CURRENT NEWS FROM THE WORLD'S PRESS

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES & COP MEETINGS

Nuclear News from the world's press on the internet.

U.S. could still join Kyoto: Yale professor
The Kyoto protocol would have to change radically for this to happen since it does not make any sort of rational sense.

Greenpeace activists fined for breaching security at nuclear plant
$40 a piece in fines is a slap on the wrist -- they should have been sent to prison for three months minimum and had their equipment confiscated. South African still has a way to go before it is part of a knowing world society.

Whistle-Blower Report Cites Abuses
Big-brother would love whistle-blowers … there are better ways of reporting abuses without trying to earn compensation for it.

Greenpeace activists who targeted nuclear plant convicted of trespassing
It's high adventure for young people to feel they are doing something worthwhile and have a free trip to another part in the world. Perhaps, jail time will be just as high adventure in martyrdom … but would you ever hire one of these people?

South African Police Detain Greenpeace at N-Plant
Greenpeace having fun again and empowering the young activists who have nothing constructive to do.

EU outlines long-term energy strategy focusing on conservation, rather than increasing supply
The European Union is an idealist organization in which its politicians are largely not answerable to the populations of their countries. Therefore the most bizarre and unrealistic policies may be pursued for no other reason than that they sound good. This is one of them.

Japan officially ratifies Kyoto climate protocol
"Stupid is as stupid does" except that Japan now must increase its reliance on nuclear power.

Europe's Choice: Nuclear Dangers or Global Warming
Finally, even European leaders are beginning to realize that green electricity is nuclear generated electricity.

Kyoto pact legislation being prepared for Diet
Japan caught between a rock and a hard place offers a luke-warm alternative to the Kyoto Protocol with no concrete steps to do anything.

The ill wind blowing through energy policy
The new British Energy report, as this article notes, does not confront the main issue concerning global warming: To make any difference, if you hate carbon you must love nuclear.

Bush offers global warming treaty as alternative to Kyoto

Attacking the pollution issue unilaterally can work for the USA while avoiding the monetary hand-outs to underdeveloped nations that the Rio activists were seeking.

Japan still seeks Kyoto changes Agreement on mechanisms a priority, Kawaguchi says
Environment Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi hinted Wednesday that Japan will ratify the Kyoto Protocol on global warming without the United States if it can reach agreement with other countries on mechanisms that signatory nations can use to bolster their emissions reductions.

Old Rivalries Threaten to Undermine Climate Talks
Climate negotiators from around the world are just past the midpoint of their two week meeting to hammer out the finer points of keeping 38 industrialized nations from emitting greenhouse gases linked to gobal warming. They are running into the same old rivalries between industrialized and developing countries, corporate and green groups that have plagued attempts to agree since the Kyoto Protocol was written in 1997.

Grant supports Study of Energy Surcharge
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $60,000 to the Center for Clean Air Policy (CCAP) in Washington, DC to study the effects of an energy surcharge on air pollution reductions.

EU Makes its Move to Ratify Kyoto Protocol
All 15 member countries of the European Union should ratify the Kyoto climate protocol by mid-June next year, the European Commission said today in a legislative proposal. This would see the global climate agreement legally bind the bloc by the close of next year's world sustainability summit in Johannesburg, scheduled for September.

Marrakesh Talks Seen Paving Way to Kyoto Approval
A U.N. official predicted on Monday that talks beginning next week in Marrakesh, Morocco, would reach agreement on a set of rules to make the Kyoto pact on global climate change fully operational.

Cleaning up greenhouse gas pollution could have a dramatic and immediate effect on health, researchers sayMore people are being killed by pollution from cars, trucks and other sources than by traffic crashes, researchers estimate in a report that says cleaning up would prolong the lives of thousands of people.

Reducing Global Carbon Dioxide Emissions.The International Nuclear Societies Council believes that the world's capacity for generating electricity from nuclear energy must be increased substantially if we are to meet the ambitious targets for reducing worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide while also meeting the projected growth in demand for electricity.

National interests to dictate Kyoto ratification: HowardVisiting Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Friday that his country will decide on the basis of national interests whether to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, even if Japan goes ahead without the United States.

Lieberman, McCain Call for Greenhouse Gas Caps

n an unusual collaboration, Senators Joseph Lieberman and John McCain took the floor of the Senate today to call for a comprehensive cap on America's greenhouse gas emissions.

Nature Has Answer to Global Warming in FranceWhile environment ministers have struggled to salvage the 1997 Kyoto accord on global warming, nature has found its own answer in France, Le Figaro newspaper reported.

Guide to the New Kyoto Protocol RulebookParticipants in the climate change talks met this evening to formally adopt the political decision approved by ministers and other high level officials on Monday.

