In the United States… Yesterday night, in front of the White House, Bernie Sanders gathered a massive crowd as part of the National Day of Action to stop the Dakota Access pipeline: “President Obama, we are calling on you to respect Native American rights, protect our water and stop the Dakota Access pipeline any way you can. And to President-elect Trump: We are not going silently into the night. We are going to educate, we are going to mobilize, and if you try to put the fossil fuel industry’s short-term profits ahead of the future of our planet, we will be your worst nightmare”. In Switzerland… This month – on November the 27th – we have the chance to start a positive energy revolution by voting yes to popular initiative ‘For an orderly withdrawal from the nuclear energy programme’, backed by the Green Party. Swiss people are going to decide if Switzerland should begin its withdrawal from nuclear power as soon as next year. Switzerland’s ageing reactors pose a threat to the environment and to the country. Beznau is the oldest nuclear reactor in the world still working. Three of Switzerland’s nuclear power reactors – Mühleberg and Beznau I and II – will be closed in 2017 and the remaining two in 2024 and 2029. Renewable sources of energy will have to replace for the current 40-50% percent of nuclear power energy. The country is already 56 percent fuelled by hydroelectric energy, and there are plenty of companies working in the field of renewable energy that are ready to step up. The objective is to shift Switzerland to run 100% on renewable and safe energy. I feel and I believe that it’s time for Swiss people to step boldly forward in the name of concrete change! We can and should make a difference.
Part of this article is sourced from: http://www.thelocal.ch/20161101/crucial-or-chaotic-swiss-debate-nuclear-withdrawal
