January 4, 2002

If you want peace, work for justice

Dear GENI Friend,

We begin the new year with a war on terrorism and apprehension over recession. Both of these realities filter our aspirations for a better world.

The global shift of September 11 has changed everything — yet most of us still have jobs, our family and good health. We remain blessed when compared to:

• 1.3 billion who live on less than $1 per day
• The same number have no access to clean water
• 2 billion have no access to electricity
• 3 billion have no sewage systems
• 25,000 children per day die from hunger related diseases
• 40 civil wars continue - most all in developing nations

The UN Secretary General (and Nobel Peace Prize winner) expressed the situation so well on November 10th:

Let us remember that none of the issues that faced us on Sept. 10 has become less urgent. . . We face two possible futures: a mutually destructive clash between so- called 'civilizations' based on the exaggeration of religious and cultural differences; or a global community, respecting diversity and rooted in universal values.The later must be our choice — but we can achieve it only if we bring real hope to the billions now trapped in poverty, conflict and disease.

We believe the GENI Initiative to be a critical link to achieve both peace and justice. For clean water and sanitation you need energy, for basic health care you need refrigeration of food and medicine, for educating women and children you extend the day with lights. Delivering basic electrical service to everyone in a sustainable manner is our mission — with peace and justice being the result. Thank you for your support through the good and bad times.

In partnership for the planet

Peter Meisen
President

Keywords: If you want peace, work for justice, September 11, terrorism, realities, GENI, Global Energy Network Institute, the energy grid, sustainable energy, buckminster fuller