Poland’s Pragmatic Environmentalists feat. Adam Blazowski

Adam Blazowski is a co-founder of the Polish pragmatic
environmentalist group FOTA4Climate. FOTA came together in 2018
out of frustration with the limits of the mainstream
environmental movement. The organization includes a broad
spectrum of experts and activists ranging from energy analysts to
herpetologists and characterizes itself as a “tech agnostic
group.” FOTA are supportive of nuclear energy not because of a
bias towards the technology but rather because they believe it is
the most effective means to the end of preserving bio-diversity,
mitigating climate change and maintaining human development.
Poland is a highly fossil-fuel dependent country, with 80% of its
electricity generated by coal. As these plants reach the end of
their life, and climate and air pollution become more pressing
concerns, there is growing support for nuclear energy as a
replacement on climate and energy independence grounds. Adam and
I explore wheter there is a role for wind as a transition
technology and fuel sparing tool in the context of such a fossil
fuel heavy grid or will increased investment in wind lock in
natural gas infrastructure that will become difficult to retire
for economic reasons? We examine why Poland has no nuclear energy
while its neighbour Ukraine gets 50% of its electricity from
nuclear despite the Chernobyl accident? We explore some of the
underlying geopolitics facing Poland with a need for energy
independence from both Russia and Germany. We also discuss the EU
politics, the green taxonomy with its loopholes that favour the
use of biomass and what it means for the funding of nuclear
projects in Poland. Adam explains that with the nuclear shutdowns
in Sweden and Germany these countries are increasingly importing
Polish coal-fired electricity to meet their shortfalls. 
Fota4Climate is a small but growing volunteer grassroots
organization which on a shoestring budget has managed to do
impressive on-the-ground activism. They participate regularly in
climate events and even staged a protest against the closure of
the Phillipsburg Nuclear power plant in Germany with 20 Poles
traveling over 800 kilometers to condemn the climate vandalism of
the AtomExit. Adam Blazowski is a founder of the Polish pragmatic
environmentalist group FOTA. He is a software engineer, manager,
author and activist with over 15 years working in energy
efficiency, smart cities, renewable energy, and advocacy for tech
agnostic decarbonisation.