This Urban Farm Grows Strawberries in Shipping Containers in Central Paris
Mónica R. Goya
By Mónica R. Goya
Agricool is a Parisian urban agriculture tech start-up that recently raised $28 million to scale its business: growing strawberries in reclaimed shipping containers in central Paris using vertical farming methods. Since the plants are cultivated using aeroponics — that is, by spraying a mist of water and nutrients on the plants' exposed roots (as opposed to the plants growing in soil) — their process uses 90 percent less water than conventional agriculture. Pesticides aren't needed because they grow in a controlled environment, and their carbon footprint is almost nonexistent because the transportation radius is less than 20 kilometers. Additionally, they claim to be 120 times more productive than traditional, soil-based agriculture, and their LED lights are powered by renewable energy.
In terms of humidity, air quality and light, Agricool has created the perfect environment by growing strawberries in customized, reclaimed shipping containers. Every year, seven tons of strawberries are produced in each container. According to Agricool, these containers can yield 120 times as much as a field.
Mónica R. Goya
Founded in 2015 by Gonzague Gru and Guillaume Fourdinier — two friends who grew up on farms in the French countryside — Agricool's principles are based on sustainability without compromising profitability. Furthermore, their business model can be imitated anywhere. Proof of their scalability is that they operate a strawberry container in Dubai. With their latest round of investments, they are planning to add about 100 containers to their current fleet by 2021.
The final design of each shipping container looks modern, with its external shell covered by a wooden panel. One of the reasons why the company uses reclaimed containers is because they are weatherproof.
Mónica R. Goya
Vertical farming makes the most of available space. Also, the company designs and produces its own LED lights, which are tailored specifically to its needs.
Mónica R. Goya
When the right time comes, colonies of bumblebees are brought into the shipping containers for pollination.
Mónica R. Goya
Their strawberries can be purchased at Monoprix supermarkets, as well as La Grande Epicerie de Paris, one of the city's most exclusive food halls.
Lab tests are conducted to assess the sugar levels and nutrients of the fruit. According to Agricool's own lab tests and external tests, their strawberries contain 30 percent more vitamins and 20 percent more sugar than conventional ones.
Mónica R. Goya
Remy Faury is an engineer who works on the research and development team at Agricool. The company's R&D team makes up 70 percent of the company.
Mónica R. Goya
Maria Foncillas is a "cooltivatrice" or an urban farmer, at Agricool.
Mónica R. Goya
At Agricool, several varieties of strawberries are grown throughout the year. These ones, in particular, belong to the Magnum variety. The growing cycle of the fruit is two months from seed to harvest.
Mónica R. Goya
Reposted with permission from our media associate Modern Farmer.
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China's new five-year plan could allow further expansion of its coal industry. chuyu / iStock / Getty Images Plus
On Friday, China set out an economic blueprint for the next five years, which was expected to substantiate the goal set out last fall by President Xi Jinping for the country to reach net-zero emissions before 2060 and hit peak emissions by 2030.
<p>While the plan calls for a "major push" on <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">clean energy</a> development, a few aspects have left <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate</a> experts with questions about how exactly the world's largest emitter will hit its stated climate goals. For example, the plan did not include a ban on new <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal">coal</a> projects, nor did it set a "carbon cap" to define what peak emissions will be, instead setting a carbon intensity target that is the same as in the previous five-ear plan. </p>
<p>However, some are hopeful that the government will announce more detailed regulations on carbon-intensive construction and manufacturing industries later this year, and that more details will be laid out in an upcoming separate five-year plan for the energy sector. Fan Dai, director of the California-China Climate Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, told Quartz that the plan is "simply aggregating existing targets from last year." </p>
<p>Dai added that "[t]here's a lot of room for further development and ambition, especially around those targets that were missing that we hoped would be included."</p>
