WASHINGTON, DC - April 21 -

STEVE KRETZMANN
Kretzmann is founder and executive director of Oil Change International. He co-authored the recently released report "A Climate of War," which found: "The projected total U.S. spending on the Iraq war could cover all of the global investments in renewable power generation that are needed between now and 2030 in order to halt current warming trends.

"The war is responsible for at least 141 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) since March 2003. ...

"Just the $600 billion that Congress has allocated for military operations in Iraq to date could have built over 9,000 wind farms (at 50 MW capacity each), with the overall capacity to meet a quarter of the country's current electricity demand. ...

"In 2006, the U.S. spent more on the war in Iraq than the whole world spent on investment in renewable energy."


MERCEDES "Meche" LU
Peruvian biochemist Lu works as an environmental research scientist at the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide. She has worked for 17 years to provide scientific support to communities around the world suffering from toxic contamination and environmental degradation. Lu said today: "The world is more contaminated than ever. Millions in the global South are victims of an ill-conceived system that sees nature as only a source of raw materials. We must give voice to disadvantaged communities and help them challenge multinational corporations that are destroying the natural environment.

"More than ever, governments in the global South are aggressively promoting extractive industries such as oil, mining (gold and oil prices are breaking the records) and energy projects (mega hydroelectric dams) with big tax benefits and very poor environmental law enforcement. They are also signing regional international trade agreements that result in enormous benefit for the largest multinational corporations. These agreements and the projects included in them are carried out without public consultation processes. There is a pattern of top-down decision-making driven by the global economic interests."

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