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Extinction Rebellion: Nuclear power 'only option' says former spokeswoman

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54103163

INTRO: A former Extinction Rebellion (XR) spokeswoman left the environmental group to campaign for nuclear power because she says it is the only way to deal with the climate crisis. Zion Lights, writing in the Daily Mail, also said that she had become unable to defend some of the group's claims. XR "peddle messages of doomsday gloom that alienate" and offer "little in the way of positive solutions", she added.

The group calls on governments to take immediate action on climate change. It describes itself as an international "non-violent civil disobedience activist movement" and has been involved in a number of high-profile protests since it was formed in 2018. Last week it targeted UK newspapers - which it has accused of failing to report on climate change - by blocking printing presses and delaying distribution.

Ms Lights wrote articles for both the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph on Thursday explaining her decision to leave behind XR and support nuclear power. She told the Mail she initially joined XR because its message was "listen to the scientists" and the role of spokesperson gave her a platform "to talk about what I truly felt mattered".

However, she says she began to rethink her support for the group after an appearance on the BBC's Andrew Neil Show last October. She was asked about co-founder Roger Hallam's claim that science predicts six billion people will die this century due to climate change - a claim that he made to BBC's HARDtalk.

Ms Lights said: "It's a headline-grabbing assertion - but unfortunately, it's also not true, or certainly not backed up by any evidence. As was obvious to anyone who knows me - and even to the casual viewer - I was plunged into a PR nightmare. "I could not defend the number, but as the official spokesperson nor could I be seen to condemn it. All I could do, instead, was flounder under the hot glare of the studio lights for what felt like an eternity." (MORE)
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