VANCOUVER, April 28 /CNW/ - Dr. Patrick Moore, Chairman and Chief Scientist of Greenspirit Strategies Ltd. and Co-Founder of Greenpeace, appeared before a committee of US federal legislators today and called for a revitalized program of developing alternative energy sources to reduce the need to burn oil, natural gas and coal in electricity generation.
"Nuclear energy is the only non-greenhouse-gas-emitting power source that can effectively replace fossil fuels and satisfy global demand," Moore told the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Energy and Resources in
Washington, DC.
"There is now a great deal of scientific evidence showing nuclear power to be an environmentally sound and safe choice," Moore said. Moore believes his former colleagues at Greenpeace are unrealistic in their call for a phasing out of both coal and nuclear power worldwide, as they have called for in Ontario, for example.
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"There are simply not enough available forms of alternative energy to replace both of them together. Given a choice between nuclear on the one hand and coal, oil and natural gas on the other, nuclear energy is by far the best option as it emits neither CO2 nor any other air pollutants."
Moore told the subcommittee there are virtually no other beneficial uses of uranium beyond electricity production, "whereas fossil fuels are a precious non-renewable resource and have a multitude of constructive uses including the manufacture of durable goods such as plastics.
"Using fossil fuels for electricity generation on such a large scale with the accompanying release of harmful emissions requires that more focus be placed on the development of alternatives including nuclear energy, wind, geothermal, hydro and biomass," Moore said.
Moore welcomed the remarks of President George W. Bush who stated yesterday at the Small Business Administration's National Small Business Week that there is a need to promote greater energy independence by harnessing the power of technology to create new sources of energy and make more efficient use of existing ones.
Greenspirit Strategies Ltd., a sustainability consulting firm, is based in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Jeremy Twigg, (604) 681-4122 or www.greenspiritstrategies.com
GREENPEACE MORONS PRINT DECK OF 'EVIL' CARDS Blair is ace of diamonds on Greenpeace cards Greenpeace has produced a deck of cards which parodies the US deck of 'most wanted' Iraqis. The environmental group's cards has Tony Blair as the ace of diamonds and George W Bush as the ace of spades. The cards feature eight world leaders, along with details of the number of nuclear weapons their countries possess. The organisation says the idea of the cards is to focus attention on the dangers posed by massive nuclear arsenals. Greenpeace's deck also has Vladimir Putin as the ace of hearts and Jacques Chirac as the ace of clubs. Most of the rest of the cards contain information about nuclear weapons. Greenpeace spokesman William Peden said: "It's an exact copy in terms of the design and layout." Campaigners are handing out 600 decks to delegates at a two-week meeting in Geneva on the 1968 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which is aimed at controlling and ultimately eliminating nuclear weapons. "We haven't had any negative comments - not even from the US delegation. I'm getting mugged for copies. They're such a hot item," added Peden.