RePlanet, a new association in Portugal against the “demonization” of nuclear energy | Environment
Portugal has a new environmental association. It rejects “absolute truths”, understanding that “dogmatic thinking” is “the enemy of the environment”. It rejects as “environmentalist philosophies” that began to develop “from the 1980s onwards”. Concretely, it is against the “demonization” of nuclear energy. Also defend the practices of “intensive agriculture” in those that are “the most fertile lands”, to activate in the hands of nature lands that, comparatively, are not so good for agricultural activity. These are some of the ideas defended by RePlanet Portugal, according to its co-founder, João Neves.
RePlanet Portugal, presented at the beginning of October, is an association with a philosophy that distinguishes it from other Portuguese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) linked to the public sector whose entity sustainability. Founded by Francisca Rey, João Vermelho Neves and Luís Guimarais, it can be interpreted as the national arm of RePlanet Europea network of organizations advocating “knowledge-based” solutions to mitigate climate changes and protect the planet from our carbon footprint.
“Our aim is not to go to war with anyone. We want to bring scientific advice, in our opinion, we were failing in many of the traditional environmental movements, says PÚBLICO João Vermelho Neve.
PhD in Mining Engineering, aged 33, João snow red emphasizes that RePlanet Portugal does not intend, with regard to its ability to dialogue with other environmental associations in the country, “to close the doors to anyone”. “We have to know how to build bridges with different people”, he says, arguing that society and policy makers must “take advantage of the diversity of perspectives” to “accelerate” or “project to restore the environment”.
The continuation association’s goals include its co-founder, which includes “counteracting denialism and pointing to scientific evidence when it is ignored or miscommunicated” to the public.
João Vermelho Neves understands that nuclear energy is one of the cases in which scientific evidence was “poorly communicated”. “Nuclear energy is the energy that, in terms of our exploitation of natural resources, has the least impact. And in terms of security, the industry has come a long way since Chernobyl. Ensuring that security costs a lot of money, but for the planet, [a energia nuclear] is better”, he says, referring to James Hansen, an influential American expert who warned of the dangers of climate change and years before Al Gore, who is also a notorious defender of the idea that nuclear energy can fulfill a important role in the collective path towards decarbonization.
The issue of transgenics and nonpartisanship
RePlanet Portugal wants Europe to “update the restricted crops” through which also GMO food regulations. When foods from foods that are altered speak to other species’ genes for new properties — which can become more resilient to pests, for example.
Saying that fears related to the negative potential of these genetically modified organisms on health and the environment have no scientific basis, João Vermelho Neves defends the lowest “productivity rate” of organisms that, he argues, can allow the agricultural sector to reduce the amount of transgenics to transgenics. of exploratory lands.
RePlanet Portugal presents itself as a non-partisan association. João Vermelho Neves believes that, as much as the protection of biodiversity A common cause for all, the probability of someone being heard by a wide range of people drops dramatically when “it appears associated with one or another political axis”.
“We want to stay away from that, we don’t have any political affiliations”, he reinforces, saying that RePlanet Europe has started to gain bodies in recent years and has been able to cultivate a position associated with dialogue “both with right-wing parties and left-wing parties” .
João Neves also says that in Finland, for example, RePlanet Europe is already seen by the most relevant political parties as “the safest organization to ensure scientific facts regarding the environment and changes”. “It has supplanted Greenpeace, which in recent years has been increasingly dogmatic and less helpful in finding solutions to the problems that plague us,” he says.
Finland is also an insignificant case, it is not a country where it is sunny and where many places to put dams Ten years ago, it was totally dependent on coal and natural gas. The fear of nuclear energy, a solution from below carbon, seemed, at the time, more ideological than practical”, he adds. Remember that Finland currently has a network of five toxic reactors, the last of which should only start producing energy on a regular basis from December.
Francisca Rey, 30 years old, who has already done research in the cement industry and works in the revenue management sector, adds that a provision from RePlanet Portugal, an association “environmentalist and ecomodernist”is to work with companies, political parties and authorities, providing advice and helping to apply measures that preserve natural resources as a main objective.
Possibly we want a polemical stance from the association in areas such as agriculture, a co-founder says the following: “There are many people living in poverty that we can all harness the following energy about prosperity. We must focus on international cooperation for development and the end of poverty. And this does not necessarily involve reducing consumption, which is what most environmental associations defend. Rather, it involves changing the way we produce our goods and treat our waste, for example. Imposing limits on consumption can, in some contexts, be a factor of inequality.”