Author: earthfirst

Hinkley Barnstormers Eviction Imminent ! Help Needed !

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 JOIN THE HINKLEY BARNSTORMERS BEFORE THEIR EVICTION !

On 27th February at the Royal Courts of Justice, London, EDF won a possesion order against anti-nuclear activists who are occupying a barn on the proposed new site for a nuclear reactor at Hinkley Point.

The barn has been successfully occupied for over two weeks now but the eviction could come at any time in the next few days.

The occupiers are welcoming any one who wants to come and help dismantle the camp. There is lots of food available and a cosy and convivial atmosphere to be enjoyed ! Please come !

PHONE : 0793 392 0425  or 0753 094 7554

The activists will be celebrating  what the camp had achieved in terms of raising awareness of Hinkley to the national level , as many people do not know that the government is planning to build new nuclear reactors, they want to slip these plans in "under the radar" to avoid a proper public debate taking place, like there has been in Italy and Germany, in the wake of Fukushima.

Nuclear power is a catastrophic choice for Britain's energy future. A part from the fact that nuclear power is still very fossil fuel reliant and won't make much of a dent in the carbon emmissions: If Hinkley C is built, it won't be in operation until 2023 at the earliest ! Also, nuclear is a bottomless pit of expense to the tax payer, all that money will be diverted away from investment in safe and sustainable alternatives.

There is no such thing as safe nuclear power, problems occur in the reactors for inumerable reasons, including human error, and once every 12 years or so there is a major disaster. There is also the ever looming problem of nuclear waste, Britain already has enough to fill 5 Albert Halls and no where long term to put it. Only an insane government/industry would want to make more.

After Fukushima, many countries are saying enough is enough, Nuclear power is finished. It's a dinosaur of the 20th century and leads to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. It's time we said the same !

Please show your solidarity and go to the camp for some fun !

If you can't make it to the camp, there's another chance for you to show your opposition to new nuclear on 10- 11 March at Hinkley Point for the Surround and Blockade action. Details below :

Coach tickets are available to take you to the Surround action on 10 March  from Bristol CND:

secretarybristolcnd@gmail.com

For more information about the 10-11 March see:

www.stopnewnuclear.org.uk

Take the Flour Back – a mass action against Genetically Modified wheat

Take the flour back!
Sunday 27th May 2012

Public day of action against the Rothamsted genetically modified wheat trial.

 

Take the flour back!
Sunday 27th May 2012

Public day of action against the Rothamsted genetically modified wheat trial.

 

Bakers, farmers, growers, allotment holders, scientists, beekeepers, and people who eat food are turning out to voice their opposition to GM crops coming back to the UK.
Meet Sunday 27th May, at 12 noon, in Rothamsted, Harpenden, Herts. Or take your own action in your own way, at your own time. Together we can stop this trial.

Cow genes on toast anyone? No thanks!

What's up with the trial?

It could be dangerous

This trial is testing a brand-new synthetically-constructed 'fake' gene that is 'most similar to one found in a cow'. This is the first use of synthetic genes in the UK, and a concerning use of animal genes in plants.

It's not wanted

Even America has abandoned attempts to commercialise GM wheat because there is no market for it. Biotech company BASF recently backed out of Europe because no-one wanted to buy GM food.

Once it flowers, it's here to stay

The trial is happening in the open air, meaning that when it starts to flower it can cross contaminate other wheat crops and wild grasses. This is a real threat. In Canada there is no organic oilseed rape left because all the farms have been cross-contaminated with GM rape.

Reclaim the Fields Spring Gathering 2012 – details & updates

@ The Wilderness Centre, Mitcheldean, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, GL17 0HA

The first Reclaim the Fields Gathering of the year will be taking place this March at the Wilderness Centre in the Forest of Dean.

Pre-Gathering Help needed:

@ The Wilderness Centre, Mitcheldean, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, GL17 0HA

The first Reclaim the Fields Gathering of the year will be taking place this March at the Wilderness Centre in the Forest of Dean.

Pre-Gathering Help needed:

Anyone interested in helping out with the running/ setting up of the event, should come to the Wilderness asap. If you're interested in giving a talk, or demonstrating a skill – get in contact, or just show up and arrange to use one of the "spaces" available with one of the Protect The Wilderness Crew.

