"Energy Dissent" and the 2006 G8 Summit in Russia

www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php
Anti-Capitalist Movement:
Reclaim the Debate! Resist the G8!

In July 2006, the G8 will hold its annual Summit in St.Petersburg, Russia.

Vladimir Putin says he's placing "energy security" at the top of the G8 agenda during Russia's presidency of the Gang of 8. As the G8's only net oil exporter and the major exporter of natural gas to Europe, fossil fuels give Russia its trans-national clout.

Now Moscow claims it wants to help put the Kyoto Protocol into effect, making this G8 Summit another critical moment for climate justice action. But dissenters should demonstrate that there can be no "energy security" while climate crisis & ecosystem destruction gain speed, and civilization drives suicidally down a road paved by dependence on non-renewable, fast-depleting fossil fuels.

The G8 countries consume 45% of world oil and produce 47% of global CO2 emissions. Their "energy security" is our energy grave!

Stay tuned to www.reclaimthecommons.net for details...
reclaimthecommons.net

For more information, read:
(www.reclaimthecommons.net/article.php)

* January 2006: A N ew C o l d Wa r | Europe Shudders as Russia Turns Off the Natural Gas | Russia Steps to Head of G8 as 'Energy Savior' | Peak Oil Looms Large In USA
* December 2005: G8 And Nuclear Power | Travel to Russia Info | Russia Seeks to Wield Petro-Power as Political Tool | Energy question may spell end of the good life for the West | The Fusion of Peak Oil and Climate Change | Oilwatch International Call to Action | Explosion at Russian Nuclear Plant Near St. Petersburg Kills One Worker
* November 2005: Global Movement Against Climate Crisis Heats Up | Montreal Climate Summit | Climate Indymedia | Climate News
* October 2005 : A call out to protest against G8 summit of 2006 (Translations into many languages can be found here)
* September 2005 : Black Alliance against G8 formed | Reinventing Dissent: The Unabridged Story of Resistance against the G8 Summit in Scotland, 2005
* Some information about a possible Cycle Caravan to Russia.
* Hallmarks of People's Global Action | Global Resistance 2005 Call to Action (pdf) | Dissent: a network of resistance - Against the G8
* Wikipedia: G8 | Reclaim the Commons & G8 | Official Website of Russian G8 Presidency

G7 was created in 1975, for informal discussions on economic and political questions between heads of most powerful capitalist states. Russia joined in 1998 - it was accepted thanks to its nuclear arsenal and vast natural and energy resources (in 2004, Russia was only 16th largest economy of the world, but was the 2nd largest oil producer; e.g. China, the 2nd largest economy and oil consumer, was not invited to the club). G8 has no juridical status whatsoever, so it exists outside any democratic framework. But it still has become an important spectacle and platform, where top leaders of the world may look for consensus among each other, before imposing their policies on their populations.

| The G8 and the Nuclear Industry

G8 countries dominate the world's nuclear economy. The nuclear weapons and energy programmes of G8 countries make up the majority of the world's nuclear technology. The influence of the nuclear industry and the military implications of nuclear technology have made nuclear issues a part of the agenda at recent G8 summits.

History

Nuclear power has its origins in the development of nuclear weapons. The race to develop the nuclear bomb during World War II left the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada with a nuclear capacity. After the war, Russia and France developed their own nuclear weapons programs. Development of nuclear power programs in Germany, Italy and Japan shortly followed. Today, G8 countries are the most industrialized and "nuclearized" countries in the world.

The influence of the nuclear industry on G8 states is indisputable. Despite the fact that nuclear power has been excluded from the Kyoto protocol as a clean energy source, the nuclear industry and some G8 governments continue to extol the virtues of nuclear energy as a "solution" to climate change. Continued G8 support for nuclear energy syphons billions of dollars away from the development of cheaper, cleaner and more sustainable energy sources.

| The Fusion of Peak Oil & Climate Change
Peak Oil and Climate Change are two historic events for humans and life on earth. The first threatens modern industrial ways of living and the latter threatens the climatic systems that are an integral part of our world and the way we live and survive. A quick recap on both. Peak Oil is the point of historic maximum global oil flow, Climate Change is the alteration of established climate systems due to (in this case, anthropogenic) global warming. The onset of both will affect food & water supplies, mortality rates, conflict, migration and much more. The evidence that climate change is underway and almost past the point of no return is very strong and Peak Oil day by day gathers more credence as many studies point to an imminent peak.

| Russia Seeks to Wield Petro-Power as Political Tool