\"The G8 countries represent just 15 percent of the world's population but\r\nthey produce 45 percent of all human emissions of carbon dioxide, the\r\nleading greenhouse gas,\" said Ethan Green of Rising Tide North America, a group\r\nthat publicized the July 15 protests against climate change and the G8 in\r\nthe United States.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"Poor, indigenous and environmentally vulnerable communities should not\r\nbear the brunt of disease epidemics, droughts, floods, melting ice, rising\r\noceans, hurricanes, and other catastrophes caused by the global climate\r\nchange that rich countries are responsible for due to our prodigious burning\r\nof coal, oil and gas for energy,\" said Green.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
***********<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Protesters\r\nCondemn G8 Support of Nuclear, Coal, Oil<\/p>\r\n\r\n
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, July 17, 2006 (ENS) - Demonstrators blockading a\r\nmain thoroughfare in St. Petersburg were arrested on Sunday as they\r\nprotested the Group of Eight, G8, statement on Global Energy Security that\r\nincludes support for nuclear power. They blocked the entrance of a hotel on\r\nthe Nevsky Prospekt which was used by participants of the G8 summit.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Protesters from St. Petersburg, Moscow, Minsk, Chishinau, Warsaw, Kiev,\r\nCardiff, and Berlin took part in the demonstration, displaying posters\r\nsaying \"No G8!\" in Russian and English.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Russian riot police arrested all of the 37 activists and cleared the\r\nroadway. Some of the activists sat down and had to be carried away, others\r\nwere forced to leave the street in what they said was a brutal manner.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"We wanted to voice our demands to not develop nuclear energy,\" said Olga\r\nMiryasova from Russia's Network Against the G8.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The protesters staged their demonstration to coincide with the G8 summit\r\nat Strelna where the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,\r\nRussia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union wound\r\nup their three day meeting today.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The sit-in took place despite the growing suppression of dissent by the\r\nRussian government in recent years. Russian authorities preemptively\r\narrested over 200 activists before the G8 summit and forbade protesters from\r\nleaving an alternative conference in St. Petersburg held on Saturday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The G8 statement on global energy security advocates nuclear energy as\r\none way to address global climate change, yet environmental activists warn\r\nthat nuclear energy cannot be considered a positive way to reduce carbon\r\nemissions and combat global climate change.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"Nuclear reactors are dangerous, extremely expensive, take many years to\r\nbuild, and require massive government subsidies,\" the demonstrators said in\r\na statement.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The activists say they would like this funding to be used to quickly\r\nreduce carbon emissions through energy efficiency measures, development of\r\nrenewable energy sources, and restoration of damaged wetland and forest\r\necosystems.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In coalition with the protests in St. Petersburg, international\r\ndemonstrations occurred on July 14 and 15 in numerous cities in the United\r\nStates, the United Kingdom, Venezuela, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and\r\nGermany.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The protests included large \"banner drops\" in multiple cities, protests\r\nof coal and oil companies, and rallies at the U.S. embassy in London and the\r\nWashington, DC home of U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
On Friday, protestors showed up at Bodman's home, demanding that the\r\nUnited States and the G8 abandon the focus on nuclear, coal, and on oil wars\r\nas \"energy security.\" They chanted \"No Coal, No Nukes, G-8 shut it down!\" No\r\narrests took place.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"The G8 countries represent just 15 percent of the world's population but\r\nthey produce 45 percent of all human emissions of carbon dioxide, the\r\nleading greenhouse gas,\" said Ethan Green of Rising Tide North America, a group that\r\npublicized the July 15 protests against climate change and the G8 in the\r\nUnited States.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"Poor, indigenous and environmentally vulnerable communities should not\r\nbear the brunt of disease epidemics, droughts, floods, melting ice, rising\r\noceans, hurricanes, and other catastrophes caused by the global climate\r\nchange that rich countries are responsible for due to our prodigious burning\r\nof coal, oil and gas for energy,\" said Green.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
On Friday, as a part of the Global Day of Action Against the G8 a small\r\ngroup of protesters demonstrated in front of the Consulate General of the\r\nRussian Federation in Sydney, Australia. The five protesters displayed\r\nsigns, shared vodka and iced tea, discussed the implications of the G8's\r\ncontinued existence, and expressed solidarity with the protesters in\r\nRussia.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In fear of a larger demonstration, the consulate was closed to visitors,\r\npart of the street was cordoned off, and at least 10 police officers guarded\r\nthe area near the entrance.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In Canada on Tuesday, a demonstration is planned at the Sidney, British\r\nColumbia office of federal Minister of Natural Resources Gary Lunn, to\r\nprotest the withdrawal of support for the Kyoto climate protocol by the\r\nrecently elected Conservative government.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The protesters, organized by the Western Canada Wilderness Committee,\r\nwill hold a brief rally with speakers, songs by the Raging Grannies,\r\nplacards, and banners, followed by a petition drive to passersby in downtown\r\nSidney, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the provincial capital of\r\nVictoria.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Western Canada Wilderness Committee is calling on the federal\r\nConservative government of Canada to \"at the very least, honor Canada's\r\nparticipation in the Kyoto Accord by working to achieve its emissions\r\ntargets for Canada of six percent below 1990 emissions levels by the year\r\n2012.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The protesters fault the Conservatives for \"scrapping Canada's obligation\r\nto meet Kyoto's emissions reductions targets, falsely stating that it's\r\nimpossible to meet the targets.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
They object to the elimination of over a dozen major federal climate\r\nchange programs, including the C$1 billion dollar Partnership Fund which was\r\nto be used for climate change projects for five provinces, as well as the\r\nEnerGuide Program to provide rebates to Canadians who buy more energy\r\nefficient appliances.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Wilderness Committee says a leaked government document shows the\r\nConservatives are \"working to delay, obstruct and sabotage progress during\r\nnegotiations among Kyoto signatories by trying to weaken emissions\r\nreductions targets, with a goal of eventually eliminating the entire\r\nagreement.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Instead of reducing greenhouse gases, the demonstrators say the\r\nConservatives are granting \"huge subsidies to the highly destructive Alberta\r\ntar sands industry and the oil and gas industry in general.\"<\/p>\n","contact":"g8@risingtidenorthamerica.org","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"The protests included large "banner drops" in multiple cities, protests\r\nof coal and oil companies, and rallies at the U.S. embassy in London and the\r\nWashington, DC home of U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman. On Friday,\r\nprotestors showed up at Bodman's home, demanding that the United States and\r\nthe G8 abandon the focus on nuclear, coal, and on oil wars as "energy\r\nsecurity." They chanted "No Coal, No Nukes, G-8 shut it down!" No arrests\r\ntook place.","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2006\/07\/169191.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}