Just a few days ago activists from Greenpeace made a rather remarkable visit to the World Energy Congress in Rome, Italy.
Now they have done it, again. A total of four remote controlled banners unrolled during Fulvio Conti’s speech, he is the director of ENEL, with the text: "ENEL: Do Not Export Nuclear Risk".
Now how did the old saying go? "Fool me once Shame on you. Fool me twice Shame on me."
More after the jump (+Video)!
Here's a report from the scene by Jan, one of Greenpeace's energy campaigners:
"Be the change you want to see in the world" - that is the quote that appeared on huge screen during opening of the last day at the World Energy Congress. Well then, we will try to follow this wise advice.
During the speech of Fulvio Conti, director of ENEL utility, a banner suddenly dropped out from the ceiling, saying "ENEL: do not export nuclear risk". Police immediately surrounded my colleague Francesco and I, asking us to leave the hall.
We decided not to, because we had paid for registration and had not do anything bad or illegal. When the first wave of alarm cooled down, an ordinary rank and file policeman tried to explain me in Italian that he is happy that we raised our message, repeating " grazie, grazie!".
On Sunday, Romano Prodi praised the next generation of supposedly safe, clean and cheap nuclear power. We do not agree with him. Today we see ENEL - controlled largely by Prodi's government - investing money into building old style, unsafe Soviet reactors in Slovakia. What a way to make money.
While in one corner of European Union, in Finland, construction of another reactors has been delayed because it was not able to prove that its double containment can withstand impact of large airplane, in Slovakia ENEL wants to build and run reactors that have no containment at all!
After our intervention, organizers announced a coffee break and fenced off the main hall while they removed our banners. They blocked it for half an hour. Sorry for next speaker, Pachauri, the head of IPCC, who was to present the IPCC findings. But I am guessing he appreciates our messages urging a change of direction. When I grabbed the today's edition of the World Energy Council newspaper, the headline on first page was, "COAL TO STAY KING".
Yes, there are still the same energy giants here sponsoring the congress, pushing on us their same old dirty coal and nuclear. The message is clear, and we raised it: Energy revolution now!
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