4 years ago i wrote here in depth about how China greenwashes its policies and argued that an economy, which labels nuclear power as climate neutral, displays ultimate ecological aggression. Yesterday, I learn that the EU Commission under former EU Defense Commissioner Ursula van der Leyen plans to do the same in Europe. This intention confirms the convergence of political systems, in which the people on the top try to maintain their power and ignore the ecological consequences of their acts.
Enlightened Aldous Huxley explained in 1962 in his lucid essay On the Politics of Ecology, that the need for power is the single root cause for the futility of politics and runaway ecological devastation. Decisions about energy security are the most lasting and impactful decisions any economy can make. They are taken up to 50 years in advance and set the very basics of peaceful and sustainable development.
European history is grounded on the European Steel and Coal Treaty from 1951. European future must not be grounded on an EU Taxonomy regulation which labels nuclear power as sustainable. If this happens, then the convergence of political systems under the pressure of market forces is completed and Europeans have accepted to play according to the rules of Beijing's unsustainable power game. A game in which we all - in particular our children - will loose.
Read my in depth analysis of why China - despite its massive investments in green technologies - is not on track to become an ecological civilization. This essay reveals in a logical manner how the power driven need to rule top down destroys the planet, depletes resources in an unprecedented scale and drives infinite energy consumption for the sake of military dominance.
Enlightened Aldous Huxley explained in 1962 in his lucid essay On the Politics of Ecology, that the need for power is the single root cause for the futility of politics and runaway ecological devastation. Decisions about energy security are the most lasting and impactful decisions any economy can make. They are taken up to 50 years in advance and set the very basics of peaceful and sustainable development.
European history is grounded on the European Steel and Coal Treaty from 1951. European future must not be grounded on an EU Taxonomy regulation which labels nuclear power as sustainable. If this happens, then the convergence of political systems under the pressure of market forces is completed and Europeans have accepted to play according to the rules of Beijing's unsustainable power game. A game in which we all - in particular our children - will loose.
Read my in depth analysis of why China - despite its massive investments in green technologies - is not on track to become an ecological civilization. This essay reveals in a logical manner how the power driven need to rule top down destroys the planet, depletes resources in an unprecedented scale and drives infinite energy consumption for the sake of military dominance.
The catastrophe of Chernobyl in 1989 is still fresh in my memory. What many have forgotten is the fact that ecological disasters like Chernobyl have fueled a bottom up green movement in the West since the 1960s. There are few topics more sensitive than nuclear power which has the potential to realign the social and political left against a technocrat and increasingly totalitarian EU government. Leyen is in other words working on her political demise. And that is after all good news.
There is however much to be discussed and made up for. The European Union was in the unique position to form an alliance with Maghreb nations for much of the last 50 years but failed to do so. Instead of fulfilling its duty of making courageous political long term decisions Brussels has lazily wasted time and money of the EU citizenry in self complacency.
It is a government's first responsibility to secure the resources for the survival of its citizens. Brussels has failed in fulfilling this responsibility in so many ways, most importantly in planning ahead for a transition to sustainable power security. There would have been so much time to forge fair agreements between North African nations where sun is abundant and rather sun deprived Europe. There would have been so much time to make solar power the primary source in the European energy mix and by doing so, create a larger political entity based on a common ground of sustainable development which encompasses at least the reaches of the Roman Empire.
There is however much to be discussed and made up for. The European Union was in the unique position to form an alliance with Maghreb nations for much of the last 50 years but failed to do so. Instead of fulfilling its duty of making courageous political long term decisions Brussels has lazily wasted time and money of the EU citizenry in self complacency.
It is a government's first responsibility to secure the resources for the survival of its citizens. Brussels has failed in fulfilling this responsibility in so many ways, most importantly in planning ahead for a transition to sustainable power security. There would have been so much time to forge fair agreements between North African nations where sun is abundant and rather sun deprived Europe. There would have been so much time to make solar power the primary source in the European energy mix and by doing so, create a larger political entity based on a common ground of sustainable development which encompasses at least the reaches of the Roman Empire.
Instead, European nations are depending on Russian gas, making any negotiation with Russia over its Crimean aggression a joke to Putin who knows that he can let Europeans freeze in a long and cold winter. A government like the European Commission which has failed for decades to fulfill its most basic duties, i.e. planning for long term energy security and sustainability, needs to be removed.
In the light of the EU taxonomy regulation, which is the major driver of Leyen wanting to label nuclear power green, this failure becomes even more problematic. While Beijing's motivation for labeling nuclear power as green energy is mainly grounded in the nation's security, Brussels' motivation is the protection of the finance and investment industry. In other words: Brussels sells the security and sustainable future of Europe to bankers.
Further reading:
In the light of the EU taxonomy regulation, which is the major driver of Leyen wanting to label nuclear power green, this failure becomes even more problematic. While Beijing's motivation for labeling nuclear power as green energy is mainly grounded in the nation's security, Brussels' motivation is the protection of the finance and investment industry. In other words: Brussels sells the security and sustainable future of Europe to bankers.
Further reading:
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341264612_Captain_Planet_and_the_Planeteers_What_could_Xi_Jinping_do_to_avoid_climate_change
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/21/eu-in-row-over-inclusion-of-gas-and-nuclear-in-sustainability-guidance
- http://www.mingong.org/blog/the-politics-of-ecology
- https://www.economist.com/briefing/2013/08/10/the-east-is-grey
- https://www.businessinsider.com/here-are-the-big-winners-and-losers-of-low-oil-prices-2014-10
- http://tekmormonitor.blogspot.com/2017/08/russian-gas-pipelines-to-go-ahead.html
- https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/news/nuclear-generation-increases-wna/
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