70+ Environmental Groups Warn U.S. that Nuclear Power in Kyoto Protocol will Lead to no Support for Ratification
Washington, DC. More than 70 environmental and consumer organizations from across the country warned the U.S. delegation to the COP6 climate change conference that support for nuclear power in the Kyoto Protocol will mean lack of support for the protocol at home.
In a November 22 letter to the delegation, the organizations applauded the U.S. for publicly recognizing the problems associated with further atomic power development, but said, "...we would be unable to support ratification of the Kyoto Protocol if it supports nuclear power."
The issue of whether nuclear power should be eligible to receive emissions reductions credits under the "Clean Development Mechanism" (CDM) provisions of the Kyoto Protocol has been one of the more contentious issues at the COP6 climate conference currently underway in The Hague.
The U.S. delegation surprised many other delegations by stating on the opening day of the conference that it realizes that nuclear power has problems of safety, radioactive waste, proliferation, costs and public acceptance, and it was willing to discuss these issues. Previously, the U.S. had been insisting that nuclear power must have a role in the CDM mechanism. The delegation's comments followed release of a letter from Vice-President Al Gore to the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), which stated that Gore believes nuclear power should be excluded from climate change policies.
However, there has been little movement on the issue since the U.S. delegation's opening remarks.
The U.S. letter signers included many of the nation's leading environmental and consumer groups, such as Greenpeace, U.S. PIRG, Public Citizen, Friends of the Earth and NIRS, as well as grassroots organizations from across the country.
Meanwhile, environmentalists in The Hague were preparing to signal their impatience with the conference's seeming unwillingness to finally remove nuclear power from the treaty by staging a "Walk of Shame" to the embassies of the five countries still willing to consider the nuclear option: U.S., Japan, Canada, China, and India. The latter two countries hope to receive CDM credits to build new reactors—which they admit they would not do on their own; while the first three countries are apparently hoping to bolster their nation's flagging nuclear industries. The colorful march is slated to take place at 10 am, Wednesday, November 22.
"The U.S. took the first step in The Hague by acknowledging nuclear power's inherent problems," said Michael Mariotte, executive director of NIRS. "Now it's time for the U.S.—and every other country--to take the next logical step, which is to ensure that the Kyoto Protocol does not, in any way, support the use of nuclear power to achieve climate change goals."
"We all support effective measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change," added Peer de Rijk, executive director of WISE-Amsterdam, NIRS' affiliate organization. "But the grassroots of the U.S., and throughout Europe, are making clear that we cannot support Kyoto unless nuclear power is not supported. It is pointless to trade one environmental disaster for another. We need to work together to achieve real climate improvement—without nuclear power."
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