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France plans to pass legislation this year to phase out all oil and gas exploration and production on its mainland and overseas territories by 2040, becoming the first country to do so, according to a draft bill presented on Wednesday.
President Emmanuel Macron wants to make France carbon neutral by 2050 and plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions by leaving fossil fuels, blamed for contributing to global warming, in the ground.
Under the draft presented to cabinet, France will no longer issue exploration permits. The extension of current concessions will be gradually limited until they are phased out by 2040 - when France plans to end the sale of gasoline and diesel vehicles.
A largely symbolic gesture, but sometimes symbols matter.
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France Plans to End Oil and Gas Production by 2040
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It's not reality that's important, but how you perceive things.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 08 2017, @07:29PM (4 children)
Well every movement has its extreme members, let France pioneer the way forward and we can learn from their mistakes
(Score: 2) by requerdanos on Friday September 08 2017, @11:39PM (3 children)
Lying about radiation and allowing children to develop thyroid cancer rather than giving them safe, effective iodine isn't pioneering. It's full eco-nutjobism.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Saturday September 09 2017, @09:12AM (2 children)
So can you provide a link to show how many actually suffered any significant medical effects in France as a result of the Chernobyl catastrophe? I live there, and I can find nothing to counter the statement that "the French completely [and] totally denied any significant radiation falling within their borders". I'm not categorically saying that you are wrong, but I do suspect that you are taking an extreme (and currently unsubstantiated) view of the matter. I would be quite happy to be proven wrong though.
Radiation was detected all over Europe, and measures had to be taken to prevent it entering the food chain. However, I think the measures were successful to the extent that any increase in those suffering from the effects were minimal and statistically insignificant. The WHO study [who.int] noted that there were significant effects in the region around Chernobyl, including parts of Ukraine and, of course, Belarus. Although the study notes that the disaster might have some adverse effects in the rest of Europe, no study to date (to the best of my knowledge) has show any statistically significant increase in related medical problems.
(Score: 2) by requerdanos on Monday September 11 2017, @02:54PM (1 child)
A count of people, no; these things are hard to track. Was an illness directly Chernobyl-related, or would it have happened anyway? But links demonstrating evidence of real people who have suffered radiation-related cancers as a direct result of lying and coverup on the part of French officials--sure. There are three [independent.co.uk] such [expatica.com] links [www.wecf.eu] linked to directly in the statement I make above.
Well, I refer you to my sources and invite you to judge their veracity.
The first one, from The Independent in 2006, begins as follows:
The second, published by Expatica in 2005, begins with:
And finally, a 2005 Radio France Internationale transcript published by Women Engage for a Common Future...
In quoted material above, emphasis added.
There is more than one side to the story, of course - a French court dismissed the case brought by the group of thyroid cancer sufferers, according to rfi [en.rfi.fr].
The French court was unable, of course, to overturn the clear [cancerresearchuk.org] environmental [cancer.org] association [uptodate.com] between radiation and thyroid cancer, especially in children.
Perhaps the rise in thyroid cancers in the wake of radiation contamination is a coincidence, but I doubt it. I don't believe that's an unreasonable position--and it's certainly not an extreme nor unsubstantiated one.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Tuesday September 12 2017, @08:48AM
Thank you for your well-researched and informative response.
The French Govt is clearly guilty of not providing sufficient information to the public, but I can clearly recall the advice not to eat locally-grown fresh produce unless it has been grown under cover (cloche, polytunnel etc) or has been thoroughly washed to remove dust and residue that might have settled on the food while it was growing. The rfi article is correct in saying that iodine tablets were not distributed country wide, but that is because the expected risk was not believed to be significant, a view which has been confirmed in the latest court ruling which states: the court ruled that there was no scientific proof that the Chernobyl accident had any effect in France.
It is also true that the readings in Corsica and SE France were higher than in the remainder of the country - but the article fails to actually quote the measured levels, which scientists claim to have been well below those that should have any significant effect on the public. The courts also decided to clear[s] top nuclear scientist Pierre Pellerin of charges that he covered up the effects of the cloud and even concealed information about its effects.
The Expatica link that you provided also includes the following:
As always there are two sides to every argument. I fully expect that the politicians could have done more but didn't - politicians around the world behave in the same way so I am hardly shocked or surprised by this allegation. They have been rightly criticised for this and lessons will undoubtedly have been learned. But I await revelation of scientific evidence supporting the claims that are being made by various groups, including anti-nuclear protesters, and others hoping to benefit financially from family members being afflicted with thyroid problems by alleging links between these medical cases and the Chernobyl disaster. Both of these groups are hardly unbiased in their views and their analysis of the available data. In local TV reports they were guilty of 'selective quotation' of the Bertella-Gefroy report (issued 12 years ago!). These families have my fullest sympathy but they have a significant way to go to prove both the link to Chernobyl and finding one or more politicians who can be held responsible and thereby justifying their claim for financial compensation. There is a higher incidence of thyroid cases in Corsica and the SE, but that trend began over a decade before the Chernobyl disaster and therefore likely has another, as yet unidentified, source.
We are now over 12 years after the quoted reports and the courts have not found any evidence to support the allegations; the claims were dismissed in court in 2011 (from the Rfi link [en.rfi.fr] that you kindly provided). I don't think we should be expecting any new developments in the near future.