Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items

District Council in Ireland unanimously says “NO” to nuclear waste dump

Councillors back motion to oppose dumping of nuclear waste, The Impartial Reporter, 18th March  A motion to oppose the dumping of any toxic waste in any part of Ireland was passed unanimously by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, however it was not without some political wrangling between Sinn Féin and the DUP.

The motion proposed by Sinn Fein’s John Feely states the Council’s opposition who said that the “dumping of nuclear waste has dire consequences for our environment and also poses a serious health risk to the population”.

Councillor Feely said the geological screening for geological disposal facilities for nuclear waste raised a number of questions such as about how much radiation would reach the surface and water sources.

He added that the proposals by the British Government showed once again “the complete and total disregard” it has for the citizens of “Fermanagh and Omagh, the North of Ireland and all its people”.

Councillor Barry Doherty seconded the motion saying everybody had obligation to ensure future generations have the opportunity to enjoy the area in the same way that people do today and Ireland should not turn into anyone’s dumping ground……..

Councillor Alex Baird said the UUP were happy to support the motion with an amendment to stop anybody dumping toxic waste in Northern Ireland.

Councillors, Shields, McAnespy and Deehan all welcomed the motion, with Councillor Deehan describing the prospect of a disposal facility for nuclear waste in the country as “chilling”…….. https://www.impartialreporter.com/news/17495254.councillors-back-motion-to-oppose-dumping-of-nuclear-waste/

March 19, 2019 Posted by | General News | Leave a comment

Bribes from UK’s Radioactive Waste Management not enough to get community consent for hosting nuclear waste dump

GDF Watch 17th March 2019 The sociopolitical challenges Radioactive Waste Management (RWM)  faces were starkly revealed by the community sector’s response to a recent major Government funding announcement. Their reaction suggests that the package of GDF-related investment and other funding, while being ‘necessary’, is not necessarily ‘sufficient’ to secure a community’s consent to start initial discussions or formally enter the siting process.

At the forefront of the sectors’ concerns is ‘collaboration’, and more active involvement in shaping policy and how it is implemented. This aspiration, particularly in the context of a ‘consent-based’ siting process, is likely to become a key area of discussion as RWM seeks to build awareness, trust and confidence with communities. The evidence for this analysis can
be found in the community/civil society sector reaction to the Government’s recent £1.6 billion ‘Stronger Towns Fund’ announcement.

Instead of welcoming the extra cash, across the board there was frustration and concern that once again there had been no consultation with those affected, that this was another top-down solution, and was throwing good money at bad means of delivering real benefits to communities.

http://www.gdfwatch.org.uk/2019/03/17/to-consult-or-to-collaborate-that-is-the-community-question/

March 19, 2019 Posted by | General News | Leave a comment

Australia could learn from Costa Rica – long-term planning, and successful switching to clean energy

FT 17th March 2019 Costa Rica, is small yet bold. We have historically been a leader, a first mover, and have thrived by taking steps others deemed impossible. We were the first country in the world to abolish our army in 1948, have established free public healthcare and education, and invested in our national parks in order to protect our biodiversity.

In 2017, Costa Rica achieved another first – and set a world record – for the most consecutive days of running the national electricity grid with only renewable energy: 300 days in a row.

And this little country is aiming to go even further than that. Decarbonisation is the great task facing our generation, and we want to be the first country in the world to achieve it. We have launched an economy-wide plan to decarbonise our country in line with the Paris agreement on climate change and the objectives of the UN’s Sustainable Development Agenda.

Our nation has a history of thinking long-term and those decisions have paid off. Costa Rica rejected cheap coal in the 1970s and instead turned to hydropower, which to this day supplies much of our clean energy and allows us to power our country emissions-free for long stretches. As the price of wind and solar technologies fall globally, we’re investing more in these forms of energy to keep our grid clean and reliable.

https://www.ft.com/content/bfe057b2-464c-11e9-b83b-0c525dad548f

March 19, 2019 Posted by | General News | Leave a comment

India’s two main anti-nuclear organisations CONDEMN THE SALE OF AMERICAN NUCLEAR REACTORS TO INDIA.

