The energy crisis demands a new civilisation model

The political weekly Le Nouvel Observateur calls for a radical change in energy policy: "The oil market has gone 'completely crazy'. It was not just anybody who said this but OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla El-Badri. The price per barrel is now in fact considerably higher than the inflation-adjusted prices reached in 1981 during the second oil crisis. ... We must change our entire civilisation model, particularly in view of the environmental problems and climate change we are now facing ... because if energy costs continue to rise the result will be new conflicts and new human tragedies. ... We should try to secure alternative sources of energy like wind energy, nuclear energy, solar energy or thermal power. The question of using nuclear energy, the only reliable energy source ... that does not contribute to the greenhouse effect, remains open ... Environmentalists in particular should focus on this issue. Tragically, they are staying out of the public debate at a time when their issues are as pressing as never before."

» full article (external link, French)
More from the press review on the subject » Energy Policy, » Global
All available articles from » Jean-Marcel Bouguereau

» To the complete press review of Monday, May 26, 2008