“Stubbornness in nuclear has weakened, killed Areva and is in the process of weakening EDF”, said Friday February 18 on franceinfo Julien Bayou, the national secretary EELV, while the company announced an “action plan”, with a bailout from the State to strengthen its finances. EDF, nearly 84% owned by the State, has unveiled a capital increase project of around 2.5 billion euros. The State will participate to the tune of 2.1 billion, announced the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire.
Julien Bayou recalls that the proposal of Yannick Jadot, environmental candidate for the presidential election, is to “nationalize EDF to be able to protect the assets, also protect the employees”. The national secretary EELV believes that there was “a myth about the fact that nuclear power would protect us from everything, that it was energy independence, so there are no uranium mines in France, and that it could meet our needs”. According to him, “with the delays on the EPRs or the risk of corrosion on certain power plants, nuclear power is at the end of its tether”. The new EPRs announced by Emmanuel Macron, “It would be for tens and tens and tens of billions in 15 years. That’s not reasonable.”
Julien Bayou insists that there is “an emergency: it is to develop renewable energies”. They create “more jobs than nuclear and which allow cheaper energy”. In particular, he praises “the incredible seafront” from France, “the second in Europe”but regrets that there is no “only one offshore wind turbine which is attached to the network. All that is not serious.”
“We have taken a lot of delay, because this government like the previous ones choose to be stubborn in nuclear power.”
Julien Bayouat franceinfo
The boss of EELV points to a “second emergency” which is thermal renovation. “We want to renovate the entire housing stock. It’s good for the wallets of residents who can heat themselves properly. It’s good for jobs and it’s good for the climate.” He recognizes that he is “complicated to start the work” energy renovation. This can remain quite expensive in ‘rest of charge’ for households, “several thousand euros”. Environmentalists want “for the most vulnerable households, the state must move forward and there must be zero ‘out of pocket'”. He assures that in making this choice, there is “an absolutely phenomenal job windfall, jobs that make sense, quality jobs that cannot be relocated. This is what will “restore energy independence” to France.
Julien Bayou also judges that there is “a problem of presidential campaign debate height. “In this campaign, it’s the metaphor of the movie Look Up, where there’s a meteorite coming and everyone is excited about something else entirely. We say, we environmentalists, “Let’s listen to science, let’s commit to solutions for the climate”adds the boss of EELV. “These are the ones that create jobs and improve the power to live.”