New Announcement About Sales of US Nuclear Reactors to India: Citizens’ Groups Stand in Opposition https://www.dianuke.org/new-announcement-about-sales-of-us-nuclear-reactors-to-india-citizens-groups-stand-in-opposition/ MARCH 15, 2019
THE PEOPLE’S MOVEMENT AGAINST NUCLEAR ENERGY (PMANE) AND THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF ANTI-NUCLEAR MOVEMENTS (NAAM) CONDEMN THE SALE OF AMERICAN REACTORS TO INDIA.India and the United States have announced the construction of six nuclear power plants in India, according to a joint statement issued at the conclusion of the 9th round of India-US Strategic Security Dialogue. It was co-chaired by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and Andrea Thompson, the US Under Secretary of state for arms control and international security, on March 13, 2019.

First of all, this policy decision of the caretaker Narendra Modi government in India is both illegal and illegitimate as general elections are going on in the country to elect a new Parliament and the new government. Only the incoming government can and should decide on such an important policy issue. As a matter of fact, the nuclear deals and businesses often violate the national laws and the people’s sentiments and interests.

Secondly, India and the US signed an agreement to cooperate in civil nuclear energy sector in October 2008 and it remained a paper exercise for more than a decade. After wasting so much of national time, energy and resources on this useless India-US nuclear deal, they have just announced the construction of six American reactors without divulging crucial information such as the supplier, the site/s of construction, terms and conditions of the sale etc.

The people of India feel insulted by this kind of undemocratic and arrogant decision-making processes without consulting the peoples of both the countries in their national legislatures. The ‘longest’ and ‘largest’ democracies tend to behave like the worst dictators when it comes to nuclear issue.

Thirdly, the hypocritical US administration compromises the non-proliferation values and interests of humanity when it comes to its own selfish business interests. They lobbied with the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to give India a special waiver enabling it to sign cooperation agreements with a dozen countries. As a result, India signed civil nuclear cooperation agreements with the US, France, Russia, Canada, Argentina, Australia, Sri Lanka, the UK, Japan, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan and South Korea.

Rendering the Non-Proliferation Treaty a cruel joke, the United States reaffirmed its strong support to India’s early membership in the 48-member NSG. It is pertinent to note that India has not signed the NPT so far.

Fourthly, the same hypocritical US administration is strongly objecting to the civil nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea. It is not clear why or how the nuclear power programs of these two countries become so dangerous while the nuclear reactors in India, Israel and everywhere else remain so benign and acceptable.

Obviously, the American stand and viewpoints on the nuclear issue are so hypocritical, self-centered and profit-oriented. It is highly objectionable to buy their nuclear reactors for India. India, being a highly and densely populated country, should put the safety and security concerns of its own citizens ahead of the business interests of its imperial partner. India should think and act like an independent leader and not as a slave of domineering United States.

People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE),
National Alliance of Anti-nuclear Movements (NAAM)

March 19, 2019 Posted by | General News | Leave a comment

International nuclear security negotiations poorly managed – because they pretty much exclude women

The Limits of Orthodoxy: What Diversity Brings to Nuclear Security,   Council on Foreign Relations,   by Guest Blogger for the Women and Foreign Policy Program March 18, 2019
“…………Our new report, The ‘Consensual Straitjacket’: Four Decades of Women in Nuclear Security notes that “while women have been working in the nuclear policy field at leadership levels for decades, the space is still overwhelmingly white and male.” Through interviews with 23 women who have worked at senior levels in the nuclear, arms control, and non-proliferation fields from the 1970’s through the present day, we find that a lack of diversity is one critical factor impeding innovation in the nuclear policy security arena.  ……….

