Sammy Goes Nuclear at the Greens!

The Young Greens Society at Queens University, Belfast today presented the Green Wash Award to DUP MLA Sammy Wilson for his pro-nuclear vision for Northern Ireland.

The Green Wash Award is annually presented to anyone who threatens the local environment.

Mark McCormick, from Downpatrick presented the award to Sammy Wilson at Stormont today (Tues 19th Feb, 11am) and asked the MLA: “Which Northern Ireland community does Sammy Wilson have in mind for a nuclear power plant?”

Mr. McCormick said: “I think it’s great that Sammy Wilson is actually recognizing that climate change is a problem, after all it is the single greatest issue facing society today. However what Sammy Wilson needs to realize, is that nuclear power is not the solution to the climate change problem. Even if nuclear power production was doubled by 2050, we would only see a five percent reduction in global green-house gases. This is less than one-tenth of the reductions scientists say we require in order to tackle the issue.”

Calling on the Northern Ireland Assembly Executive to support renewable energy instead of nuclear, Mr. McCormick said: “Renewable sources can provide all our necessary power. The untapped wind resources, north and south of the border, are equivalent to many times the total output of our current power suppliers. We could lead the way in Europe simply because of our geographical location. We should be following the example of Scotland who has ruled out nuclear and is fast becoming the most successful wind energy countries in Europe.”

Asking Sammy Wilson to look at the true meaning of sustainability, Mr. McCormick said: “Uranium used to power nuclear power stations is a depleting resource. Nuclear power producers in France already acknowledge that uranium is a vastly depleting resource and could disappear by the middle of the century.”

The Greens at Queens said: “By indorsing nuclear power Sammy Wilson is not solving the problem for future generations. He is instead distracting us from implementing the real solution in the form of clean, green, sustainable energy.”

Mr. McCormick also presented Sammy Wilson with the Green Party document entitled, Previous Generation, ten reasons why nuclear power makes no sense for Ireland.