argia.eus
INPRIMATU
In defense of life and land for renewables
Gorka Laurnaga 2024ko apirilaren 03a

This brief text has been written from the point of view of kindness, against the current expansion of renewable megaprojects published by several members on 25 March and in the framework of the manifesto for life, because I am sure we are closer than I thought in the fight against capital and for life. Debates, at least because we are trying to release those complicated knots. With lots of edges out there, a couple of notes.

1. Firstly, I believe that the diagnosis made in the manifesto would serve equally (or even) the urgent defence of renewables on a larger scale.

2. The authors have not evaluated Where are we? In subparagraph (b) are we facing a climate emergency and are we five years to halve emissions? The 1.5 degree border was driven by the countries of the Global South, where it has the greatest impacts. Last week, a number of major tractors, at the same time as their blades erected the anti-wind symbol, was reported to have burned 15 million hectares in forest fires in Canada. What are the impacts of renewables on this? Biodiversity, agriculture, forests, landscapes, human beings are the climate and renewable chaos that today is decarbonising the economy. When by 2023 we've reached 1.45 degrees and more than 80 percent of our energy is fossil, renewables are not our problem.

3. The contrast to larger scale renewables and declines is the introduction of poles into the wheels of transition. Social confusion and dangerous waste of time. Mobility is not so much about bicycles as public transport and energy is not renewable or decreasing, but about renewables and growth, and about self-consumption, agroecology and adaptation… and learning to develop them together. Strategic monocultures enable transformation.

Renewables are a historic opportunity to open a gap in the democratisation and decarbonisation of energy, but not in any case: a sustainable, social and realistic expansion of renewables is needed

4th. The manifesto says that we must “let ourselves be fooled”, but this must also apply to the potential of the microscale. We accuse data of being true to technology, of abusing hydrogen or the CoR for failing to address the reality of these technologies. Is it not acting in the same way with the idea of micro scale? An alternative is being proposed, which is an apple tree, without meeting the potential. The ALIENTE, a real-scale compass against renewables, conducted a study to show that scale is enough with micro-, but what it proved was almost the opposite. Despite the doubt about the rigour of the research, in this report too optimistic, it gave Hego Euskal Herria a maximum of 15% of the current consumption! But the study carried out in Zumaia is also known, where 7% of consumption was achieved (with the addition of medium-sized wind farms in thirteen mountain areas!). And from there what? It is clear that there is a need for deep growth, but let us not be fooled, only with the plates of households is it impossible to sustain a fair transition to workers or a dignified health and education.

5. In the manifesto it opposes so-called Corporate Innovative Macroprojects, with the understandable concern of a green phase of accumulation. But are the signatories in favour of a public-Community model? Would you bet on a public wind or FV installation? Because in the manifesto and in other statements this is never made clear. And two radically different issues are opposition to a private hospital or public health. Renewables are necessary and if instead of improving their diffusion they are blocked, I think there can be three possibilities: 1. To lose social protection and to impose renewables more capitalist, losing the possibility of publishing energy. 2. Outsourcing of renewables. 3. Postpone and postpone and continue to consume fossils. We must not forget that the long night of neoliberalism has left the toilet and the public in the bones. As you say to friends, who wants an ideal transition doesn't want a transition, wants an ideal.

In my opinion and with all due respect to the signatories, the manifest problem is that (“for life and earth”) the focus is leading to the worst struggle when we are trapped in full fossil capital, it has no clear message in favour of the public, and also there is no real proposal behind it.

The little window that we have after the 200-year fossils is closing. Renewables are a historic opportunity to open a gap in the democratisation and decarbonisation of energy, but not in any case: a sustainable, social and realistic expansion of renewables is needed, requiring all scales and sources and materialising as soon as possible. Because an old man told us that more than interpretation, the important thing is to transform the world.

A hug to all and let us keep building a better future!

Gorka Laurnaga