The “Consensual Straitjacket”

Our research also found that the nuclear security field tends to be insulated, hierarchical, and overwhelmingly male. The resulting emphasis on a shared “nuclear orthodoxy” limits policy design and invites groupthink. Ultimately, that nuclear orthodoxy leads to losses in talented personnel who are unable or unwilling to fit themselves in to this narrow paradigm. Individuals who might otherwise provide creative, alternative approaches instead struggle to fit into the stereotypical image of what a nuclear official should look and sound like.


Michèle Flournoy described this struggle, as well as the resulting lost creativity, as a “consensual straitjacket.” She told us, “I think women are socialized to sort of think outside the box to solve problems […] and to sometimes solve a problem by reexamining the basic assumptions and looking at it differently. And that just was not welcomed very much in the nuclear conversation.”

Participants described working very hard to learn the theory and technical details of nuclear policy and master the jargon used by this community. But they also described how they attempted to fit in to conventional modes of thinking, even as these conventions felt constraining.

Gender Diversity and International Negotiations

A lack of gender diversity at international nuclear negotiations like the Hanoi Summit could therefore limit their potential outcomes. In spite of the benefits that gender diversity brings, we found that women remain systematically under-represented in nuclear and non-proliferation international negotiations. Data developed by the International Law and Policy Institute (ILPI) and the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) Review Conferences shows that while the U.S. delegation was composed of 5 percent women in 1980, just 38 percent of U.S. delegates in 2015 were female.

U.S. delegations routinely interact with foreign counterpart delegations who also have few, if any, women delegates. At the 2015 NPT Review Conference, the Russian Federation delegation was 27 percent women, China was 30 percent, the UK 27 percent, South Korea 36 percent, and Iran did not have any women delegates.

The “Gender Tax”

Many of our interviewees also pointed out to us that much of the work of negotiations occurs through informal interactions. When they were the only or one of a few women present, women found that they were often shut out of gatherings where their male colleagues were building these social relationships. Although some women said representing the United States offered some protection and gravitas, sexist behavior and harassment were still common.

Christine Wormuth told us that in international situations, “in the early years, I certainly had lots of the whole kind of ‘are you the administrative assistant or are you the mistress?’ [Because] certainly you couldn’t be there for substantive reasons.” The women we spoke to recounted a myriad of anecdotes about the harassment and derogatory comments that they faced at work from male colleagues, through the present day.

On top of doing their already-difficult jobs, these women faced an additional “gender tax” that required them to expend additional mental and emotional energy to navigate these high-stakes situations safely and tactfully. Wormuth recounted her reaction to being asked out to dinner by a high-ranking foreign representative: “It was so deflating because I realized, oh, he wasn’t paying any attention to what I was saying, he was paying attention to how I looked.”…….https://www.cfr.org/blog/limits-orthodoxy-what-diversity-brings-nuclear-security

March 18, 2019 Posted by | General News | Leave a comment

It’s a global disgrace, that it’s been left to children to take the lead on climate action

“We are happy to be the driving force… because when our children ask us what have you done for our future, we will have an answer.”
The Observer view on the school climate strikes: it’s shameful that children need to take the lead https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/17/observer-view-on-schools-climate-strike, Observer Editorial, 17 Mar 19, 
Children are right to call politicians to account over a global crisis   For those who care passionately about our planet’s future, these are dispiriting times. Fossil fuel emissions, which are now causing our world to overheat dangerously, continue to rise despite scientists’ clear warnings about the likely consequences: melting ice sheets, rising sea levels, unprecedented storms, acidifying oceans and spreading deserts.

Such forecasts should have spurred global action a long time ago. Yet politicians across the world have consistently refused to act and for decades have procrastinated, discounting evidence that clearly shows global warming is already affecting our planet. Many factors account for this inaction. Lobbying by oil and gas companies obsessed with short-term gain has certainly been involved. Others have argued that only God can have a planet-wide influence and that humanity is being presumptuous in believing it could alter a global ecosystem. In addition, there are those who believe bids to introduce limits on coal and oil burning are simply the work of leftwing, anti-capitalist conspirators.