<p>As reported by The Guardian:</p><blockquote>China will reduce its "emissions intensity" – the amount of CO2 produced per unit of GDP – by 18% over the period 2021 to 2025, but this target is in line with previous trends, and could lead to emissions continuing to increase by 1% a year or more. Non-fossil fuel energy is targeted to make up 20% of China's energy mix, leaving plenty of room for further <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/01/world-kick-coal-habit-start-green-recovery-iea-fatih-birol" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">expansion of the country's coal industry</a>.</blockquote><blockquote>Swithin Lui, of the Climate Action Tracker and NewClimate Institute, said: "[This is] underwhelming and shows little sign of a concerted switch away from a future coal lock-in. There is little sign of the change needed [to meet net zero]."<br></blockquote><blockquote>Zhang Shuwei, chief economist at Draworld Environment Research Centre, said: "As the first five-year plan after China committed to reach carbon neutrality by 2060, the 14th five-year plan was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/04/chinas-five-year-plan-for-economy-is-crucial-to-meeting-net-zero-by-2060" target="_blank">expected to demonstrate strong climate ambition</a>. However, the draft plan presented does not seem to meet the expectations. The international community expected China's climate policy to 'jump,' but in reality it is still crawling."</blockquote>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.vox.com/22313871/china-energy-climate-change-five-year-plan-wind-solar-coal-oil-gas?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=114718913&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_0DrubumD0whtbL-W2ORst7KP8movAOiMZ0TFnGuJ5squBkLONcUr8x7lF-lC7rlQrG7dXLS_ZkakLE3UbeDRRctW-jw&utm_content=114718913&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Vox</a>, <a href="https://qz.com/1980664/this-is-what-chinas-new-five-year-plan-says-about-climate-change/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=114718913&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--8Dmc2MDASwlMLHj7urdPKD4xRZrSnNcWqbESpUz6rXiaz5O4uWQIDQZu08MryxFoODttY9l6vrdZfcX-_KN12a2VDYg&utm_content=114718913&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Quartz</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/05/china-five-year-plan-emissions?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=114718913&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9utt1bmQIvRpc0qbODMCbIecHfocQud2ovactbRtBWynCWypUSfLDCbWexaFNNxVHM4_YrKkWq0YuvhRreg4DeMI4YQA&utm_content=114718913&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/china-sets-moderate-energy-goals-climate-change-76271934?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=114718913&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9jYE5QFbYI1PBAF0EAyVFsP17n7nQsqL5MXE15xuN4jJsOCxVUe9ogByfz6xfzacxi_vHnMgapUXm5Ehhl4V_o3xWeUg&utm_content=114718913&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">ABC</a>, <a href="https://www.climatechangenews.com/2021/03/05/china-makes-no-shift-away-coal-five-year-plan-crawls-carbon-neutrality/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=114718913&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8pt2s3MdAzinj7-660wCUR435gIyIppd5CBaq0JgoKgsVovG6V3v1-ksT8918Jr1dRbg_VGbPVoTEo4zeHp-7qYxaSqg&utm_content=114718913&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Climate Home</a>, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-06/china-s-top-leaders-leave-tough-climate-decisions-to-bureaucrats?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=114718913&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9TfW3dCe9tHJkH60aQmMkezo5SxTu0pt17YeXKnR_w9YfI0h8yXSY4UO1SNag_ZjDg-sARbmK79r-N7X1ICc5T7N9DPA&utm_content=114718913&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-05/china-s-new-green-target-still-means-pumping-too-much-pollution?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=114718913&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9f_aDHNPTHQHFudfMhSkgaET49GREWycQGNQIC37IAeFt71FQLiTDWacxcyuAa8MD0uE4A_V7HL8tFh9EiKF2cxDWi7A&utm_content=114718913&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>, <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/VVXsMx6RNSZBW4q8y4r4zfLj5W1vWpFD4nX2tlN1WCR-55nxG7V3Zsc37CgH1rW1Y0B383T8V8TW2jcg5Y1lcBR2W4rXWJ_97Bgz6W8J2CPZ2XG84DW10cssS6NYvmjW8xzrqK8x2fb3W75_Y6L1yZbqcW7FMmCq90PsssW1Wfgnp4s-Tk1W50l7FK5CT1RCVCKX3m426CZhW2H-gPT4VGcL5W3ZlsFn6JFczQW9hdgd31VzYlXW1bZ7512Ck592W3TT6dB1RRl6hW79DnSS5wGhp5W3p4D0C2tsWMxW6W9LGh5bkSQhW7q11lV144xQjW8vfs1l5j6pllW5Wkjvp4FSpXtW6pK8kQ8YLzG9W2gXtn969z9HJW4x1d-f5fP8__W3hRsXc4gXZBBW623VLG5LNgJYW2Wnm-https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/03/china-announces-major-boost-rd-plan-lacks-ambitious-climate-targets?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=114718913&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--bfdXUmo9wi3CsZlRyDiFY8NmmwOtTQftc5rxyCqUwrzpxIQkZQxPewep5gGpvL_Kp9Kzv1eucHV2bN7B_ah4EBkrsWA&utm_content=114718913&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Science Magazine</a><br/></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, sign up for daily </em><a href="https://www.linktrack.live/hot-news-sign-up" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>, and visit their news site, </em><a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Nexus Media News</em></a><em>.</em></p>
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Trans Canada Trail and AccessNow partnership for AccessOutdoors / Trails for All project. Mapping day on Capital Pathway in Ottawa, Ontario with Camille Bérubé. Daniel Baylis
The Great Trail in Canada is recognized as the world's longest recreational trail for hiking, biking, and cross-country skiing. Created by the Trans Canada Trail (TCT) and various partners, The Great Trail consists of a series of smaller, interconnected routes that stretch from St. John's to Vancouver and even into the Yukon and Northwest Territories. It took nearly 25 years to connect the 27,000 kilometers of greenway in ways that were safe and accessible to hikers. Now, thanks to a new partnership with the Canadian Paralympic Committee and AccessNow, the TCT is increasing accessibility throughout The Great Trail for people with disabilities.