The provisional timetable includes:

Thursday 8th:

*Introduction to Reclaim the Fields – where we've come from and recent action, including feedback from the European Gathering.
* Wilderness Centre introduction & housekeeping
*Open Introductions; introduce your self & your projects & continue networking with our noticeboard

The remainder of the day is designed around open spaces, giving people a chance to work & communicate around these suggestions so far:

*WWOLF (woofing with teeth) and Reclaim the Field Trips
*Seed Sovereignty & grower-to-grower seed distribution networks
*Carrots session e.g. RTF internal structure/sharing workloads
*Using the food sovereignty principles as a strategic framework – (in a UK context)
*How to organise & maintain effective land occupations
*Composting gender
*Planning for International Peasants Day of Struggle on April 17th
*Legal options for accessing land
*Protecting bee populations

Friday 9th:

*Session on general Reclaim the Fields strategy and focuses for 2012
Workshops and talks:
*An introduction to land rights
*History of Land rights struggles in the Forest of Dean

Followed by a consensus based guerilla gardening action… remains open to suggestions!
(ideas so far…)
*Food forest, in an abandoned quarry
*Care home for the elderly
* Clear-felled Forestry land
* Victorian walled garden

Saturday 10th:

Protect The Wilderness open skill-share day!
Seed swap, Community bring and share.
Gardening the organic community garden, and walled garden.
Music and feasting!

Not forgetting gardening, charcoal burning, baking in the cob oven, seedbomb making, cobbing the round-house, and chopping wood through-out!

£5 suggested donation per day, no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Items to bring:
Warm clothes, two sets (if you mind being muddy)
bedding, camping mats
tools for g-gardening [spades, forks, mattocks, billhooks]
Instruments, dancing shoes,
seeds for seedbombs,
home-grown veg, pickles, jams, whole foods

More info about the Wilderness Centre: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Protect-the-Wilderness-Centre-Forest-of-Dean/321890141176064
Who to contact for more information: use the RTF UK email list or email frankynecklace@yahoo.co.uk

Gourds work be done,

Protect The Wilderness,
Reclaim the Fields!

Russian Green Resistance strikes against deforestation

24.02.2012 – The group of radical environmentalists “Green Resistance” has burned down a bulldozer involved in deforestation in Podolsk district of Moscow region. In their communiqué comrades call everybody who cares about nature to join their activity of pro-nature direct action and sabotage.

24.02.2012 – The group of radical environmentalists “Green Resistance” has burned down a bulldozer involved in deforestation in Podolsk district of Moscow region. In their communiqué comrades call everybody who cares about nature to join their activity of pro-nature direct action and sabotage.

Sizewell Camp 2012

Skill Share, Networking and Protest
Power for the People – Not Profits for the Few

Friday 20th (from 6pm) – Sunday 22nd April

Skill Share, Networking and Protest
Power for the People – Not Profits for the Few

Friday 20th (from 6pm) – Sunday 22nd April

Spend a sunny weekend camping on the beach at Sizewell and learning about the worrying plans for a new nuclear power station at the site. Come and show your opposition to nuclear power and your support for alternative, sustainable energy solutions. The weekend includes a protest at the nuclear power station entrance, workshops and skill shares, woodland and beach walks, delicious vegan grub, and networking. Now is the time to take action against nuclear new build – come join us to say ‘Nuclear Power? –
No Thanks!’

The Camp – Friday 20th – Sunday 22nd April 2012

Demonstration, Saturday 21st April, 12noon, at the entrance to Sizewell A and B
A demonstration outside the gates of Sizewell, opposing nuclear power and nuclear new build, and supporting sustainable alternatives.

Workshops and Walks
Saturday and Sunday, at the Camp

A number of workshops have been proposed, including: 'Nuclear Power – A Rational Response to Climate Change and Energy Security?', 'Nuclear Physics for Beginners', 'Extreme Energy – Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel', 'Alternative Energy', as well as guided walks along the beach and into the woods EdF intends to destroy.

Chernobyl Remembrance
Sunday 22nd, 1pm at the Camp

Please let us know (contact details below) if you are thinking of coming, so we have an idea of numbers for catering, etc.

People are also needed to help with camp set up on Friday, and 'tat down' – taking down the camp – on Monday morning, so please let us know if you are able to help out with either of those.

Email: camp [at] sizewellcamp.org.uk
Web: http://sizewellcamp.org.uk
Phone: 07894467356

Earth First! makes a mess of SITLA tar sands plans in Utah

Yesterday, February 20, the Earth First! 2012 Organizers Conference & Winter Rendezvous culminated in a rowdy demonstration outside the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) offices in downtown Salt Lake City. Earth First! activists staged their protest with local organizers from Utah Tar Sands Resistance and Canyon Country Rising Tide.

