ASL Bulletin
10 March 2005
The adoption by the Congress which met this Monday at Versailles (France) for the Charter of the Environment is, for ASL, one of the most significant advances in many decades for the protection of the environment and the quality of life for which we have been fighting for many months.
It is in the same line that we put forward during a recent workshop with our Member of Parliament and Mayor Hervé MARITON (see the report in the Dauphiné Libéré of 22/02/20005).
This Charter in article 5 at last gives a constitutional value to the principle of precaution:
This is one of the strong elements of the charter that will have a very important impact on the development of our society: Henceforth all work commissioned with new technologies in the day to day environment must respect and to take into account the environment and the health of citizens, even ". . . if the risk is uncertain in the current state of scientific knowledge. . .".
We also very satisfied with article 4 which defines the contribution to reparations, ASL has made one of its battle horses, this request that certainly appeared original or even crazy, but which had above all for its goal the passing of responsibility to industrialists, now there is no more ambiguity.
" Art. 4. -All persons must contribute to the repair of damage that they have caused to the environment, under the conditions defined by law."
If this Charter is a first world-wide on a major issue of our development, it also responds to an expectation from all the associations that are involved with the establishment a true national, environmental, policy not only for the present, but also for the future generations.
We consider this Charter as a historic step, for the legislator is given the political means which must now be translated by forceful action on the ground.
In concrete terms and as soon as possible, we would wish that Hervé MARITON our Member of Parliament andMayor might be the enginefor the opening of a Parliamentary debate with Members of Parliament and with Government concerning decree n° 2002-775 of May 3rd 2002 relating to irradiations by electromagnetic fields from mobile telecommunication relays, this in order to correct the essential omissions of this decree as a matter of urgency.
Photos: The macro-station 3G (EDGE/UMTS) of Crest, the example of what it will no longer be possible to do:
To Install in an urban zone very powerful relay antennas to increase profitability and diminish the flavour of
the infrastructure to the detriment of the health those who live nearby.