<p>Since The Great Trail opened in 2017, the TCT has worked hard to provide as much information about the greenway to Canadians across the country. By working with the individual parks and trail groups that make up The Great Trail, they have created an experience that outdoorsmen from all over Canada can enjoy. However, until recently, little information was given for accessibility to the individual trails. This is why the <a href="https://accessnow.com/blog/new-national-partnership-focuses-on-improving-accessibility-on-the-great-trail-of-canada/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">partnership with AccessNow</a> is crucial. </p>
<p>AccessNow is a Canadian social enterprise that allows individuals to pin areas on a worldwide map that are accessible or that need accessibility improvements. By using the AccessNow map on The Great Trail, the TCT hopes to help Canadians can find barrier-free segments of the trail as well as alert the organization to areas that still have barriers. This measure aims to provide a better overall experience for hikers, bikers, and skiers visiting the Great Trail.</p><p>The AccessNow mapping initiative began with para-athlete volunteers from the <a href="https://paralympic.ca/news/new-national-partnership-focuses-improving-accessibility-great-trail-canada" target="_blank">Canadian Paralympic Committee</a>. After the announcement that the 2020 Paralympics would be <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/new-dates-announced-tokyo-2020-olympics-postponed-over-coronavirus-concerns-n1171871" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">postponed to August of 2021</a>, many para-athletes were eager to help in the project. The TCT's president and CEO <a href="https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/para-athletes-working-with-trans-canada-trail-to-improve-accessibility-across-the-network" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Eleanor McMahon said</a>, "With the Games postponed, (the athletes) had some time in their schedule — we were fortunate enough that they chose to spend some of their time helping us."</p><p>To McMahon and other leaders of the project, the partnership is about more than tracking access on the trail. It's about making as many voices heard, and ensuring that everyone can receive the <a href="https://thegreattrail.ca/news/canadians-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">physical and mental benefits</a> of outdoor recreation. <a href="https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/new-national-partnership-focuses-on-improving-accessibility-on-the-great-trail-of-canada-860329231.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Maayan Ziv, founder & CEO of AccessNow</a> said, "It is an honor to work closely with the athletes involved in this project, their voices and perspectives contribute to the 'nothing about us without us' mandate that we pride ourselves on celebrating across Canada."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTc5NzI3My9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NTcwNzk1NX0.LPt_XahV2Jj70Hv90h3g0aDEbe2vS8XWI_hdTNyHlcw/img.png?width=980" id="4c53f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a582bac12629e279ff8b8462d8ea194b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1358" data-height="900" />
Trans Canada Trail and AccessNow partnership for AccessOutdoors / Trails for All project. Mapping day at Stanley Park Seawall in Vancouver, British Columbia with Richard Peter. Alexa Fernando
<p>This partnership also comes at a time when access to outdoor recreation is more important to Canadian citizens than ever. <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/200527/dq200527b-eng.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Studies from the spring of 2020</a> indicate that Canadian's <a href="https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/moneytalk-mental-health-during-covid-19-1.1567633" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mental health has worsened</a> since the onset of social distancing protocols due to COVID-19. </p><p>The <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/safe-activities-during-covid19/art-20489385" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mayo Clinic</a> lists hiking, biking, and skiing as safe activities during COVID-19. Their website explains, "When you're outside, fresh air is constantly moving, dispersing these droplets. So you're less likely to breathe in enough of the respiratory droplets containing the virus that causes COVID-19 to become infected."</p><p>TCT leadership took this into consideration when embarking on the accessibility project. McMahon explains that there has never been a more important time to bring accessibility to the great outdoors: "Canadians have told us that during these difficult times, they value access to natural spaces to stay active, take care of their mental health, and socially connect with others while respecting physical distancing and public health directives. This partnership is incredibly important especially now as trails have become a lifeline for Canadians."</p><p>Together, these organizations are paving the way for better physical and mental health among all Canadians. To learn more about the TCT's mission and initiatives, check out their <a href="https://thegreattrail.ca/stories/" target="_blank">trail stories</a> and <a href="https://thegreattrail.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/TCT_2020-Donor-Impact-Report_EN_8.5x14-web.pdf" target="_blank">2020 Impact Report</a>.</p>From Your Site Articles
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A lone house is seen inside the exclusion zone near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on February 26, 2016 in Namie, Fukushima, Japan. Christopher Furlong / Getty Images
By Kiyoshi Kurokawa and Najmedin Meshkati
Ten years ago, on March 11, 2011, the biggest recorded earthquake in Japanese history hit the country's northeast coast. It was followed by a tsunami that traveled up to 6 miles inland, reaching heights of over 140 feet in some areas and sweeping entire towns away in seconds.
