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G R E N P E A C E
P r e s s R e l e a s e
14.10.94
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Siting Cyrus, on the home stretch of a North American "Power for the People" tour, as an example, rally organizers also made the case that political, not technological, barriers prevent the mass implementation of renewable energy.
"Today we urged people to recognize that only their activism can change the toxic and polluting industrial practices in this country," said Greenpeace's Kelly Quirke. "Energy and waste policies will change as we join together in the fight for environmental justice."
Joining Greenpeace at the rally, which featured local bands and the Cahuilla Bird Singers, were members of the Torres Martinez and Cahuilla Indian tribes. The discovery of toxic- contaminated municipal sludge dumping on Native lands has recently led tribal members and Greenpeace to join in non-violent direct actions to stop the dumping.
"San Diego has refused to remove a half-million tons of hazardous sewage sludge that was illegally dumped on the Torres Martinez Reservation," maintained Bradley Angel of Greenpeace. "We will keep joining in the fight until all dumping on Indian lands has ceased."
After the rally, Cyrus disconnected from the sound stage and headed towards Los Angeles and nearby southern California destinations, where the emission-free generator will power a variety of events, focusing on nuclear energy, offshore oil drilling, utility de-regulation and environmental justice, during the final two weeks of the Tour.
Greenpeace is using Cyrus to point out that the barriers to clean energy are political, not technical, and that scientific warnings and the emerging impacts of climate change demand an immediate transition to renewable and efficient energy systems.
Cyrus is a 40 foot long, soy-diesel fuelled tractor trailer topped with a 40 panel array of photovoltaic solar collectors. With its internal battery bank and two inverters, it can store 100,000 watt hours of electricity and deliver 90 amps at 240 volts.