Open Letter Sent to Prof. Lovelock on Global Warming and Nuclear Power

In April 2007, a group of 14 Japanese organizations involved in environmental and energy issues sent an open letter to Professor James Lovelock, a British scientist, regarding the relevance of nuclear power as a means to curb global warming. The group consists of civil organizations and non-governmental organizations, such as Greenpeace Japan and the Kiko (Climate) Network.

In his book "The Revenge of Gaia" and contiributions to newspapers, Professor Lovelock argues that we should make the maximum use of nuclear power to survive climate change. Advocating this view, the Japanese government and the Japan Atomic Energy Relations Organization have placed advertisements in newspapers in an effort to gain public acceptance for the nation's nuclear policy.

In the open letter, the group asked Professor Lovelock nine questions, including "Do you believe that accidents like the Chernobyl Accident (1986) and the Tokai Criticality Accident (1999) will never happen again?" The group also expressed their own view for each question, concluding that nuclear power is not an appropriate way to address global warming.

The Executive Director of Greenpeace Japan says, "Promoting nuclear power in Japan and abroad will increase world energy consumption, which runs against the efforts to tackle global warming. Instead, we should concentrate our limited time and resources on energy conservation and promotion of renewable energy that is safer and more reliable."


http://www.greenpeace.or.jp/campaign/climate/lovelock/Open_Letter_to_Lovelock.pdf

Posted: 2007/10/09 12:23:51 AM
Japanese version