<p>This disaster left nearly 20,000 people dead or missing. It also destroyed the <a href="https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/fukushima-daiichi-accident.aspx" target="_blank">Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station</a> and released radioactive materials over a large area. The accident triggered widespread evacuations, large economic losses and the eventual shutdown of all nuclear power plants in Japan. A decade later, the nuclear industry has yet to fully address safety concerns that Fukushima exposed.</p><p>We are scholars specializing in <a href="https://viterbi-web.usc.edu/~meshkati/" target="_blank">engineering</a> and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Kiyoshi-Kurokawa-2163025935" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">medicine and public policy</a>, and have advised our respective governments on nuclear power safety. Kiyoshi Kurokawa chaired an <a href="https://warp.da.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/3856371/naiic.go.jp/en/report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">independent national commission</a>, known as the NAIIC, created by the Diet of Japan to investigate the root causes of the Fukushima Daiichi accident. Najmedin Meshkati served as a member and technical adviser to a committee appointed by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences to <a href="https://www.nap.edu/catalog/18294/lessons-learned-from-the-fukushima-nuclear-accident-for-improving-safety-of-us-nuclear-plants" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">identify lessons from this event</a> for making U.S. nuclear plants safer and more secure.</p><p>Those reviews and <a href="https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Publications/PDF/Pub1710-ReportByTheDG-Web.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">many</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2014.0379" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">others</a> concluded that Fukushima was a <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2012/03/06/why-fukushima-was-preventable-pub-47361" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">man-made accident</a>, triggered by natural hazards, that <a href="https://thenewpress.com/books/fukushima" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">could and should have been avoided</a>. Experts widely agreed that the root causes were lax regulatory oversight in Japan and an ineffective safety culture at the utility that operated the plant.</p><p>These problems are far from unique to Japan. As long as commercial nuclear power plants operate anywhere in the world, we believe it is critical for all nations to learn from what happened at Fukushima and continue doubling down on nuclear safety.</p>
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<h2>Failing to Anticipate and Plan</h2><p>The 2011 disaster delivered a devastating one-two punch to the Fukushima plant. First, the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Japan-earthquake-and-tsunami-of-2011" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">magnitude 9.0 earthquake</a> knocked out off-site electric power. Next, the tsunami breached the plant's protective sea wall and swamped portions of the site.</p><p>Flooding disabled monitoring, control and cooling functions in multiple units of the six-reactor complex. Despite heroic efforts by plant workers, three reactors sustained severe damage to their radioactive cores and three reactor buildings were damaged by hydrogen explosions.</p><p>Off-site releases of radioactive materials contaminated land in Fukushima and several neighboring prefectures. Some 165,000 people left the area, and the Japanese government established an exclusion zone around the plant that extended <a href="https://www.britannica.com/story/nuclear-exclusion-zones" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">over 311 square miles</a> in its largest phase.</p><p>For the first time in the history of constitutional democratic Japan, the Japanese Parliament passed a law creating an <a href="https://warp.da.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/3856371/naiic.go.jp/en/resources/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">independent national commission</a> to investigate the root causes of this disaster. In its report, the commission concluded that Japan's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Nuclear_Safety_Commission" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nuclear Safety Commission</a> <a href="https://warp.da.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/3856371/naiic.go.jp/en/report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">had never been independent from the industry</a>, nor from the powerful Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, which promotes nuclear power.</p><p>For its part, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, had a history of disregard for safety. The company had recently released an error-prone assessment of tsunami hazards at Fukushima that significantly <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.2014.0379" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">underestimated the risks</a>.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTc5NjU2NS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3NTYyODU0Mn0.lclDfqAZwkpIyy3XxyXRqp9KhC6ZGYdFQP77slmvMDE/img.png?width=980" id="4967b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ee088b3734387e2af1b2507c751a567c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="1144" />
Nuclear power generates about 10% of the world's electricity (TWh = terawatt-hours). About 50 new plants are under construction, but many operating plants are aging. World Nuclear Association / CC BY-ND