Such befuddled notions are no longer acceptable in an overheating world. In failing to act over climate change, our leaders are in real danger of betraying a generation of young people who, in a few decades, are likely to inherit a blighted world that has been denuded of much of its wildlife, coastline and fertile land. The future of our children is being stolen before their eyes.

In the face of this stark scenario, the decision by children round the planet to vent their anger and to stage an international campaign of protests and school walkouts last week is to be welcomed. It was a just response to a global injustice. Without a voice in a political debate in which their future is being threatened by the political inability of their elders, young people have had little choice. Teachers may complain that the disruption caused by last week’s protests only increases their workload and wastes lesson times, but it is clear the campaign is being driven by genuine outrage, a grievance that also explains the considerable breadth of these protests.

From Australia to America, pupils simply put down their books and took to the streets. More than 100 towns and cities in the UK saw protests. In Sydney, about 30,000 young folk held a climate march, while in Delhi more than 200 children walked out of classes.

Equally impressive were the comments and blogs. In India, 13-year-old Arya Dhar Gupta from Gurugram, whose air is some of the world’s most polluted, revealed it was no longer safe for her to play outdoors. Others called for a moratorium on all new coal, oil and gas plants. Some demanded massive investment in renewable energy projects.

But perhaps most telling were the words of Anastasia Martynenko from Kiev. She supported her actions in terms that starkly highlight the depth of her elders’ failures and underline the now desperate need for a reinvigoration of global climate policies. “We are happy to be the driving force… because when our children ask us what have you done for our future, we will have an answer.”

March 18, 2019 Posted by | General News | Leave a comment

World wide climate protests, by hundreds of thousands of school students

Even in chilly Oklahoma, USA – Students rally for climate change

Hundreds of thousands leave schools world-wide to protest climate change inaction, SBS NEWS< 17 Mar 19, Hundreds of thousands of students in more than 2000 cities from Australia to Uganda and Germany left the classroom on Friday to protest government inaction on climate change.

Hundreds of thousands of young people skipped school across the globe on Friday to march through the streets for an international day of student protests aimed at pushing world leaders into action on climate change.

Classrooms in capitals from Bangkok to Berlin and Lagos to London emptied as organizers of the student strike called demonstrations in more than 100 countries.

Students flooded into the streets across Europe, North and South America, and Asia carrying placards reading: “There is no planet B”, “You’re destroying our future” and “If you don’t act like adults, we will.”

Despite three decades of warnings, carbon dioxide emissions hit record levels in 2017 and again last year.

Loading the atmosphere with greenhouse gases at current rates will eventually lead to an uninhabitable planet, scientists say.

In Stockholm, Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg – who inspired the protests – warned that time was running out.   “We are living through an existential crisis that has been ignored for decades and if we do not act now it may be too late,” the 16-year-old, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, told Swedish public television station SVT.

Across the world, their placards formed a mosaic:

“Like the ocean, we will rise” (Sydney)

“Our future in your hands” (Berlin)

“System Change not Climate Change” (Vienna)

“Don’t be a Trump” (Hong Kong)

“The Titanic would have NO problem in 2019” (Elmshorn, Germany)

And everywhere, “There is no planet B.”

Montreal drew among the largest crowds, estimated by organizers at nearly 150,000.

In the United States, protests were more low-key, with events held in New York, Washington, Chicago, Portland, Oregon, and St. Paul, Minnesota, where one sign read: “So bad even introverts are here!”

Further south in Latin America, placards with messages such as “climate change is not ‘fake news'” were seen in Buenos Aires, Argentina – while young people also took to the streets in the Chilean capital Santiago and Colombia’s Medellin.

In Delhi, one of the world’s most polluted cities, 200 students took part in a colorful protest, waving ribbons, juggling and performing stunts with hoops.”We have to make a choice whether we want to sit and be indifferent or do something for our planet,” said 16-year-old student Srijani Datta.

In Sydney, 18-year-old Charles Rickwood warned that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef could be destroyed.

