Climate Chaos Undermines Utility Reliability Says Greenpeace

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CLIMATE CHAOS UNDERMINES UTILITY RELIABILITY, GREENPEACE WARNS

Solar, other clean energy sources can contribute to needed
decentralization

MONTREAL, Thursday, January 29, 1998 -- Extreme events such as
the Great Ice Storm are likely to occur much more often in the
future, Greenpeace warned today. The environmental organization
recommended immediate measures to reduce building heat loss and
to create a more decentralized energy system, less dependent on
long electricity transmission lines and distant power stations.

Greenpeace's new report, The Great Ice Storm of 1998 : Climate
Damage and Solar Solutions, recommends small solar-powered
electricity back-up systems, improved insulation and
weatherproofing, and replacing inefficient open hearth
fireplaces with modern enclosed wood heaters.

"Utilities can no longer use past weather patterns as a model
for the future", Montreal-based climate campaigner and report
co-author Steven Guilbeault said. "Utilities such as Hydro
Quebec and Ontario Hydro are doing what they can to cope with
the disaster, but climate change forces us to rethink how we
produce, transport and distribute electricity."

The report examines recent scientific research suggesting that
weather patterns, especially in northeastern North America, will
be increasingly chaotic in the future. The research includes
possible greenhouse gas effects on the frequency and intensity
of El Nino events, as well as cooling in the North Atlantic.
"The latest research suggests that greenhouse gases are not just
creating an increase in the Earth`s average temperature, but may
be creating distinct warming and cooling zones, as well as in
increase in extreme weather events such as floods and winter
storms" warned Toronto-based climate campaigner Kevin Jardine.

The report also examines the response of the global insurance
industry to the recent dramatic increase in extreme weather
events worldwide. For example, 9 of the 10 most expensive
natural disasters in U.S. history have occured during the last
10 years.

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Greenpeace on the Internet at http://www.greenpeace.org