Respect existence or expect resistance!
26.9.10
Protestors in solidarity with Rossport layed siege to a Shell garage near Elephant and Castle in south London yesterday evening at 17:00.
26.9.10
Protestors in solidarity with Rossport layed siege to a Shell garage near Elephant and Castle in south London yesterday evening at 17:00.
The protestors, members of the ‘petrosiege crew’ climbed on to the roof of the garage to force its closure on a busy saturday evening as part of ongoing solidarity actions over the oil refinery and local people’s struggle in County Mayo in the north west of Ireland (Rossport)
Exact location:
Shell Walworth South
26.9.10
London, Friday 24 September: around 2pm. a number of anarchists and sympathizers from various parts of the metropolis converged on the shopping centre in the middle of the busy intersection Elephant and Castle, chosen because of the thousands of people from Latin American countries living in the area.
26.9.10
London, Friday 24 September: around 2pm. a number of anarchists and sympathizers from various parts of the metropolis converged on the shopping centre in the middle of the busy intersection Elephant and Castle, chosen because of the thousands of people from Latin American countries living in the area.
After dropping banners over the main entrance in solidarity with the Mapuche hunger strikers and the 14 anarchists arrested in Chile, they dispersed into and around the shopping centre and local market giving out hundreds of leaflets in English and Spanish.
Unnoticed by the State and private security who were too intent on defending the bosses’ wares, the banners stayed in place for hours in full view of hundreds of bus passengers from almost every country on the planet on their way to and from their places of exploitation.
Today’s outing, chosen to coincide with the international solidarity date for our Chilean comrades, rather than being a fait accompli is a call to action everywhere, without delay.
22.9.10
A last minute mobilisation of anti-fascists on Sunday saw off both the BNP and the Scottish Defence League, who both attempted to hold separate public activity in Glasgow city centre.
22.9.10
A last minute mobilisation of anti-fascists on Sunday saw off both the BNP and the Scottish Defence League, who both attempted to hold separate public activity in Glasgow city centre.
With fears that the SDL were attempting a ‘flash-mob’ style protest, in the vein of what the EDL organised in Oldham last weekend, SAFA activists were already keeping an eye on the city centre, when they came across the BNP setting up a stall around 1pm.
SAFA activists – plus people from left-wing stalls elsewhere in the city centre – were able to quickly mobilise to confront the BNP. Around 1.45pm, a large number of anti-fascists descended on the stall, which was kicked over and the contents of it torn up or seized. With a large crowd now gathered around, the BNP were left standing beside the ruins of their stall as up to 100 onlookers and anti-fascists chanted at them. The police showed up around 15 minutes later and attempted to gain control of the situation, but in the end were forced to remove the BNP members for their own safety.
Meanwhile, the SDL were beginning to gather in The Goose pub on Union Street. They indicated that they would heading to George Square at 5.30pm, for an assembly at the Cenotaph – their full intentions were unclear. By the time the 15 SDL supporters showed up, around 100 anti-fascists and local youth were gathered in the square. A brief confrontation ensued, with one SDL supporter arrested, alongside a 14 year old, who allegedly threw a punch in the direction of the SDL.
The SDL were denied the use of the Cenotaph, and the police were again forced to step in to remove the fascists from our streets.
All in all, a hugely successful day of direct action against fascism – let’s hope they got the message and don’t return any time soon.
22.9.10
Appalachia Rising is a mass mobilization in Washington, DC, September 25-27, 2010, calling for an end to the devastating practice of mountaintop removal mining.
22.9.10
Appalachia Rising is a mass mobilization in Washington, DC, September 25-27, 2010, calling for an end to the devastating practice of mountaintop removal mining.
Mountaintop removal has already destroyed over 500 of the world’s oldest mountains and more than 2,000 miles of streams, and has contaminated our nation’s waters. Together, we will bring Appalachia’s cry to our nation’s capital: We must end mountaintop removal and transform the economies of Appalachia away from destructive mining practices and toward clean-energy jobs and a sustainable and healthy future.
The weekend includes two full days of strategizing workshops, learning, featured speaker panels and discussions, cultural events, and entertainment. On Monday, September 27, we will march, rally, and support individuals taking part in dignified non-violent civil disobedience against mountaintop removal mining.
Join thousands of Appalachian and national leaders, policymakers, coalfield residents and miners, concerned citizens, activists, mountain groups, environmental justice organizations, and Americans from coast to coast for this momentous movement-building summit, gathering, and call to action. Hear the voices of those most impacted by mountaintop removal coal mining, and let your voice be heard in this movement to offer America hope for a better future.
The folks in suits finally got a taste of the conflict they’ve been orchestrating in Co. Mayo, Ireland for the past decade.
The folks in suits finally got a taste of the conflict they’ve been orchestrating in Co. Mayo, Ireland for the past decade. Representatives from Shell and their team of expert witnesses who are presenting the planning application for the Corrib Gas onshore pipeline to the Irish planning board were prevented from leaving the oral hearing Thursday night by protesters from the Rossport Solidarity Camp.
Thursday was a long day for Shell’s expert witnesses, bosses, and executives. The planning board’s oral hearing into the Corrib Gas pipeline has been ongoing in Co. Mayo for the past four weeks, and local residents have been questioning Shell experts on details surrounding the proposed onshore pipeline.
