Monday, November 23, 2009

No thanks, non merci, nej tak, no gracias, etc

All of these 'nos' are to nuclear energy wherever it is being produced. I remember 'nej tak' being a slogan from the 80s (?). What has happened to our position on nuclear energy? It seems to have eroded, and sadly some influential Australians have participated in this process by proponing nuclear energy as the answer to the energy issues of our future (what future?).

Well with limited knowledge on my side to argue soundly, I still say 'no thanks'. The mistake we are all making in my eyes is to think our lives can be lived as they are now (why would you want to anyway but won't go there). We are putting our heads in the sand if we assume that. There are too many of us on the planet and a certain percentage of us are using far too much energy, and our 'needs' and lifestyles are destroying the planet, which, we should remind ourselves, is a living thing with innocent life that we are dragging down with us - no, pushing in front of us. As usual we are prioritising ourselves over everything else. Most humans would have to agree on at least this point. And most humans who are contributing to this waste of life are not admitting that they have a problem with species being threatened - they are able to avoid relating to the pain of an arctic bear that has to swim for miles simply to find somewhere to lob his beautiful white body, not to sunbake but to survive. It is harder to feel sorry for sharks perhaps as Australians have a fear of them and see them as the enemy, but the reality is that sharks play a crucial role in our ecosystem. It is big picture stuff and requires a very big step away from ego-driven needs and wants. And who wants to feel that world pain? I would rather not but it is always with me.

So what am I saying now that I have rambled down the path of love and emotion? That we must consider a different life path, one that is inclusive of all living things. At the moment we don't even include our own species let alone others. And saying yes to nuclear energy is not doing this, it is thinking we can solve a problem that is getting bigger and bigger. It is thinking we are smarter than we are. In fact a species that would 'progress' towards its demise is not smart at all. As the American Indians have said, No tree has branches foolish enough to fight amongst each other. (This is a quote from A Dare a Day)

2 comments:

Ruahines said...

Kia ora Andrea,
Great post, and I agree with the summation. Edward Abbey talked of over population 30 years ago or more and was scorned, yet he is being proven to be entirely correct. Here in New Zeland, our new right wing government has launched a full scale attack on our Naional Parks and forests in order to "sustainably" mine them and "utilize" their potential. And the whispers of nuclear are here as well. The battle for wild places has begun. Part of which is an ultimate change to how we live rather than being sucked into the vortex of consumerism and ultimate destruction. God Help Us. Kia kaha.
Cheers,
Robb

Andrea said...

Hi Robb
Good to know there are many out there who feel the same. GetUp! - Action for Australia http://www.getup.org.au/ is a great source of comfort to me as I wade through a standard job's workload, as this organisaton keeps caring Australians informed and makes it easy to be proactive. Don't know whether you have something similar in NZ. I just don't get it when a government says one thing but does another...
Andrea