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30-10-2015

After the kidnapping of the Sun by the government and large electrical companies Friends of the Earth launches 10 steps to save the Sun

Friends of the Earth Spain has launched their awareness campaign, 10 Steps to Save the Sun, in Puerta del Sol in Madrid. During the presentation, two professional actors represented the “kidnapping of the Sun” by the government and large electrical companies, while the organization released its guide, from which the campaign gets its name which shows simple steps to help create a system of energy that is clean and in the hands of the people.

Given the continuing uncertainty regarding the approval of the Royal Personal Consumption Decree in this decisive year in the fight against climate change, Friends of the Earth launches the guide, 10 Steps to Save the Sun. The publication, directed at citizens, gives detailed information about the different options for progressing towards a system based on renewable energy that is managed by the people, reduces energy costs, and improves efficiency and energy saving. With these steps, Friends of the Earth encourages people to take control of their energy consumption and to position themselves in the center of the energy equation while contributing to putting the brakes on climate change.

These alternatives will be posted over various weeks online at liberaalsol.org. For example, by applying one of the steps an individual could save more than nine tons of CO2, the equivalent of what a car would emit by driving more than 60,000 kilometers (1.5 times the circumference of the Earth).

In the past few years, the Government in close relationship with large electrical companies has negotiated and approved regulations that have put in jeopardy renewable energy sources. The cuts to renewable energy sources and the continual threats of penalizing personal consumption, such as the incessant increases in energy taxes, are trying the patience of the public. In fact, critics of the “tax on the sun” continue to grow; last week the State Council announced its opposition to the backup toll.

In the play, Friends of the Earth denounced this situation with a humorous tone, with the “kidnapping of the Sun,” brought to life by two professional actors in roles representing the Government and the electrical oligopoly. The “kidnappers” communicated their demands to society at a press conference broadcast through a plasma television.

The organization points out that while sufficient technology exists to cover practically 100% of the energy demand using renewable energy sources, the current consumption of nonrenewable energy to generate electricity is almost 60 %.

Hector de Prado, who is responsible for energy issues at Friends of the Earth, affirms that “until now it seems that the Public Administration has climbed in bed with large electrical companies, and the consequences of this decision have been disastrous, even to the point of ruining the chances of hundreds of family businesses and startups in the process.” Because of this, de Prado assures us that “it is urgent and necessary to change the current energy model to one that is based in renewable energies, is decentralized, and is in the hands of the public. That is precisely what Community Power is about, that people, homes, municipalities and other associations participate in an active way in this new model.”

Friends of the Earth wants to highlight with this campaign that other alternative exist and that it is possible to “free the Sun.” And they do this in a special moment of large significance for the Earth: in December the governments of the world must undertake realistic means of confronting climate change. In this context, the organization calls for political decisions to be made that rise to the challenge and, at the same time, encourage the public to embrace a change of model at an individual as well as community level to demonstrate the viability of these alternative options, which are already reality at liberaalsol.org


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