Taking it Local! The Young Greens Fight Against Nuclear!

Mark McCormick and Cllr Cadogan Enright at St. Johns Point Lighthouse where a Nuclear Power plant is being proposed.

Mark McCormick, QUB Green Co-Chair, lives within the Bright Parish in Down District Council. Recently there have been proposals to build five nuclear power plants in N.Ireland, one of which would be at St. Johns point in the Bright Parish.

Mark, along with Green Party Cllr Cadogan Enright have spoken out against such plans to the local Down District Council.

Mark said "Myself and residents at Saint John’s point have expressed concern at such proposals to build a nuclear plant at St. Johns Point. Some local councillors have spoken out in support of such plans but I think their position here is more about trying to get their faces in the local papers rather than offering real solutions to the pressing problems of climate change"

"I have spoken to many local people and not one of them has said they would like a nuclear power plant on their doorstep. For years we have had to face the threat of Sellafield in Cumbria, now the very same threat is on our doorsteps and even the thought of nuclear power has to be challenged."

The Down District Green Party, of which Mark is an active member, will continue to oppose the threat of nuclear power at all levels of government.

Greens Welcome Recycling Committment

The QUB Greens have, in co-operation with the Student's Union, assisted in a rolling out of proper recycling facilities to the university. Deputy President Sarah McCaffery hailed "our own great Greens" in the last issue of the SU Magazine when announcing the roll-out of the scheme. The Greens, with SU officers and volunteers from Belfast City Council, participated in a week of publicising the scheme.

An over-enthusiastic student recycling!

Finally, the university has proper, colour-coded recycling for plastic bottles, paper and aluminium cans. According to the last People & Planet survey, recycling at Queens stands at a dissapointing 16%. With recycling now installed in the MBC, the SU and the PFC, and expected to be rolled out throughout the campus by the end of the academic year, thanks to the Greens QUB can be expected to leap a few places up the People And Planet "Green League" towards the top spaces.

Recycling reduces strain on the environment by providing sustainable and re-useable materials for development, while reducing the amount of space given over to ugly, wasteful landfill. However, the university must adopt a more holistic approach (involving renewable energy and sustainable travel) if it's serious about sustainability.