“I soon came to the conclusion that neither international cooperation nor technological advancements would guarantee human societies to build and safely run nuclear reactors in all possible conditions on Earth (earthquakes, floods, droughts, tornadoes, wars, terrorism, climate change, tsunamis, pandemics, etc.). I am sadly reminded of this turning point in my life as I listen to the news about the earthquake, tsunami and extremely worrying nuclear crisis in Japan.”

Silvi warns that “there will definitely be worse accidents” if we continue with nuclear power:

“Why not consider Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima as warnings of greater catastrophes to come and avoid the inevitable by shutting them down, much like changing your diet and/or lifestyle after finding out that your cholesterol or blood pressure is elevated, rather than continuing down the same path until a heart attack or stroke strikes?”

According to Silvi the world could easily replace nuclear power simply by reducing our energy usage and introducing energy efficiency programs:

“Nuclear today only generates about 12 percent of the developed world’s electricity. By instituting an energy efficiency program,” Silvi suggests, “we could fill the gap caused by shutting them all down and put this malevolent genie back into the bottle.”

And the public in Italy seems to agree with Silvi’s anti-nuclear sentiments as they voted against new investments in nuclear energy in a recent referendum in the country. In Japan only 19 of the 54 country’s nuclear reactors are now operating. The others are offline for various reasons since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. At the same time the country’s wind farms are fully operational and were actually unscathed by the massive earthquake disaster. And people claim that nuclear is a stable energy source…

We will post the latest news on our Twitter channel. We will also display the Twitter updates on our front page as well as updating this blog post.

Will the G8 leaders agree on a strong climate plan and a roadmap to the Copenhagen climate talks? Or will they fail once again? Stay tuned to find out!

UPDATED WITH IMAGES AND VIDEOS FROM DAY 2!

Latest updates displayed first:

Day Two

Watch: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon criticises G8 climate efforts http://su.pr/6VoTAd

Conclusion: The internet is mainly negative on the subject of g8, according to Google. http://su.pr/1iHfFv

UN S-G : ‘Much more needs to be done if governments are to seal the deal on a new climate agreement’ http://su.pr/9VVJpz

Sign our petition to hold @BarackObama and other #G8 leaders accountable on #climatechange http://bit.ly/g9Ybh

VIDEO: climate campaigner Ben Stewart talks about why he’s living on a coal smokestack during the #G8 http://su.pr/2gSvz5

Greenpeace: Five coal plants occupied by climate activists during G8 Summit http://su.pr/2RYC36

“Progress on #climatechange [at the #G8] was not enough.” UN Sec General Ban Ki-moon

Russia says 80% emissions reduction target by 2050 “unacceptable” http://su.pr/2L2L25

Take 2 painting STUPID on chimney at Brindisi, Italy’s most greenhouse-polluting coal plant. http://twitpic.com/9s4f5

G8 leaders failing to stop climate change http://bit.ly/zjJqL

G8: World leaders fail to agree specific target for climate cuts http://su.pr/2y1Aiz

G8: World leaders fail to agree specific target for climate cuts http://bit.ly/4hTvfy

RT @Greenpeace 35 hours occupying Brindisi. The sly has cleared over the mediterranean sea. We can see Albania from here!

“Only the G8 can agree on absolutely nothing, ignore the most pressing subjects and then claim a major breakthrough” #G8 RT @V_R_

Greenpeace are occupying FIVE coal plants now during the #G8! http://su.pr/2ethbZ

Blogs from activists on coal plants are posted here http://bit.ly/AEoq

Take Action! Ask world leaders to personally attend climate conference: http://su.pr/1O0eWk

This morning 5 climbers scaled Italy’s newest coal power plant near Rome to paint “G8 STOP THIS”

30 hrs @ Brindisi pwr plant. Just chkd out massive greenhse pollution exhausts. http://twitpic.com/9rn0y #G8 #climateaction RT @Greenpeace

Day One

BBC: G8 set new global warming targets http://su.pr/1N41Wq

Mount Rushmore banner: “America honors leaders. Not politicians. Stop Global warming.” http://su.pr/4M5qQk

The #G8 summit negotiations to halve global carbon emissions by 2050 have failed! Instead agree on a max 2C degree limit for climate change.