<p>Events at the Onagawa Nuclear Power Station, located 39 miles from Fukushima, told a <a href="https://thebulletin.org/2014/03/onagawa-the-japanese-nuclear-power-plant-that-didnt-melt-down-on-3-11/" target="_blank">contrasting story</a>. Onogawa, which was owned and operated by the Tohoku Electric Power Company, was closer to the earthquake's epicenter and was hit by an even larger tsunami. Its three operating reactors were the same type and vintage as those at Fukushima, and were under the same weak regulatory oversight.</p><p>But Onogawa shut down safely and was remarkably undamaged. In our view, this was because the Tohoku utility had a <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2014/03/14/commentary/japan-commentary/culture-of-safety-can-make-or-break-nuclear-power-plants/" target="_blank">deep-seated, proactive safety culture</a>. The company learned from earthquakes and tsunamis elsewhere – including a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Chile-earthquake-of-2010" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">major disaster in Chile in 2010</a> – and continuously improved its countermeasures, while TEPCO overlooked and ignored these warnings.</p><h2>Regulatory Capture and Safety Culture</h2><p>When a regulated industry manages to cajole, control or manipulate agencies that oversee it, rendering them feckless and subservient, the result is known as <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/3003160" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">regulatory capture</a>. As the NAIIC report concluded, Fukushima was a textbook example. Japanese regulators "<a href="https://warp.da.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/3856371/naiic.go.jp/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/NAIIC_report_lo_res10.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">did not monitor or supervise nuclear safety</a>….They avoided their direct responsibilities by letting operators apply regulations on a voluntary basis," the report observed.</p><p>Effective regulation is necessary for nuclear safety. Utilities also need to create internal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/safety-culture" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">safety cultures</a> – a set of characteristics and attitudes that make safety issues an overriding priority. For an industry, safety culture functions like the human body's immune system, protecting it against pathogens and fending off diseases.</p><p>A plant that fosters a positive safety culture encourages employees to ask questions and to apply a rigorous and prudent approach to all aspects of their jobs. It also fosters open communications between line workers and management. But TEPCO's culture reflected a Japanese mindset that emphasizes hierarchy and acquiescence and discourages asking questions.</p><p>There is ample evidence that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/108602669100500203" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">human factors</a> such as operator errors and poor safety culture played an instrumental key role in all three major accidents that have occurred at nuclear power plants: <a href="https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5395798-three-mile-island-report-commissioners-public-volume" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Three Mile Island</a> in the U.S. in 1979, <a href="https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub913e_web.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chernobyl</a> in Ukraine in 1986 and <a href="https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Publications/PDF/Pub1710-ReportByTheDG-Web.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fukushima Daiichi</a> in 2011. Unless nuclear nations do better on both counts, this list is likely to grow.</p>
<div id="07c42" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ac2be7bdc1a748c089d24d27f01992a2"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1366694917045690369" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">🇸🇪 Nuclear Safety statement in IAEA BoG: Important safety upgrades introduced at 6 remaining nuclear power stations… https://t.co/FrgHv4N4UL</div> — SwedenUN Vienna 🇸🇪 (@SwedenUN Vienna 🇸🇪)<a href="https://twitter.com/SwedenUN_Vienna/statuses/1366694917045690369">1614680434.0</a></blockquote></div>
<h2>Global Nuclear Safety Grade: Incomplete</h2><p>Today there are some <a href="https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/plans-for-new-reactors-worldwide.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">440 nuclear power reactors operating</a> around the world, with about 50 under construction in countries including China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.</p><p>Many advocates argue that in light of the threat of climate change and the increasing need for carbon-free baseload electricity generation, nuclear power <a href="https://cen.acs.org/energy/nuclear-power/nuclear-power-help-save-us/97/i37" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">should play a role</a> in the world's future energy mix. Others call for <a href="https://thebulletin.org/2019/08/the-false-promise-of-nuclear-power-in-an-age-of-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">abolishing nuclear power</a>. But that may not be feasible in the foreseeable future.</p><p>In our view, the most urgent priority is developing tough, system-oriented nuclear safety standards, strong safety cultures and much closer cooperation between countries and their independent regulators. We see worrisome indications in the U.S. that <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Confessions-of-a-Rogue-Nuclear-Regulator/Gregory-B-Jaczko/9781476755779" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">independent nuclear regulation is eroding</a>, and that nuclear utilities are resisting pressure to learn and delaying adoption of internationally accepted safety practices, such as <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aal4890" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">adding filters</a> to prevent radioactive releases from reactor containment buildings with the same characteristics as Fukushima Daiichi.