“If current trends in the environment continue, we’ll see the one, two degrees increase in our ocean then it will simply become unsustainable and we could lose the entire Great Barrier Reef,” he told AFP.

Skipping exams

European students were also out en masse. Several thousand youngsters thronged the streets of central London in a raucous demonstration with banners and placards.

Packing into Parliament Square, they cheered and chanted “Change… now!” before marching past Downing Street and massing outside Buckingham Palace……..

Adults should learn a lesson’

The global action drew a mixed reaction from politicians.

Germany’s Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said the demonstrators should be in class while Australia’s Education Minister Dan Tehan said striking was “not something that we should encourage.”

But New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern hailed the action, saying: “We hear you and we’re getting on with setting a path for carbon neutrality.”……. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/hundreds-of-thousands-leave-schools-world-wide-to-protest-climate-change-inaction

March 18, 2019 Posted by | General News | Leave a comment

India -Pakistan just that little bit closer to that nuclear war brink

Indian military confirms deployment of nuclear subs amid rising tensions with Pakistan, AMN By News Desk2019-03-17

Tensions between the two nuclear-armed Asian powers escalated last month, after an incursion into Pakistani territory in Kashmir by Indian Air Force warplanes to strike at Jihadist militants led to skirmishes in the air and small arms and artillery fire along the shaky Line of Control border.

Major combat units of the Indian Navy including the INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier-led battle group, nuclear submarines “and scores of other ships, submarines and aircraft” were quickly shifted from exercises to operational deployment as tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad escalated, India’s Ministry of Defence revealed in a statement Sunday……..

Earlier Sunday, sources speaking to Reuters reportedly said that India and Pakistan had threatened to lob nuclear missiles at each other during the crisis and that only US officials’ intervention helped to defuse what may have well turned into a much deadlier conflict. ……

Tensions continue to smolder, with regular reports of airspace violations, military drills held in the sensitive border area, and back and forth allegations of ceasefire violations amid small arms and artillery fire along the Line of Control in Kashmir. https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/indian-military-confirms-deployment-of-nuclear-subs-amid-rising-tensions-with-pakistan/

March 18, 2019 Posted by | General News | Leave a comment

Roland Oldham, French Polynesia’s leading advocate for the victims of France’s nuclear weapons tests has died.

Leading Tahiti anti-nuclear advocate Roland Oldham dies, https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/384968/leading-tahiti-anti-nuclear-advocate-roland-oldham-dies  18 Mar 19, French Polynesia’s leading advocate for the victims of France’s nuclear weapons tests has died.

Roland Oldham, who was the founder and president of the organisation Moruroa e tatou, died at the age of 68.

He had been a teacher and a unionist who had also lived in New Zealand.

Mr Oldham spearheaded Tahiti’s efforts to get France to pay compensation for those suffering ill health as a result of the weapons tests carried out between 1966 and 1996.

He was locked in a battle with the French state which only a decade ago admitted that the tests caused radiation-induced diseases.

In the face of France rejecting almost all compensation claims Mr Oldham pushed for a review of the law.

It has been amended and France now says more victims will be compensated.

Tens of thousands of military and civilian personnel were involved in the testing regime at Moruroa and Fangataufa where a total of 193 were carried out.

In the 1990s, Mr Oldham, whose organisation wasn’t affiliated to any political party, was under surveillance of the local intelligence agency.

March 18, 2019 Posted by | General News | Leave a comment

Climate striker Greta Thunberg nominated for Nobel peace prize 

Teenage Climate Activist Greta Thunberg Has Been Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2196626-climate-striker-greta-thunberg-nominated-for-nobel-peace-prize/?utm_medium=SOC&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR0ZMZv0QEBy Adam Vaughan

Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old from Sweden who started a global movement of schoolchildren striking to demand climate change action, has been nominated for the Nobel peace prize.

The nomination comes a day before thousands of pupils worldwide are expected to walk out of school in more than 1,600 towns and cities across more than 100 countries.

If she won, Thunberg would be the youngest person to become a Nobel peace prize laureate, a title Malala Yousafzai took as a 17-year-old in 2014 for her work on the right to education.