More TreeHugger: Big Climate Change Fail: Major Nations Fail to Agree to 50% Emission Cuts by 2050 http://su.pr/AGRu33

TreeHugger reports: Greenpeace Drapes Poster Over Mount Rushmore to Call for Climate Action http://su.pr/1BIj59

100 Activists Climb Coal Chimneys To Demand G-8 Leaders Get Tough: http://su.pr/9akeBI

Pictures from the G8 Coal Plant Action in Italy today: http://su.pr/6aFTjt

Watch: G8 Coal Plant Action http://su.pr/1kLokl #G8

You-Turn the Earth, a global campaign to let leaders know that we want to stop runaway climate change http://su.pr/3ktrSx

GP have actions going on in Italy with over 100 activists occupying coal power plants + a banner hanging on Mt. #Rushmore #climateaction #G8

Greenpeace is hanging a banner with a message to Obama on Mt Rushmore right now! http://su.pr/2rzliz

The Guardian: Greenpeace activists hijack Italian power stations http://su.pr/1GYWQ4

“a new coal plant at kingsnorth would emit more than the one we’re occupying near venice” http://su.pr/3OMa5o RT @greenpeaceuk

Want to be part of a global community ready to take action to demand action? Become a climate activist: http://su.pr/1g2ld1

#Obama staff say #climate change not caused by fossil fuels. GP leaks doc to press http://su.pr/1NGool Obama then changed #G8 RT @Greenpeace

Want 2 know how the #G8 countries score on #climate? see how #WWF scores them http://su.pr/1DBmjt

“Its the same gridlock we had last year when Bush was president.” http://su.pr/2wZSjP

G8 fails to get emerging powers to agree on climate change goals http://su.pr/2EVPMI

Half of emissions in the atmosphere are from coal. And every g8 country is planning new coal plants RT @greenpeaceuk

G8 emissions pledge is ‘scientifically illiterate’: http://su.pr/30qNfW

Oh my! G8 strip mob from Avaaz: http://su.pr/31wNOM

Watch: G8 Cooking Up the Planet and Spicing it with CO2 http://su.pr/1BLyO4

Greenpeace urges the G8 to ‘heal the world’ http://su.pr/A8rCHa

Greenpeace currently occupying power stations in Italy for L’Aquila summit http://su.pr/2Z1QUf

Greenpeace goes to the G8 http://su.pr/25r6zJ

Take Action! Ask world leaders to personally attend climate conference: http://su.pr/1O0eWk

Major nations have failed to agree to set a goal halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 http://su.pr/1NeVRY

Watch and read about G8 #climateaction as it happens in Italy today http://su.pr/2ethbZ

Photo credit: rockcohen

Green political parties from across Europe made a successful European parliament election this past week. The European Greens gained 11 new seats in the parliament and will now have a total of 46 Green MEPs, an increase with 31%. The Greens/EFA Group is now likely to have 53 MEPS (46 Greens and 7 EFA MEPs).

“To have increased the number of Green MEPs from 35 to 46 is a great success. Our showing is even more remarkable when you consider that we have 11 more seats than before in a parliament with 49 fewer MEPS and that all other groups have shrunk”, said EGP Co-Spokesperson Philippe Lamberts, who has been elected a MEP for the Belgian French-speaking Green Party Ecolo.

In France the green political party Europe-Ecologie gained 16% of the votes and will thus send 13 green MEPs to the European parliament. Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Finland are other countries where the greens will receive more MEPs than from the last EU election. In Greece 3.48% of the people voted for Ecologoi-Prasinoi and as a result Greece will be able to send their first green MEP to the European Parliament.

“The Greek Greens’ campaign demonstrated European solidarity as an Austrian-Greek Green stood as a candidate to support the Greek party”.

“What our 31% increase in seats proves beyond any shadow of a doubt is that the Greens are a major political force to be reckoned with and that we are gaining the trust of more and more voters, not only in our traditional areas like the environment and climate policy and human rights, but also economics and social policy“, Lamberts said.

The greens across Europe will together and stronger than ever work hard to gain support in the parliament for their €500 billion new Green Deal which will help solve the economic crisis and save our climate.

EGP Co-Spokesperson Ulrike Lunacek, who was also elected a MEP for the Austrian Greens and managed to maintain their 2 seats despite heavy waves of rightwing populism, thanked all the people who dared to “Think Big, Vote Green”.

“We will fight hard on their behalf for a Green New Deal for Europe, which was at the heart of our common election campaign and obviously appealed to many voters, including many who had never voted Green before,” she said. “The Green New Deal would not only create 5 million new Green-Collar jobs in 5 years but would also help fight climate change as 500 billion Euros of public and private funds would be invested in renewables, energy efficiency and other future-oriented technologies”.

