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September 28, 2005
The Meeting Today!
28th September 2005
The other pressing issue of the day, besides the obvious mobile phone
disaster, is of course the meeting with the Energy Ministry after
yesterdays peaceful activities in Hedera.
Our team, Nili Grossman (our unrelenting, Israeli Energy campaigner),
Ahmet Bektas (Executive Director of Greenpeace Mediterranean) and Paul Horsman (International Energy Campaigner), went to the ministry armed with all the information and heaps of determination.
The Energy Minister himself was unable to speak to us, but we got a
Meeting with Eli Ronen, Secretary General of Israels Ministry of national Infrastructures. Ronen has been working in the energy ministry since the plans were first approved, whilst the Israeli Energy ministers play musical chairs, changing every 6 months or so.
People working in the ministry were all talking about our protest against the Hedera plant, as it had been all over the television news here yesterday. Is Ronen living in a hazy but comfortable bubble?
Nili clearly articulated the strong environmental and economic case for the solar thermal plant and presented him with our report outlining the advantages. Ronen provided us with a timeline for when the plant would be built and what a disappointment. Oblivious to the urgent issue of climate change the ministry continues to take too little action with all the urgency of a sleepy sloth. The plans have been scaled down to100MW 3 years from now, then if it's operating well an extension to 500MW.
This is not acceptable. Ronen and the Energy Ministry, expect your bubble to be burst. We will not give up until action is taken for clean renewable energy.
Donna Mattfield
Posted by Hussein at September 28, 2005 5:30 PM