Climate winner

It would also be only the second time an individual had won for work on climate change. The first was former US vice-president Al Gore, who was awarded the prize in 2007 alongside the UN climate science group, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Thunberg tweeted that she was: “Honoured and very grateful for this nomination.”

The nomination was made by Freddy André Øvstegård, a member of the Norwegian parliament, and two colleagues in the Socialist Left Party.

March 16, 2019 Posted by | General News | Leave a comment

Youth climate strikes held in 100 countries

‘Fridays for future’ marches for climate change going global | DW News

It’s our time to rise up’: youth climate strikes held in 100 countries https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/15/its-our-time-to-rise-up-youth-climate-strikes-held-in-100-countries Sandra Laville, Matthew Taylorand Daniel Hurst, Sat 16 Mar 2019 

School and university students continue Friday protests to call for political action on crisis  From Australia to America, children put down their books on Friday to march for change in the first global climate strike.

The event was embraced in the developing nations of India and Uganda and in the Philippines and Nepal – countries acutely impacted by climate change – as tens of thousands of schoolchildren and students in more than 100 countries went on “strike”, demanding the political elite urgently address what they say is a climate emergency. Continue reading →

March 16, 2019 Posted by | General News | Leave a comment

Three Mile Island and thyroid cancer: they now have a “marker” for radiation-caused cancer

thyroid cancer caused by low-level radiation has a different “mutational signal” than most thyroid cancer, Goldenberg said. He and his colleagues used molecular research that had been pioneered after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster to find that genetic marker.  
 
                                       ************************************************************

Three Mile Island and thyroid cancer: Debates continue over health issues after nuclear plant accident

Penn Live By Brett Sholtis/PA Post, 15 Mar 19 

On March 28, 1979, Chris Achenbach-Kimmel was a 14-year-old freshman at Cedar Cliff High School in Camp Hill, Cumberland County. Fourteen miles away, on the Susquehanna River, staff at Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station were trying to contain the damage from an accident at one of its reactors.

“I just remember being in class, and just getting the news, and wondering, what does this mean?”……

Her mother kept her and her siblings inside as much as possible. TV news reports echoed through the house as her mother waited for an “all clear” from authorities. ……

For Achenbach-Kimmel, the accident became merely one more high school memory. She graduated in 1982 and went on to a career in occupational therapy.

It wasn’t until her thyroid cancer diagnosis in 2010 that she thought again about Three Mile Island. Continue reading →

March 16, 2019 Posted by | General News | Leave a comment

Nuclear station in Nebraska prepares for potential flooding, in powerful winter storm

Nebraska preps nuclear plant for possible flooding, no public danger  https://wkzo.com/news/articles/2019/mar/15/nebraska-preps-nuclear-plant-for-possible-flooding-no-public-danger/, March 15, 2019 

(Reuters) – Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) on Friday declared an “unusual event” at its Cooper nuclear power station in Nebraska due to the possibility of flooding along the Missouri River following a powerful winter storm this week.

The plant continues to operate safely and “there is no threat to plant employees or to the public,” the utility said in a release.

The late winter storm, dubbed a “bomb cyclone” by meteorologists, left blizzards, floods and tornados in its wake after hitting the U.S. Mountain and Plains states this week, before pushing east into the Midwest and the Great Lakes Region early Friday.

NPPD said its workers have filled sandbags along the river levee and procured other materials and supplies for flood protection.

The biggest danger to a nuclear plant from flooding is the loss of power, which can make it difficult to cool the uranium fuel in the reactor core and the fuel stored in the spent fuel pool.

That is what caused the fuel in some reactor cores at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan to partially melt down in 2011 after a giant earthquake and tsunami cut power to the plant.

Since Fukushima, all U.S. reactors have been upgraded with additional safety equipment, including portable pumps and generators to keep cooling water circulating through the reactor in case the plant loses offsite power.