Yesterday, February 20, the Earth First! 2012 Organizers Conference & Winter Rendezvous culminated in a rowdy demonstration outside the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) offices in downtown Salt Lake City. Earth First! activists staged their protest with local organizers from Utah Tar Sands Resistance and Canyon Country Rising Tide. The offices were closed for Presidents’ Day, but a clear (and messy) message was left at the doorstep—a mock oil spill accompanied by a mural reading “Hey SITLA: Tar Sands Outta Utah!” 

The project would lease school trust lands for tar sands extraction in the Book Cliffs area, directly impacting PR Springs, a site which is also utilized for camping and recreation.

“Destruction of education trust lands through tar sands mining is contrary to the mandate of this agency, which requires them to maintain the land for the long term,” said Mark Purdy of Utah Tar Sands Resistance.

An article in the Desert News stated: “The proposed mining operation would occupy a 213-acre site in the East Tavaputts Plateau straddling the borders of Uintah and Grand counties.  An ore processing facility would accommodate up to 3,500 tons of ore per day in the production of bitumen. The extraction process would require 1.5 barrels to 2 barrels of water per barrel of bitumen produced… The company will have to post a reclamation bond of nearly $1.7 million before any work is allowed to begin at the site.

Another company, MCW Energy, is proposing a pilot project to test its proprietary solvent in the extraction of bitumen on 1,000 stockpiled tons of tar sands 3 miles west of Vernal in Uintah County.

Opponents have appealed permits issued related to the PR Springs project, with hearings set for next month.”

"oil spill" at SITLA's doorstep (non-toxic, maybe even edible…)

Utah was chosen specifically as the site of the annual Earth First! winter gathering to highlight resistance to these tar sands proposal, as well as lend support to the courageous actions of people like Tim DeChristopher who was sentenced to a two-years in prison for his effective sabotage of an oil and gas auction on Utah’s public lands. 

Along with DeChristopher, two other ecological and animal liberation activists from Utah, Jordan Halliday and Walter Bond, are also currently facing time behind bars for their involvement with direct action efforts in the state. Contacts for these and other eco-prisoners can be found at the Earth First! Journal’s prisoner support page.

In related news, an anonymous communique entitled Eco-Sabotage Ends Tar Sand Extraction was also received the previous night, apparently sent back from the future, stating: “…The Book Cliffs, where Spotted Owls screech and Elk reign, were under attack… Eco-Warriors worked under the rising sun. We have Molotoved their mining equipment. We have Monkey-Wrenched their machines. We have sawed their bulldozers to pieces. There are no longer any functional drilling tools in the Book Cliffs.

A major blow has been dealt to the oil extraction infrastructure. The PR Springs Mine Project is at its knees. Take Warning. Oil will never be piped through the West. Utah will never be mined. The mines of Alberta will cease.

Image from the futuristic communique distributed at the protest

No longer will our wild places fuel this militarized culture. Your machines are bound to rust. Tar Sand Extraction Profiteers, SITLA, CEO’s Glen D. Snar and Mr. Cuthbert; We are coming for you. This is just the beginning…”

The mining equipment is not actually present on-site yet, just in case that was unclear.

National anti-Fracking Gathering

Saturday 17th March,

Saturday 17th March,
Methodist Central Hall, Oldham Street, Manchester.  Map and Directions here.
Organised by Campaign against Climate Change with REAF, The Vale Says No, Frack Off and No Fracking in Sussex.

11.00 am to 6.00 pm
Come and meet people from groups all around the country (and beyond) campaigning against 'hydraulic fracturing' or "fracking".(find out more about fracking here)
The event will include:
Opening plenary including presentaion from the Tyndal Centre, speaker from 'Frack Off' and other speakers tba (watch this space)

Regional report session from local anti-fracking campaign groups all around the country.
2 Sessions of workshops on all you need to know about fracking, targeted advice on how to run a local campaign, anti-fracking Direct action ….and more (watch this space for more details about specific workshops…)
Discussion on what we can do to form a broad-based National anti-fracking Coalition or umbrella group (with the local grass-roots residents groups at its core)

Extra time for the meeting to take things forward as it sees fit…..
Lets get together to stop fracking in the UK NOW, before it gets a hold and becomes unstoppable!
 Put  the 17th March in your diary now !
www.campaigncc.org/nationalantifrackingmeeting

Longest Tree Sit in Tasmanian History Stays Strong

19.2.12

TODAY marks the beginning of a global 24 hours of action in support of Miranda Gibson, who has now broken the Tasmanian record for the longest time spent at the top of a tree.