</p><p>The most crucial lesson we see is the need to counteract nuclear nationalism and isolationism. Ensuring close cooperation between countries developing nuclear projects is essential today as the forces of populism, nationalism and anti-globalism spread.</p><p>We also believe the <a href="https://www.iaea.org/" target="_blank">International Atomic Energy Agency</a>, whose mission is promoting safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear energy, should urge its member states to find a balance between national sovereignty and international responsibility when it comes to operating nuclear power reactors in their territories. As Chernobyl and Fukushima taught the world, radiation fallout does not stop at national boundaries.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTc5NjYwOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTM1NzkzNX0.VvpCAOtfI_n_DBKKENx8b1gALF4Muilr1PiU4qalE58/img.jpg?width=980" id="fc50b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6fa4868f18b29e10e045b1f981ce682d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="1974" />
Author Najmedin Meshkati holding an earthquake railing in a Fukushima Daiichi control room during a 2012 site visit. Najmedin Meshkati / CC BY-ND
<p>As a start, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/01/world/middleeast/uae-nuclear-Barakah.html" target="_blank">Persian Gulf countries</a> should set aside political wrangling and recognize that with the startup of a nuclear power plant in the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/01/world/middleeast/uae-nuclear-Barakah.html" target="_blank">United Arab Emirates</a> and others planned in <a href="https://www.neimagazine.com/news/newsconstruction-of-egypts-first-nuclear-plant-to-begin-in-2021-8100216" target="_blank">Egypt</a> and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-21/saudi-atomic-reactor-progresses-with-inspectors-still-frozen-out?sref=Hjm5biAW" target="_blank">Saudi Arabia</a>, they have a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0018720815623143" target="_blank">common interest in nuclear safety</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13753-016-0099-0" target="_blank">collective emergency response</a>. The entire region is vulnerable to radiation fallout and water contamination from a nuclear accident <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b00688" target="_blank">anywhere in the Gulf</a>.</p><p>We believe the world remains at the same juncture it faced in 1989, when then-Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43309384" target="_blank">made this perceptive argument</a>:</p><blockquote>"A decade ago, Three Mile Island was the spark that ignited the funeral pyre for a once-promising energy source. As the nuclear industry asks the nation for a second look in the context of global warming, it is fair to watch how its advocates respond to strengthened safety oversight. That will be the measure of whether nuclear energy becomes a phoenix or an extinct species."<br></blockquote>
<p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kiyoshi-kurokawa-1215666" target="_blank">Kiyoshi Kurokawa</a> is a </em><em>Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo.</em>
</p><p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/najmedin-meshkati-908960" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Najmedin Meshkati</a> is a </em><em>Professor of Engineering and International Relations, University of Southern California.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Disclosure statement: </em><em>Kiyoshi Kurokawa, MD, MACP, is Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo and Professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo. He served as Chairman of the National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission, which released its official report in July 2012. The English translation of his book, Regulatory Capture: Will Japan Change? is expected to be released in 2021.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Najmedin Meshkati, Ph.D., CPE, is a Professor of Civil/Environmental, Industrial & Systems Engineering, and International Relations at the University of Southern California (USC). He teaches and conducts research on technological systems safety and has visited many nuclear power stations around the world, including Chernobyl (1997), Mihama (1999), and Fukushima Daiichi and Daini (2012). He served as a member and technical advisor on the U.S. National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council Committee on Lessons Learned from the Fukushima Nuclear Accident for Improving Safety and Security of U.S. Nuclear Plants.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/10-years-after-fukushima-safety-is-still-nuclear-powers-greatest-challenge-155541" target="_blank">The Conversation.</a></em>
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Producer of 'My Octopus Teacher' Launches New Streaming Network to Help Save Our Natural World
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Rescript the Future is WaterBear's global script writing competition focused on building a better future. WaterBear
"Watch. Connect. Take Action."
These words are the invitation and mandate of the WaterBear Network, a free film-streaming platform that launched in November of 2020. Its goal is to turn inspirational images of the natural world into actions to save it.
