That is even true for Greenpeace. Their German website gives a couple a concrete suggestions of how everybody can contribute to ban nuclear energy - once and for all:
Make your protest visible: nuclear energy, no thanks!
- Add a "nuclear power - no thanks" sticker on your facebook picture.
- Get tshirts, stickers, posters, flags with similar slogans. I did not find a US site yet, and so had to design my own tshirt.
Talk to your politicians!
- Write emails to your politicians
- Sign petitions like https://secure3.convio.net/gpeace/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=801&s_src=sidenav
- Sign up at www.votesolar.org
Make your own solar energy!
- In some areas, like Mill Valley, you can actually buy green electricity from you utility
- Get your own solar system on the roof or have companies like http://www.sunrunhome.com build and own them
Take action in your community!
Join demonstrations - more than 110.000 people went on the streets all over Germany just at the beginning of this week. Where are events happening close to where you live in the US?
I invite everybody to add links, events and organizations!
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I agree that this is the moment to think about Nuclear Energy policies worldwide, because this could have happened anywhere. At the end of the day, it's all about cost, right now it's cheaper to keep running Nuclear Power plants than converting to renewable energy. However, I wonder why politics can't find a more pragmatic way to tackle that problem. Given the current circumstances, I'm sure most people would be happy to pay more for renewable rather than nuclear. Let's say everyone would pay a one time "Get out of Nuclear Energy" ticket of $50 that we know will go to renewable energy, wouldn't we all be happy to pay that?
ReplyDeleteHi, Wolfgang,
ReplyDeleteI am glad to see that you are picking up the ball on this. The situation in Japan, especially with the nuclear power risks, is critical, and the long-term risks could be enormous for all. Here in Europe, especially in Germany, we are very concerned, and our leading politicians are taking strong steps to reconsider the short-, medium- and long-term nuclear power strategies (e.g. on-hold shutdown of 7 of the current 17 nuclear power stations while the risk situation is reassessed).
Is there anything picking up on President Obama's future energy strategy which is focused on "clean" coal, natural gas, nuclear power and clean energy? The first two are carbon dioxide generators, and the third is a huge risk for the US as evidenced by the past 6 days' of experiences in Japan (e.g. the California risk). This leaves clean energy - renewables as the core really viable, long-term approach.
While I am sure that the President will quickly support and try to drive the transition to renewable energy, there will be a lot of foot dragging amongst the Republicans and certain Democrats. Given the "radioactive" situation today, now is the time to get this all back on the table in the US. We have to make it happen.
Larry Schulz