Introduction

Oil and gas are the most frequently used sources of energy in the world. Petrochemical products - which presently number some 5 million - form the basis of globalisation and the present production and consumption model.

Hydrocarbon exports are also the most important sources of foreign income for several producing countries in the Third World.

At the same time, the extraction of oil and gas is directly responsible for the destruction of fragile ecosystems around the world, amongst which are tropical forests, mangrove swamps, coral reefs, the continental shelf, and arctic zones; the exploitation of oil has also destroyed innumerable indigenous cultures. Its consumption has put the entire planet in danger due to global-warming as well as producing health impacts in the local populations living in the oilfield zones.

The cost of energy generation based on fossil fuels has been reduced through destroying and exhausting invaluable natural resources. This has created a false picture of prosperity.

The extraction of these resources has lead to destruction, loss of sovereignty, territories destroyed, cultures decimated or vanished. The real cost of oil and gas, makes them too expensive to continue to burn.

DEVELOPMENT IS MEASURED IN BARRELS OF PETROLEUM

There is no doubt that thinking about energy, leads us to think about the sustainability of society and from there to a criticism of development.

Within the dominant paradigm, development and welfare could well be measured in barrels of oil . For example, in this context it could be said that the United States is the most developed country, consuming 20 million barrels of oil a day. On the other hand, the least developed peoples are the indigenous peoples who do not consume oil.

But this is not development, this is dependency, because one country sustains its economic model by extracting hydrocarbon resources from all corners of the world.

On the other hand, the peoples which have based their sustainability on resources they themselves control, have developed productive models that have endured throughout history without appropriating those of other populations or cultures. These are the sustainable alternatives we must support.

THE ROLE OF THE TRANSNATIONAL COMPANIES

In the process of extracting, transporting and refining oil and gas, the transnational corporations, with their monopoly tendencies have been consolidating their power and creating mechanisms to exclude other actors, and hindering the development of other, less centralised, less polluting and locally controlled energy generation alternatives.

The oil transnationals have gained access to subsidies and other government benefits. In the United States alone, oil industry subsidies surpass 5 billion dollars a year. If oil subsidies for defence are included, in 1995 subsidies came to between 15,7 - 35,2 billion U.S dollars.

The multilateral financial agencies have favoured the model based on intensive extraction of oil, and in particular the operations of transnational corporations, while structural adjustment programmes force Third World countries to privatise their oil industries. At the same time the recent Johannesburg Implementation Plan suggests the use of the cleaner solid and gaseous fossil fuels, thus strengthening the dominant energy use model.

Now that the reality of climate change is unquestionable, the world will have to initiate an energy transition towards sources of renewable energy such as solar, water, and wind power. Various transnational corporations have begun work on renewable energy, especially in the areas of research and the development of technologies. These technologies are then patented by the companies so that , as the demand grows for this type of energy, the same corporations will exercise the same control over renewable energies they now have over fossil fuels..

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY OR ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY

The debate on energy sovereignty should not be limited to the development of alternative and renewable energy. We must rather talk of energy sovereignty, understood as the control of our energy sources, and the decentralisation and democratic access to those sources

Alternative energy technologies should therefore be proposed in a framework that contributes to the construction of sustainable social alternatives. This should be carried out with the population within an integrated process

. Technologies should be within the reach of all sectors of society. The promotion of alternative technologies or energies should contribute to the construction of more democratic societies, and to a form of energy use that will keep both people and planet healthy.
. Contribute to improving people's quality of life
. Involve traditional authorities, local governments, social organisations, the universities or research centres.
. Ensure the sustainability of resources and the conservation of the environment

An essential condition for sustainability is that energy resources once again become decentralised, autonomous, diversified, and adapted to their place of origin and local needs. Therefore, this is not a matter of a technological change over to alternative energy that will leave our communities once more dependent and indebted.

ENERGY: AN ISSUE OF JUSTICE

No decision on energy can lead to social sustainability if the interest motivating these decisions is the profitability and gain of corporations; minority private interest groups or large and powerful political powers.

Energy is essential for life, it has an intimate relationship with life and with the means and strategies for the survival of the human race.

Access to energy is an issue of justice. Peoples and their communities have a right to access, in the same way that the farmers requires land and water for their livelihood. But access to energy for some must not mean the destruction of the resources of others, nor negative impacts on their lives.

It is a therefore an issue of justice that the ability to maintain their livelihood be returned to all communities who have seen their resources destroyed in the process of generating energy for others

Energy, water, and air must be guaranteed for all inhabitants of the earth. these are services, not goods subject to appropriation. Citizens are the user of these services, not the clients of companies; however, through privatisation the idea of the client has been institutionalised. and large segments of the population deprived of these services.

THE ROAD TO ENERGY SOVEREIGNTY

In order to achieve energy sovereignty its not enough to ensure access to energy, it is also imperative to be able to decide what type of energy we want and to be able to control all the processes. This involves deciding how, from where and for what purposes we have energy.

This means that sovereign states should control the sources, price and distribution of energy

To initiate the transition towards energy sovereignty we must:

1. Halt the expansion of the oil frontier. There is already a precedent of a country, Costa Rica, which has been declared oil extraction free. For their part various indigenous communities and local populations have declared their territories to be oil extraction free zones or have declared moratoriums on the extraction of these resources.

2.Stop the promotion of the oil industry by states and the multilateral agencies. Disobey the impositions of agencies such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, who attack energy sovereignty.

3.Erradicate the over consumption and excessive use of energy, and guarantee access to the resources necessary for the majority of the population, ensuring a dignity line, signifying the minimum necessary consumption, so all may lead a decent life.

4.Stop depending on oil as a source of foreign income which is normally used for the payment of an illegitimate foreign debt, a debt which has often been accumulated for the development of the oil industry itself.

5. Recognise those fight to stop the extraction of oil resources are offering a service to the planet.

6. Penalise the oil industry for the environmental and social impacts it has generated on the local and global level, and initiate legal proceedings so that degraded ecosystems can be restored and affected populations indemnified.

7. Democratically develop and use energy that is clean, decentralised, renewable, and low impact.