<p>"WaterBear is the first streaming platform dedicated to the future of our planet," said CEO Ellen Windemuth. "WaterBear uses great storytelling to drive action."</p><p>Windemuth is no stranger to the power of films. Before WaterBear, she produced Netflix's hit documentary <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81045007" target="_blank"><em>My Octopus Teacher</em></a>, a unique story of friendship and recovery between a freediver and an octopus. The film <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/my-octopus-teacher-movie-2647785692.html" target="_self">stunned audiences around the world as it reinforced the power of nature</a>. It has won several prestigious awards and recently was shortlisted for an Oscar, <a href="https://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/408595/sa-doccie-film-my-octopus-teacher-shortlisted-for-oscar-nomination" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cape Talk</a> reported.</p>
<p>Describing the film's broad appeal, Windemuth said, "It does not hit you over the head with graphs and pie charts to tell you to care about life in the ocean. I think people appreciate being led into the subject matter through a compelling character and a story they can empathize with. They have the choice to care, so very often they do."</p><p>The planet positive momentum of <em>My Octopus Teacher</em> created a "direct transition" for Windemuth to WaterBear. She said, "I had always been passionate about empowering people to repair their relationship with nature and become part of the solution for environmental problems. Storytelling has a pivotal effect on getting people involved, especially the young generation."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTc5NjYwOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNzAyNTAyNH0.mzu_tdQFZhd3RTnje8Fy1xAOBN5s_LFb5pan1vs--Es/img.jpg?width=980" id="5eea7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7c13a0dd66616789f3ecf88b1b799177" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="675" />
WaterBear CEO Ellen Windemuth uses films to inspire planet-positive actions. WaterBear
<p>Viewers come to WaterBear for award-winning short- and long-form documentaries about the planet. According to <a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/waterbear-network" target="_blank">Vogue</a>, these include original films like <em>Africa's Hidden Sea Forest</em>, produced by the same team behind <em>My Octopus Teacher</em>; <em>Turning The Tide On Plastic</em>, highlighting how rivers bring 80 percent of the plastic waste that ends up in our <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans">oceans</a>; and <em>The Black Jaguar's Amazon</em>, providing an inside-look at the deforestation ravaging the world's biggest rainforest.</p><p>"It is our goal to tell stories about the meaning of the 17 UN Sustainable Development goals for people to... absorb them as true values instead of words," Windemuth told EcoWatch. To that end, the films focus on <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity">biodiversity</a>, climate change, circularity and community – the four themes around which WaterBear aims to inspire action to create a more sustainable future.</p>
<p>While sneaking a peak into the world's wildest and most endangered landscapes, viewers are connected on the interactive platform to over 90 NGO partners and organizations, from smaller grassroots organizations to global mainstays like Greenpeace, Conservation International and Amazon Watch. Then, they're provided with numerous ways to get involved with these groups. Suggested actions range from donating to sharing and signing petitions to volunteering, Windemuth said.</p><p>"WaterBear bridges the gap between media and action," Dave Martin of Mongabay said in an <a href="https://www.waterbear.com/" target="_blank">introductory video</a>.</p>
<p>Most recently, WaterBear launched the "<a href="https://vimeo.com/512422723" target="_blank">Era of Action</a>," an ambitious campaign to generate climate leadership and action ahead of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/cop26" target="_self">COP26</a>, the United Nations' climate change conference.</p><p>"The Era of Action campaign is focused on energizing the sustainability movement," Windemuth said. "This campaign provides 100 clear steps for members to take action each week."</p><p>Windemuth and WaterBear focus on the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> because of how it affects many threatened parts of Earth and because its tangible byproducts are massive <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pollution" target="_self">pollution</a>, the CEO told EcoWatch.</p><p>"Microplastics are literally in our bodies, and about 9 million people die each year of air pollution," Windemuth said.</p>
<p>Overall, WaterBear hopes to encourage more people to amplify their messages through films and storytelling, with the hope that this novel approach to conservation will reach new audiences and shift public opinion in time to make change for the planet.<br></p><p>WaterBear is currently available in eight countries and is planning to increase their film offerings and global expansion. Through the network, Windemuth hopes people find and pursue their own personal passions on how to save the planet and have a good time doing so.</p><p>As the WaterBear introductory video concludes, "This is our world. Let's make sure it remains extraordinary."</p>
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The Sunrise Movement launched its "Good Jobs for All" campaign that guarantees a good job to anyone who wants one and puts the country on a path toward a Green New Deal. Image Source / Getty Images
By Kenny Stancil
Amid the ongoing climate emergency and the devastating coronavirus pandemic that has resulted in more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. alone as well as an economic meltdown that has left millions of people unemployed, the Sunrise Movement on Thursday launched its "Good Jobs for All" campaign to demand that lawmakers pursue a robust recovery that guarantees a good job to anyone who wants one and puts the country on a path toward a Green New Deal.