Reducing Global Carbon Dioxide EmissionsThe INSC notes that France has successfully demonstrated a credible record for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, where 75% of the power is now produced by nuclear plants. Date showed emissions reduced as nucler investment rose and replaced fossil plants.

Climate Deal Reached in BonnIn Bonn today, delegates from 180 nations gave themselves a standing ovation as they reached a broad political agreement on the operational rulebook for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The treaty will limit the emission of greenhouse gases linked to global warming.

The rules specify that energy efficiency, renewable energy, and forest sink projects can qualify for the Clean Development Mechanism, while developed Parties are to refrain from using nuclear facilities in the Clean Development Mechanism.

U.S. unlikely to present alternative to Kyoto pact by next climate talksThe United States may not be able to submit by the next U.N. climate talks in October an alternative to the Kyoto Protocol, due to remaining hurdles in reaching a consensus,

Climate Optimistic at Climate Treaty TalksWorld environment ministers gathered in Bonn, Germany, this evening for crucial talks to agree the implementation of the Kyoto climate protocol.

Carbon-sink proposal draws oppositionEU, developing nations say it would make emissions targets meaningless. Developing countries and the European Union opposed on Tuesday a joint proposal by Japan, Canada, Australia and Russia on getting credit for carbon dioxide emissions absorbed by forests under the Kyoto Protocol.

Japan to submit easier greenhouse-gas proposalJapan was set to submit a new proposal Tuesday to ongoing U.N. climate talks here that would allow a greater portion of the greenhouse gas reduction targets specified in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to be achieved through forest absorption, Japanese officials said Monday.

U.S. Offers Little to Replace Kyoto Treaty

As international climate negotiations resume this week in Bonn, the Bush administration is fighting a battle on both the domestic and international fronts to win support for President George W. Bush's controversial decision to abandon the Kyoto Protocol.

U.N. talks on global warming resume with pact in the balance

A U.N. conference on global warming opened Monday with its chairman pushing for progress in efforts to rescue a 1997 pact to curb pollution, abandoned by the United States as harmful to its economy.

Kyoto Protocol to fail at COP6:Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Sunday he thinks there will be no accord reached on the Kyoto Protocol on combating global warming at a key U.N. climate conference opening in Germany on Monday.

Japan fails to bring U.S. back to Kyoto

Japan failed Friday to persuade the United States to abide by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on global warming, threatening the chances of a deal at Monday's U.N. conference on climate change in Bonn, Germany.

Government nudged to take stand regarding Kyoto pact

The Central Environment Council on Friday urged the government to clarify what stance it will assume at pivotal climate change negotiations that begin next week in Bonn.

Kyoto Protocol between rock, hard place

Climate change talks are heating up again. A flurry of diplomatic activity over the past few weeks regarding the Kyoto Protocol -- much of it focusing on Japan -- may not be enough to secure any significant progress during talks that resume Monday in Bonn to finalize the operational rules of the pact.

Greenhouse emissions back on the rise

Nation's Kyoto goal would require 12.8% cut, but Japan's total greenhouse gas emissions came to 1.3 billion tons in fiscal 1999, up 2.1 percent if calculated simply as carbon dioxide from the previous year and the first increase in three years, government officials said Tuesday.

With Each Blow, Kyoto Pact Is Falling to Pieces Crack in Japan's Support May Spell the End

Japan is in the driver's seat to determine whether a global climate treaty will ever take effect. And supporters of the treaty say that they were discouraged by the remarks made Saturday by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi when he met with President George W. Bush, who opposes the proposed treaty.

Government considers proposing revisions to Kyoto Pact

Japan could propose revisions to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on curbing global warming to make it acceptable to the United States, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Monday."Things are moving along in negotiations and we will take a realistic approach," he said.

Japan won't sign U.S.-less Kyoto:

Tanaka Japan will not ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to curb global warming if the United States stays out of it, Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka said Frida

Koizumi says U.S. rejection of Kyoto pact 'deplorable'

---, but he stopped short of saying whether Japan will ratify the pact even without U.S. participation.

Marchers urge Japan to stick to Kyoto pact

About 300 people demonstrated through the crowded streets of Shibuya and Harajuku in central Tokyo on Saturday to urge the Japanese government to stick to the floundering 1997 Kyoto Protocol on curbing global warming.

COP6 chair acquiesces to Japanese demand

A climate change proposal being drafted this week gives Japan preferential treatment on the use of forests to absorb the main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, European and Japanese officials said.

MIT forms Laboratory for Energy and the Environment

On July 1, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will merge two groups - the Energy Laboratory and the Center for Environmental Initiatives (CEI) - to form a new entity, the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment (LFEE).