate Accountability International, said: “Donald Trump’s administration will be of, by and for the fossil fuel industry and if we don’t act now, millions will suffer.”
“President Obama must do whatever it takes to fulfil the US’s commitment to the Green Climate Fund before Donald Trump and his Big Oil cabinet take over,” she said.
350.org’s founder, Bill McKibben, said: “The debt for the damage inflicted on the global climate by American carbon will never be fully repaid – and the Trump administration can be counted on to do nothing for the most vulnerable people on the planet … so this call makes both practical and moral sense.”
The first $500m was transferred through a State Department fund, which Obama could use without congressional support. Corporate Accountability International argues that Obama could draw from several relevant funds to fulfill his pledge, including those within the State Department, Treasury Department, Defense Department and other agencies.
Citing a surplus of power, the Wynne government pulled the plug Tuesday on its Large Renewable Procurement (LRP) process for acquiring wind and solar power at highly competitive prices.
But what the Minister of Energy didn’t mention was that the reason we have a glut of power is the government’s insistence on keeping high-cost nuclear plants running despite plenty of better options.
The Pickering Nuclear plant is an excellent case in point. Our new factsheet shows that Pickering’s power is just not needed. Almost half of the power the station produces is exported, often at a loss. The rest can easily be replaced with lower cost water power from Quebec, energy efficiency improvements, Ontario green power or some combination of all three. This is true even if one or more of the aging Darlington reactors are shut down for re-building.
Pickering’s power it is also more costly than these other options. Just last week, Ontario Power Generation was at the Ontario Energy Board seeking a 180% increase in the price it is paid for nuclear power. Water power from Quebec and energy efficiency savings are both substantially cheaper than power from Pickering today. Meanwhile, power from renewable sources just gets cheaper and cheaper, with wind power already more economical than power from Pickering (based on the last LRP round’s prices) and solar likely to be competitive in the near future.
What our factsheet makes clear is that there is no excuse for continuing to run a 45-year-old nuclear plant surrounded by two million people beyond its design lifetime. And now OPG is applying for a licence to run the station for another decade. This is not only reckless – it is economically backward because it is only going to lead to electricity bills going up and up, not down.
If I just explain the facts, they’ll get it, right?
How NRDC will fight Trump’s attack on our environment.
NOW I AM BECOME DEATH, THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS (J. Robert Oppenheimer)
EVENTS
UK There is an opportunity to comment on the UK Advanced Boiling Water Reactor
(UK-ABWR) nuclear power station design before the process closes on 15
August. You will be able to do so at the link below: Hitachi (accessed) 27th July 2017 http://www.hitachi-hgne-uk-abwr.co.uk/make_a_comment.html