<p>"It will take millions of people to build a new energy grid, care for older folks, teach little kids, restore parks and buildings that have fallen into disrepair, and do the work of building happy, healthy communities," the climate justice organization <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/campaign/good-jobs-for-all/" target="_blank">wrote</a> on its campaign website. "This year, we can put millions of people back to work in good paying jobs building a sustainable, just, and people-centered economy."</p><p>"In the richest country in the world, no one should go without a good job," Varshini Prakash, executive director of the Sunrise Movement, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/03/05/sunrise-movement-launches-good-jobs-all-campaign-demands-biden-and-congress" target="_blank">said</a> to thousands of people across the country who attended Thursday's online launch event via livestream or at one of 600 virtual watch parties. "For years, our movement has been demanding a Green New Deal that fulfills Franklin Delano Roosevelt's promise and Coretta Scott King's dream through guaranteed good jobs and a better society."</p><p>"This campaign," Prakash added, "will galvanize and grow our movement around this critical component of the Green New Deal as we recover from Covid-19 and the economic recession."</p>
<div id="c7fe3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5664692fdfd187db01eff5ac2787c564"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1367650177436311562" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We’re coming together to fight for each other and guarantee #GoodJobsForAll Join us: https://t.co/MoJhmlzoaS https://t.co/IAPa8DeeLR</div> — Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@Sunrise Movement 🌅)<a href="https://twitter.com/sunrisemvmt/statuses/1367650177436311562">1614908186.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>During the campaign launch, Sunrise—joined by Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Sara Nelson, president of the the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO—introduced their <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/campaign/good-jobs-for-all/" target="_blank">Good Jobs for All Pledge</a>, which calls on President Joe Biden and members of Congress to immediately enact economic recovery legislation that meets the scale of the overlapping crises society is facing and paves the way for a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/07/major-party-backing-ocasio-cortez-and-markey-unveil-green-new-deal-outlining-wwii" target="_blank">Green New Deal </a>that puts millions of people to work to fight against catastrophic climate change.</p><p>Given the current convergence of crises—public health, economic inequality, racial injustice, and "a climate crisis that looms over it all"—the Good Jobs for All Pledge stresses that "with so much work to do building a better society that works for all of us, there's no reason anyone in the richest country in the history of the world should be unemployed, underemployed, or working a job that isn't in the public interest."</p><p>Pressley, a Green New Deal co-sponsor, recently introduced the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/18/demanding-dignified-work-and-living-wage-legal-rights-ayanna-pressley-unveils-jobs" target="_blank">Federal Job Guarantee Resolution</a>, which seeks to make "meaningful, dignified work" at a livable wage an enforceable legal right.</p><p>Becoming the first signatory of the Good Jobs For All Pledge, the Massachusetts Democrat <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/03/05/sunrise-movement-launches-good-jobs-all-campaign-demands-biden-and-congress" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said </a>Thursday that "establishing the legal right to a good job for every person will help address the current employment crisis, create the foundation for an equitable economic recovery, and ensure that we are able to meet the pressing challenges facing our communities."</p>
<p>"I'm excited to work alongside the Sunrise Movement—as well as my colleagues, advocates, and activists across the country—to advance bold employment policies that ensure every person has access to a good job that pays a living wage, and that we put people to work addressing urgent priorities, like the climate crisis," said Pressley, who is expected to soon be joined by other prominent progressive lawmakers.</p><p>Signatories to the Good Jobs for All Pledge promise to do everything in their power—including <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/15/after-trump-acquittal-gop-sunrise-movement-says-time-now-abolish-filibuster" target="_blank">abolishing</a> the Senate's anti-democratic filibuster rule that obstructs the will of the majority—to "champion economic recovery legislation that invests $10 trillion to create at least 15 million good jobs sustained over the next decade in clean energy, transportation, housing, the care economy, public services, and regenerative agriculture, with the goal of ultimately guaranteeing full employment."</p><p>In addition, backers of the pledge vow to:</p><ul><li>Support "Indigenous sovereignty and strong labor, equity, immigration, and environmental justice standards," as outlined in the<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/10/lawmakers-progressive-coalition-unveil-framework-create-thriving-fair-and-green" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> THRIVE Agenda</a>, a proposal for a just and sustainable recovery from the coronavirus crisis unveiled in September 2020 by a progressive coalition of unions, advocacy groups, and Democratic lawmakers;</li><li>Create or improve "public employment programs to directly put Americans to work in serving the public interest, including the robust funding of a Civilian Climate Corps and a Public Health Jobs Corps";</li><li>Strengthen and protect the nation's "workforce, unions, and workers' rights through the provisions in the <a href="https://edlabor.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-and-senate-democrats-unveil-landmark-legislation-to-protect-workers-right-to-organize" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act</a>," a broad piece of legislation introduced in May 2019 that would "negate four decades worth of anti-labor barriers that right-wing forces have put in place,"<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/09/07/21st-century-priority-pro-act-will-revive-labor-movement-and-re-build-middle-class" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> according to </a>Alan Minsky, executive director of Progressive Democrats of America;</li><li>Direct "at least 50% of investment funds to communities on the frontlines of our economic, environmental, and public health crises"; and</li><li>Shift "every sector of the economy to 100% clean, renewable energy as fast as possible over the next decade."</li></ul>
<p>As Sunrise <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/03/05/sunrise-movement-launches-good-jobs-all-campaign-demands-biden-and-congress" target="_blank">noted</a> in a statement released Friday, "The campaign comes 43 days into the administration, as time ticks down on the Democrats' now or never moment to stop the worst effects of the climate catastrophe and avoid the fatal political mistakes of the early Obama years: not acting at the full scale of the economic crisis, and falling short in delivering on promises made."</p><p>Emphasizing that "the clock is ticking," Prakash said that "we expect Biden and Congress to deliver on a bold economic recovery in its first 100 days—by April 30th."</p><p>"We're going to put on the pressure to make sure that they do," she added. "And if they don't, well then they're really gonna hear from us—and there'll be hell to pay. You've got 57 days to deliver."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/03/05/good-jobs-all-sunrise-movement-launches-campaign-fight-climate-crisis-work-guarantee" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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