Beyond BP | RENOUNCING FOCLEAR | Preventing runaway climate change means renouncing all fossil fuels & nuclear

Studies conclude that it is technically and environmentally feasible to harness enough solar radiation to achieve a total replacement of the foclear (fossil/nuclear) energy system by a global renewable energy economy using real solutions rather than false solutions.  The main obstacle to such a change is seen to be political, not technical or economic.

The BP oil spill -the largest accidental oil spill in world history

Such was the enormity of the incident both in terms of actual and potential human impact and damage to the environment, it must be classed as ecocide.

An independent analysis released Sept. 21, 2010, states the total amount of oil spilled at 185 million gallons (4.4 million barrels), plus another 33.8 million gallons that BP captured. That makes the spill the largest accidental oil spill in world history, and about three-times the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill (30-35 million gallons of oil), which had been considered the largest in U.S. history before BP’s Gulf oil spill. (Yes, that’s more than the 11 million gallons typically quoted, and even the enormous 180 million gallons quoted above should be taken with a big grain of salt; if history is any guide, it’s most likely a low-end estimate.)

BP refused for weeks to release video footage of the spill, and then refused for more weeks to release high-definition footage that helped scientists estimate the flow more accurately. The Exxon Valdez still hasn’t been fully “cleaned up” nor have affected fishermen and residents of Alaska been fully compensated.

Preventing runaway climate change means renouncing all fossil fuels and nuclear

If we burn just 60% of current global reserves of fossil fuels, we produce a catastrophic two degrees of warming. We cannot afford to use what has already been discovered, let alone to find more. The world must call for a global moratorium on prospecting, not just in deep water, but everywhere. If we can’t use it, we should stop looking for it.  In Canada, a recent campaign to to ban Ontario nuclear waste dump in Saskatchewan has begun as well as the controversial proposal by Bruce Power to ship 1600 tonnes of radioactive waste through the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River to Sweden, where most of the radioactive metal is to be melted and sold as scrap for unrestricted use.

For more information on nuclear visit: www.helencaldicott.com

The single most articulate and passionate advocate of citizen action to remedy the nuclear and environmental crises, Dr Helen Caldicott, has devoted the last 38 years to an international campaign to educate the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age and the necessary changes in human behavior to stop environmental destruction.