NPPD said its procedures require it to declare an unusual event to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission when the Missouri River tops 899 feet above sea level. It reached 899.05 feet Friday morning, the company said.

Should the river rise to 900 feet above sea level, NPPD said plant workers will “barricade internal doorways as another layer of protection for facility equipment.”

If the river reaches 901.5 feet above sea level, NPPD said it would take the station offline as a protective measure.

The plant was built at 903 feet above sea level, which is 13 feet above natural grade, NPPD said.

The Cooper station is three miles (4.8 km) southeast of Brownville, Nebraska, near the Missouri River.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by David Gregorio and Richard Chang)

March 16, 2019 Posted by | General News | Leave a comment

3 decades later, many believe that this horrendous murder was done to protect the nuclear industry

Robert isn’t alone. He has documented the harassment and even murder of other whistleblowers who spoke out about contentious nuclear issues, or attempted to supply him with sensitive information.  

March 14, 2019 Posted by | General News | Leave a comment

From Australia to Japan to India, USA also, youths will skip school on March 15 to protest against climate change

Striking for the future: From Australia to Japan to India, youths will skip school on March 15 to protest against climate change

Students from at least six Asian countries will take part in Global Strike for Future
But authorities in some countries have warned students not to disrupt classes South China Morning Post Zoe Low 10 Mar, 2019 On March 15, students from at least six countries in the Asia-Pacific will be part of a global school strike to demand concrete action from governments to tackle climate change.

They come from secondary schools and universities in Australia, Bangladesh, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, and will join their peers in the Americas and Europe to take part in the Global Strike for Future.

“We are the ones who will inherit this Earth. We deserve to have a say about the kind of future we have, which at this stage could be non-existent unless we stand up and show the politicians how important this is to us,” said 18-year-old Sophie Handford, who has completed high school and is coordinating the strikes in New Zealand.

The protest comes a month after about 10,000 youngsters staged a nationwide school strike across 60 cities in Britain, showing how a grass roots movement inspired by a Swedish girl last summer had taken off…….

This is the first time that New Zealand’s young people will be striking in 24 cities including Auckland and Christchurch to demand the government to limit global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). Some of their demands include fast tracking paths to reach emission targets and stopping all exploration and extraction of fossil fuels. …….

In Bangladesh, another first time strike is being organised in Dhaka, Sundarbans and Sylhet by 24-year-old Sabbir Ahmed, who emphasises that this country’s low-lying areas will be most affected by rising sea levels caused by climate change. Sabbir graduated in 2017 and has been working with youth groups to develop professional skills. ……

Indian teen Vidit Baya is demanding his government take action.

“Our future is in their hands and we want them to take action not just for us but for the sake of the planet, its people and its survival,” said the 17-year-old, who is one of the organisers of the strike in India…..https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2189175/striking-future-australia-japan-india-youths-will-skip

 

The House is on Fire,” Climate Strikes Come to America PR Watch March 15  by Mary Bottari on March 11, 2019 “……..Now the inspiration is coming back across the Atlantic, and European teens will soon be joined by a mobilization of American high school students who will demand action from one of the world’s worst polluters, the United States of America.

Countering the Trump AgendaThese young people are paying attention……..

In Wisconsin, high school students organizing the march in Madison held a press conference in the State Capitol.

“Young people have made our choice clear: protect our future and listen to the scientists,” said Middleton High School senior Max Prestigiacomo. “We know this will cost a lot of money, but we need to invest in our future. You cannot put a price on our future,” said Memorial High School Senior Sophie Guthier. “I strike because the weight of the world has been put on my generation’s shoulders,” said LaFollette High School Junior Grace Carpenter. “I am marching because we are in a state of emergency, but no one is responding in the way that they should,” said Lea Lavendale of East High school.

The students are battling some pretty big forces, but they will march for young and old, knowing that the people are on their side…..https://www.prwatch.org/news/2019/03/13453/%E2%80%9C-house-fire%E2%80%9D-climate-strikes-come-america-march-15

March 12, 2019 Posted by | General News | Leave a comment

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