I am happy to see that the Greens has a growing support among the voters across Europe, and that they will with the support of the voters get at least 10 more seats in the EU parliament. And I am happy to see that Sweden (for now) isn’t taking part in the Europe-wide trend of sending far-right extremist, racists and anti-democratic political parties to the European Parliament.

Election Results

The Green election results can be found below:

Watch:

via Vote or Die 2009

The upcoming European Elections are just a few days away. And when it comes to saving the climate this EU election is one of the more important ones. And I believe it’s definitely something you must take part in if you care the slightest about the climate, your children and their future, the environment or just the well state of your country.

But how, when and on who should you vote for? Don’t worry! Green Blog got you covered. You can find out when the deadline for voting is in your country by using this map here. And here you will find a complete list of green political parties that you can vote for around Europe.

Find your country’s green party and vote for it in the upcoming EU election. It really isn’t harder than that! This is our chance to vote for change. Don’t waste it.

Photo credit: rockcohen

The upcoming European Elections are just a few weeks away. And when it comes to saving the climate this EU election is one of the more important ones. And I believe it’s definitely something you must take part in if you care the slightest about the climate, your children and their future, the environment or just the well state of your country.

As you probably already know by now time is no longer on our side when it comes to fighting man-made climate change. We need radical actions now if we are to have the slightest chance to stop the worst doomsday scenarios. That is why this election is so important. Because whatever you like it or not the decisions which are being made in the European Parliament affects all member states. So this is our chance to vote for meaningful actions against climate change that will affect politics and regulations both in Europe and around the world. Don’t wait until the next European Parliament elections in 2014, because then it will be too late.

How to vote?

If you live in one of the 27 member states of the European Union, and are eligible to vote, you can take part in the election and help save out climate by voting for a green political party. Yes, you read right. I am asking you to vote for a political party that might not be the right party for you personally in terms of your political views or ideology. But this is such an important, almost a once in a lifetime, election for the climate and the future of our civilization which require us to vote for political parties that actually stands for real actions against climate change.

When to vote?

The elections will take place in early June and all member states votes on different dates. For example the UK voting will be on the 4th and in Sweden the voting is not until the 7th. You can find out when the deadline for voting is in your country by using this map here.

Who should you vote for?

Because Europe has so many different political parties it’s hard to tell exactly which party should get your vote. That is why I think the easiest way to decide is to choose a political party that is a member of the European Greens (They have even set up a website to promote their candidates and their new green deal for Europe which will help solve the economic crisis and save our climate).

The following parties listed below are members of the European Greens:

• Albania: Partia e Gjelber
• Austria: Die Grünen
• Belgium: Ecolo OR Groen!
• Bulgaria: Bulgarian Green Party/Bulgarian Greens
• Cyprus: Cyprus Green Party
• Czech Republic: Strana Zelenych
• Estonia: Eestimaa Rohelised
• Finland: Vihreät De Gröna
• France: Les Verts
• Germany: Bündnis90/Die Grünen
• Greece: Ecologoi-Prasinoi
• Hungary: Zöld Demokraták Szövetsége
• Ireland: Comhaontas Glas
• Italy: Federazione dei Verdi
• Latvia: Latvijas Zala Partija
• Luxembourg: déi gréng
• Malta: Alternattiva Demokratika
• Moldova: Partidul Ecologist din Moldova “Aliante Verde” (PEM AVE)
• Netherlands: De Groenen OR GroenLinks
• Poland: Zieloni 2004
• Portugal: Partido Ecologista “Os Verdes”
• Romania: The Green Party
• Slovakia: Strana Zelenych (SZ)
• Slovenia: Stranka mladih Slovenije (SMS)
• Spain: Los Verdes OR Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds (ICV)
• Sweden: Miljöpartiet de Gröna
• United Kingdom: The Green Party of England & Wales OR Scottish Green Party

Find your country’s green party and vote for it in the upcoming EU election. It really isn’t harder than that!

This is our chance to vote for change. Don’t waste it.

European car makers Pininfarina and Bolloré have created BlueCar, a hybrid vehicle powered by lithium-polymer batteries. According to the car makers the first units of this electric car will be delivered in about a year. Leases for the BlueCar will be available in six European countries at a cost of €330 per month.

BlueCar will be able to be charged from a standard domestic main socket and will have a range of 250 km (153 miles). The car will have a top speed of 130 km/h (80 mph) and will feature potent acceleration, reaching 60 km/h from a standing start (0 to 37 mph) in 6.3 seconds. According to Pininfarina and Bollore the BlueCar will be able to run about 30 km (20 miles) on only a charge of a few minutes. The car will also be equipped with solar panels on the roof to help power the electrical equipments as well as its heating and air-conditioning system. Critics say the solar panels are a cool addition to the car but that it will make the car more expensive.

