Jacques Cousteau on Nuclear Power

The Human, the Orchid, and the Octopus: Exploring and Conserving Our Natural World
by Jacques Cousteau and Susan Schiefelbein
Bloomsbury USA

In this magnificent last book, finally available for the first time in the United States, Cousteau describes his deeply informed philosophy about protecting our world for future generations. Weaving gripping stories of his adventures throughout, he and coauthor Susan Schiefelbein address the risks we take with human health, the overfishing and sacking of the world’s oceans, the hazards of nuclear proliferation, and the environmental responsibility of scientists, politicians, and people of faith.

Cousteau’s lyrical, passionate call for action to protect our earth and seas and their myriad life forms is even more relevant today than when this book was completed in 1996. Written over the last ten years of his life with frequent collaborator Schiefelbein, who also introduces the text and provides an update on environmental developments in the decade since Cousteau’s death, this prescient, clear-sighted book is a remarkable testament to the life and work of one of our greatest modern adventurers.

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Review By Kay Cumbow

There is a remarkable hardcover book on sale at the bookstores just in time for Christmas written by Jacques Cousteau and Susan Schiefelbein titled: "The Human, the Orchid and the Octopus - Exploring and Conserving Our Natural World." Bill McKibben has written a superb foreward. On the inside jacket cover: " The legendary Ocean Explorer's Passionate Plea for Sustaining Life on Earth." "...In this magnificent last book, available for the first time in the United States, Cousteau describes his deeply informed philosophy about protecting our world for future generations."

There is one whole chapter devoted to nukes titled: "The Hot Peace: Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Energy" that is 58 pages long, and well worth your time to read. He had written about nukes in earlier books, but many libraries no longer carry those tomes. It was while reading one of his books in a Michigan library years ago, that I first learned that plutonium crosses the placenta. Snap this up, it is worth every penny! (All of the chapters, not just the one on nuclear) It was 20% off at Barnes and Noble.

Snip: " Then suddenly I was an innocent no longer. Crackling over the headphones came the voices of a few technicians who urged that irradiated waste be cast into the sea. Their nations, they boasted, had even sunk some loads of radioactive waste already....I resolved not ...to be swept along in the uproar. After all, I thought, one of the world's preeminent marine scientists was scheduled to appear the next day; certainly he would put an end to all discussion of ocean dumping. When the illustrious expert arrived, I brought him to my home for lunch, where several of the distinguished international specialists, including officers of the IAEA, joined us....Someone mentioned ocean dumping. Our celebrated guest expert settle back comfortably in his chair. 'The sea, ' he began, 'being obviously the natural receptacle for atomic wastes...' Now my heart raced. I'd spent years diving among the ocean's astonishing life, fragile life, improbable life....How, I asked, could he even imagine allowing seas to steep in radioactive poisons?....Before that day, my career had been governed by my love for the sea. After that day, I devoted myself to defending the sea....Nearly forty years have passed. Nations passed the 1994 amendment to the London Convention, banning all ocean dumping of nuclear wastes."

There is, of course, much more. He ends by saying: "We cannot merely ban the production of fissionable materials; we must ban their existence, ban plutonium and highly enriched uranium on Earth. A world without atomic bombs, atomic terrorism, and atomic contamination can be achieved only by a world without atomic energy. Si vis pacem, para bellum declared the Romans; if you want peace, prepare for war. Throughout history , humans have obeyed the dictum and have failed. If we want peace in the twenty-first century, we should prepare for peace.The leader who uses the bomb will destroy the world. But the one who finds a way to ban the bomb will rule it."

Good words to quote for the rest of our lives.

Kay Cumbow
Citizens for a Healthy Planet, and
Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination
8735 Maple Grove Road
Lake, MI 48632

French Shun Nuclear Energy, Choose Conservation

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The overwhelming majority of people in France agree there is a need to conserve energy and favour renewable sources, according to a poll by CSA. 96 per cent of respondents think conserving energy should be a priority, and 94 per cent think the European country should focus on developing solar and wind power.

The overwhelming majority of people in France agree there is a need to conserve energy and favour renewable sources, according to a poll by CSA. 96 per cent of respondents think conserving energy should be a priority, and 94 per cent think the European country should focus on developing solar and wind power.

Only 35 per cent of respondents think developing nuclear power should be a priority for France, and 61 per cent think this should not be the focus of the country’s energy policy.

France generates 79 per cent of its electricity from nuclear reactors—the highest percentage of any country in the world. There are currently 59 nuclear power plants in France.

On Oct. 25, French president Nicolas Sarkozy presented his "ecological new deal", a national plan to combat pollution which includes 12 specific measures. The proposals include abolishing incandescent light bulbs by 2010, replacing all single-panel windows with thicker two-paned windows, and banning old home appliances "as soon as an alternative exists at a reasonable price."

Sarkozy said he wants to make France a leader in renewable energy but also ratified his support for nuclear power, saying, "The truth is that it is illusory in France to want to meet the climate challenge, our primary challenge, without nuclear energy. Today, we have no other choice, without renouncing growth." The legislature will have to either approve or reject the "ecological new deal" in a vote next year.

Polling Data
On the topic of energy, do you think (the following) should be a priority?

Yes No Not sure

Conserving energy
96% 4% --

Developing renewable energy
94% 5% 1%

Developing nuclear energy
35% 61% 4%

Source: CSA Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,003 French adults, conducted on Oct. 10, 2007. No margin of error was provided.

French Prez Says "No New Nukes!" ~ Maybe...

From:
Gardian UK

[[ ... The elephant in the room throughout the talks was France's reliance on nuclear power, which generates 80% of its electricity. The government said the nuclear issue was not up for discussion.

The Green party accused the government of a "blackout" and Le Monde said nuclear energy was the "ghost in the wardrobe" during the consultations. But the president (Nicolas Sarkozy) said yesterday he did not want to build more nuclear sites in France.

Nicolas Hulot, France's hugely influential and popular TV environmentalist, welcomed the proposals, saying: "Frankly we've entered the ecological era". ]]

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From:
AP

[[ Sarkozy said he wanted to make France a leader in renewable energy, but stuck to his support for nuclear energy. France is more reliant on nuclear power than any other country.

"The truth is that it is illusory in France to want to meet the climate challenge, our primary challenge, without nuclear energy. Today, we have no other choice, without renouncing growth," Sarkozy said.

"If the president thinks we need to develop renewable energy, we hear the message: It means that we have to stop the nuclear reactors," said Greenpeace France campaign director Yannick Jadot. ]]

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From:
Herald Tribune

[[ (Sarkozy) said that each euro spent on nuclear research would be matched by a euro spent on research into clean technologies and preventing damage to the environment. ]]

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From:
Telegraph UK

[[ Mr Gore said the French forum - dubbed the "Grenelle of the environment" after a Paris district - had given "a tremendous boost" to efforts to fight climate change. ]]

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