19.2.12

TODAY marks the beginning of a global 24 hours of action in support of Miranda Gibson, who has now broken the Tasmanian record for the longest time spent at the top of a tree.

Miranda has been on a platform 60m above the ground for 52 days and will remain there to highlight the ongoing destruction of Tasmania’s forests.

Her tree sit, known as The Observer Tree, has received international attention over the past 52 days as she uses solar power and internet access to bring Tasmania’s spectacular forests into people’s homes all around the world.

The Observer Tree is calling on the Japanese customers of logging corporation Ta Ann to cease purchasing wood coming from Tasmania’s high conservation value forests.

Yesterday the Bellingen Environment Centre initiated a rally in support of Miranda and also to raise awareness about the loss of habitat locally.

BEC spokeswoman Caroline Joseph said Bellingen Shire residents were increasingly worried about their own forests.

“The intensity of logging has increased locally as Forests NSW tries to keep up with its quotas,” Mrs Joseph said.

“People can see that increase and are feeling concerned about this dramatic loss of habitat, especially for koalas.”

She said another habitat threat was to tracts of land zoned for development under old legislation.

“This land is not covered by newer environmental protection laws and is highly desirable to developers.”

Lebanese Activists Sit-in to Protest Environmental Destruction

19.2.12

Tripoli residents organized a sit-in Wednesday to protest against the recent felling of several trees in the city and to demand answers on who was ultimately responsible for the decision.

19.2.12

Tripoli residents organized a sit-in Wednesday to protest against the recent felling of several trees in the city and to demand answers on who was ultimately responsible for the decision.

Inhabitants of the northern city’s Al-Mina suburb held Wednesday’s sit-in on the city’s main boulevard. Protesters slammed the recent move, and also urged relevant authorities to undertake the necessary actions to prevent similar incidents from happening again in the future.

However, the mayor of Al-Mina, Mohammad Issa, said the trees had been felled following a petition from other residents, who had demanded the trees be cut down after an incident two years ago in which a palm tree fell on a car and resulted in the death of a young woman.

In compliance with the resident’s petition, Issa said that 14 trees, none of which were older than 15 years, were cut down. The mayor also expressed his willingness to plant new trees to replace those which were cut down.

Residents described the felling of old trees as an environmental massacre. “Trees do not harm anyone; we need to preserve the green spaces in light of the growing usage of concrete,” said Zaki al-Zaylaa, an environmental activist.

Zaylaa added that cutting down such trees was irresponsible and questioned who had the authority to decide when trees can be cut down as such. Zaylaa, a member of an environmental committee affiliated to the municipal council, denied the committee had any role in cutting down the trees.

Anti-Development Protest Gets Heated in Armenia

17 February 2012

Police used force on Friday against more than a dozen environmental activists who were camped in a public park in downtown Yerevan to protest against the construction of several shops there.

17 February 2012

Police used force on Friday against more than a dozen environmental activists who were camped in a public park in downtown Yerevan to protest against the construction of several shops there.

The Yerevan municipality authorized the construction after ordering the shop owners to relocate their businesses from large kiosks that stood on a major street in the city center until last month. They were dismantled along with hundreds of sidewalk kiosks across the Armenian capital.

Environment protection and other civic groups condemned the choice of a new location for the shops, saying that it would inflict further damage on Yerevan’s green areas that have shrunk significantly over the past decade. They also say that the municipal administration failed to follow all legal procedures before issuing the construction permit.

Dozens of mostly young activists have staged daily sit-ins in the park since Monday, preventing the construction from going ahead. Their representatives met with Yerevan Mayor Taron Markarian earlier this week to demand that he scrap the controversial decision. Markarian rejected the demand.

Eyewitnesses said riot police pushed a group of protesters away from the construction site to allow workers to resume their work on Friday morning. The site was cordoned off by police officers as the activists continued to demonstrate nearby.

The protesters stood in the way of a heavy truck carrying concrete for the builders. The truck driver had to turn away and leave the scene after two young men lay on the ground in front of the vehicle.

The chief of Yerevan’s police department, Nerses Nazarian, arrived at the scene in the afternoon to urge the protesters not to interfere with the shop construction. The head of the municipality’s legal department, Zaven Arakelian, also addressed them, showing copies of documents purportedly proving the legality of the construction.

“All those decisions were made in breach of the law,” said Sona Ayvazian, an anti-corruption campaigner also taking part in the protest. “Therefore, they cannot be deemed legal.”

To check out the article online click here