The lithium-polymer battery inside the BlueCar, also called LMP, will have an expected lifetime of about 200,000km (125,000 miles). BlueCar is also equipped with a battery pack and supercapacitors to capture energy when the car is braking

“In an electric car, supercapacitors draw and store energy generated while the car is braking and feed it back into the system when the car moves off again. The result is greater acceleration, increased range and a longer lifespan for the car’s battery.”

The seat covers are leather-like covers produced from vegetable sources. The BlueCar will be, according to early plans, only available in France, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain and Switzerland. Production numbers are set to 10,000 cars in 2010, 20,000 in 2011 and 30,000 in 2012.

Also read: Tesla unveils their new Model S electric car

Photo credit: World Economic Forum

George Monbiot writes today on the Guardian that the new EU emissions agreement is a disaster and calls it carbon colonialism.

So much for the Europeans leading the way on climate change. Even as our governments claim they want to drag the world into an effective climate agreement in Poznan, they have just pulled Europe out of one in Brussels.

The agreement they have just reached is a disaster. The 20% carbon cut they promise by 2020 falls miles short of what’s needed, and they’ll be able to buy most of it from abroad anyway. All this means, in a world which has to eliminate most of its carbon pollution, is that other countries, which have sold their easiest reductions to us, will then find it harder to make emissions cuts of their own. It’s carbon colonialism, in which Europe picks the low-hanging fruit in developing countries, leaving them with much tougher choices later on.

Monbiot blames the failure on Germany, which he calls the new dirty man of Europe. Monbiot says that Angela Merkel is prepared to go green only when it doesn’t hurt big business.

[…]Who has pushed hardest for these exemptions? The great green German chancellor Angela Merkel. The British government’s environmental policies are wildly contradictory, but they look almost coherent by comparison to Germany’s. In some respects it’s the most progressive country in the EU, with a federal scheme to insulate the entire housing stock and an investment in wind power which puts the UK (with far greater wind resources) to shame. In other respects it has become the dirty man of Europe. It was Merkel who demanded weaker standards for fuel efficiency in cars, Merkel who pushed hardest for a €40bn bail-out of the motor manufacturers, Merkel who now insists that the big cement, steel and chemicals companies are allowed to get away without paying.

[…]Shame on you, Mrs Merkel. With the help of Donald Tusk, Silvio Berlusconi and one or two other Neanderthals, you have now messed it up for everyone.

Read it: Germany: the new dirty man of Europe

Related: EU leaders fail to agree on a strong climate deal

Photo credit: rockcohen

Leaders from the European Union (EU) have just agreed on a new watered-down climate deal to tackle global warming. The actual emissions cuts could amount to as little as 4% by 2020.

Yesterday UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in Poznan that “the world is watching us. The next generation is counting on us. We must not fail.” He also called for the EU to show the way and leadership on the climate crisis for other countries. Unfortunately it seems the short-sighted “leaders” of Europe ignored him. Instead of 30% emission cuts by 2020 the EU leaders only agreed on cuts by 20% by 2020, compared to 1990 levels.

But the actual emission cuts could end up being as little as 4% by 2020, environmental groups warned. That is because of special exemptions for dirty industries in Europe as well as allowing cheap emission cuts overseas to be counted to the EU total. The latter has been heavily pushed by the new Swedish right-wing government who has called for as much as 88% of the EU emission cuts to be allowed to do overseas in development countries.

“EU leaders will probably trumpet the deal on climate change as a great success, but in reality this is a big failure in EU ambition,” said Delia Villagrasa, Senior Advisor to WWF.

“Basically, Europe just decided to off-set about two thirds of its own greenhouse gas emissions, to have consumers pay for emissions permits that polluting companies get for free and to avoid supporting poorer countries in the fight to climate change. This is not quite the third industrial revolution we were expecting,

“The result of this race to the bottom is that Europe will reduce its own greenhouses gas emissions significantly less than the proclaimed 20% target by 2020.”

EU leaders on the other hand have said the new climate deal is “historic” and “ambitious”.

EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called the plans “the most ambitious proposals anywhere in the world”, saying that “Europe has today passed its credibility test. We mean business when we talk about climate.”

And French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a press conference in Brussels that “this is historic” and that it “was difficult up to the last minute” to reach an agreement on the deal.

“A flagship E.U. policy now has no pilot, a mutinous crew and numerous holes in its fuselage,” said Sanjeev Kumar of the environment group WWF.

“This is a dark day for European climate policy. European heads of state and government have reneged on their promises and turned their backs on global efforts to fight climate change,” Climate Action Network Europe, Friends of the Earth Europe, Greenpeace, Oxfam and WWF said in a joint statement today.

“Angela Merkel, Silvio Berlusconi, Donald Tusk and Nicolas Sarkozy should be ashamed. They have chosen the private profits of polluting industry over the will of European citizens, the future of their children and the plight of millions of people around the world. The Parliament can and should amend the worst parts of today’s deal.”

Photo credit: World Economic Forum

Avaaz, an independent and not-for-profit global campaigning organization, says that European leadership on climate is “essential to secure us all a global deal” in the UN climate conference in Poznań, Poland. Unfortunately have Germany, Poland and Italy so far been the “main blockers” during the climate negotiations for strong European actions.

But Avaaz says that Poland has begun to change their mind and that now only Germany and Italy are left “standing in the way”. And so they want you to help them put pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel “to do the smart thing for the environment and the economy”.

Germany is the key – Chancellor Merkel is normally a climate champion, but has caved to industry, fearing for German jobs. She needs to hear from us that a Green Recovery is the answer to both our climate and our economic crises.

Merkel cares a great deal about her international reputation, which is why Avaaz has delivered our 150,000-strong petition and protested at her international meetings with the Poles. But now for the punch: an Avaaz commissioned opinion poll which reveals that 85% of Merkel’s own people are calling for her to show leadership in securing a strong climate deal. Together, we can help push Merkel over the edge — follow this link to leave her a quick message encouraging her to do the smart thing for the environment and the economy: http://www.avaaz.org/en/merkel_lead_on_climate/

[…]But despite mounting pressure, Germany is still arguing that emissions allowances should be free for industry. Merkel doesn’t seem to understand the power of a green lead recovery or that green-collar jobs are the new growth industry. Instead she is catering to her country’s cement, chemical, steel and car industries.

But if we can convince her to shift gears, an EU package will be all but sealed and with it a platform for a global climate plan. We’ve got to move decisively before Merkel publicly announces her final position later this week. We need to send clear and unambiguous messages demanding that she doesn’t stand in the way of a global deal. Let her know that we need her back on side.

As our leaders delay and lower their ambitions for action, our planet and our people are placed at greater risk. At this crucial time, our role is to let our representatives now that we wont allow another global climate talks to fail, that we have the solutions to the climate crisis, and we expect nothing less than a strong and binding deal to achieve it.

Click here to tell Merkel to show leadership in securing a strong climate deal.

photo credit: rockcohen

The governments of Italy and Poland are, as I write this, trying to weaken the already weak climate goals that the European Union agreed on in January. Italy and Poland blames their will to inaction against climate change because of the current financial crisis. They argue that they can’t afford to implement tough emissions targets on their industrial sector.

This is a fine example of ignorance from these right-wing governments in Europe. The climate package will not worsen the economy for Europe. Instead the plan will create millions of new green jobs, reduce our fuel costs and avert a catastrophe beyond our wildest dreams.

During a summit Nicolas Sarkozy said that they will look for “solutions” for those European countries who have expressed concerns about the climate goals and their economy. “The climate package is so important that we cannot simply drop it, under the pretext of a financial crisis,” said Nicolas Sarkozy, who currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency.

The European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said that “we are not going to let up on the battle against climate change.”

The European Commissioner for energy policy, Andris Piebalgs, wrote on his blog that “this financial crisis should not be an excuse to delay even more our climate and energy package, to promote renewables or to boost our energy efficiency. On the contrary, it has shown us that remedies are always worse than prevention. Therefore we cannot fail to implement the necessary measures to change from a fossil fuel based economy to a low carbon one, because this time citizens will not forgive us.”

Fine words indeed, but that doesn’t mean there is a reason to sit back and hope for the best. That is why Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, WWF and the Climate Action Network Europe needs your help to let the European Environment Ministers know that “we’re all watching them.”

“The EU package of climate measures MEPs debated last week is under threat again — and we need your help before Monday evening (yes, Monday 20 October). Environment Ministers will negotiate the details of the European package on Monday, and we want them to know that we’re all watching them. Please visit the timetolead.eu website again, and write to your government minister. (Yes, even if you’ve been there before. Last time you wrote to your MEPs — this time it’s Environment Ministers.)”

Greenpeace says that “the next days are crucial if we are to get a strong package of measures agreed by December”, and that “we must keep the pressure on Europe’s leaders now”.

Tell your ministers it’s time to lead!