At 10pm, exhausted and with long journeys ahead of them Shell delegates exited the front doors of the hotel to discover that protesters had boarded their bus, holding placards and banners with messages reading “Energy shouldn’t cost the earth”and “Shell: destroying the world, one community at a time.”
At one stage when four high up Shell people tried to leave in a car, two protesters met them at the road and blocked their car with a banner reading “Shell’s lies cost lives.” The annoyed driver attempted to drive through the banner and in the process ran over one person’s foot. No serious injury was sustained and the driver refused to make any apologies for his actions.
After delaying the Shell suits for over an hour, one member of the protest explained that “it was so satisfying to finally see these people at the top, who are never held accountable suddenly be confronted with their own responsibility for this project and the devastation it has caused to the community”
Mass Action in London to switch off oil
Mass Action in London to switch off oil
Floods in Pakistan – Drought in Russia – Huge glaciers breaking up in Greenland
Our climate system is rapidly sliding into crisis, as oil companies destroy people’s lives and the environment to keep sucking up their profits. Oil saturates every aspect of our lives. Oil profits lubricate the financial markets and its sponsorship clings like a bad smell to our cultural institutions. It flows through pipelines to the pumps, airports and factories of our cities.
The failure of the UN COP15 process showed us – if there was ever any doubt – that government and industry can’t tackle climate change. It’s up to us and it’s time to up the ante. As a movement, our actions against coal and aviation have made a real difference. Now oil’s time is up.
Together, on October 16, let’s give the oil industry a really Crude Awakening.
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On Monday several actions took place against the government’s nuclear weapons and their plans to develop new ones. The focus was AWE Aldermaston, the military base near Reading where these weapons are developed and maintained.
On Monday several actions took place against the government’s nuclear weapons and their plans to develop new ones. The focus was AWE Aldermaston, the military base near Reading where these weapons are developed and maintained.
Activists from Trident Ploughshares had been holding an “Aldermaston Summer Gathering” for several days sharing information and leafletting nearby villages. Co-inciding with this, folks from the Catholic Worker movement were holding a “Faith and Resistance” retreat in Oxford celebrating the 30th anniversary of the first Ploughshares action.
As the day began around twenty TP folks blockaded one of the main gates into the base, including four who “locked-on” with arm tubes. They left without any arrests after successfully blockading for two hours.
Soon afterwards, 3 of the Catholic Workers cut through the perimeter fence and broke into the base, “opening it for disarmament”, while others carried out a vigil at the gates of the base. They were arrested, held until evening, charged with criminal damage, and may also face SOCPA charges.
Friends Of The Earth CYMRU are having an information stall in Merthyr precinct this Friday.
Join the Facebook page “No Monster Incinerator in Merthyr Tydfil” for a powerpoint presentation on the Health Impact of incinerators by world renown expert Prof Paul Connett!
Friends Of The Earth CYMRU are having an information stall in Merthyr precinct this Friday.
Join the Facebook page “No Monster Incinerator in Merthyr Tydfil” for a powerpoint presentation on the Health Impact of incinerators by world renown expert Prof Paul Connett!
It looks as if Covanta are going forward with submitting planning application on November 1st – Direct Action and Awareness needs to be ramped up as much of the community of Merthyr Tydfil are blissfully ignorant of the scientific facts on the impact of dioxins, nano-particulates and other very nasty shit such as “Fly Ash”!
September 13, 2010
Protestors blocked the Hinkley Point main gates for almost an hour this liunch-time as they demonstrated against the premature destruction of upto 435 acres of open land and wildlife habitats before major consents are approved for the two giant reactors proposed by EdF.
September 13, 2010
Protestors blocked the Hinkley Point main gates for almost an hour this liunch-time as they demonstrated against the premature destruction of upto 435 acres of open land and wildlife habitats before major consents are approved for the two giant reactors proposed by EdF.
A large group of campaigners, together with local residents including children, held banners and placards in front of Hinkley Point, preventing any traffic movements. The Hinkley main gates were forced to shut from 11.45 to 12.45pm and no traffic entered or left during that time. Some of the protestors wore face paint images of sunflowers, the Stop Hinkley logo and anti-nuclear signs. Others dressed as nuclear ‘boffins’ and with a loudhailer led a march through the ear-marked greenfield site.
The ‘nuclear boffins’ highlighted badger setts which had been cemented over or had been covered with metal grills, beautiful old woodlands and individual trees destined to be bulldozed and they walked down some of the scores of sunken lanes criss-crossing the fields lined by ancient hedgerows brimming with wildlife.
At the coast the tour-guides showed where the so-called ‘temporary’ jetty will be built over the 200 million year old fossil-filled rocky beach.
At the beach destination of the march, one campaigner read aloud a poem on the need to respect nature and its part in global ecology.
Crispin Aubrey, spokesman for Stop Hinkley who marshalled the demonstration, said: “There is obvious strong feeling against destroying this beautiful area. Despite being close to the existing power stations there are large expanses of beauty and tranquility. It’s wrong for EdF to jump the gun by trashing the area such a long time before it receives major consents for the two reactors.”
The protest was part of a two day Action Weekend. Yesterday a series of talks and workshops took place in Bridgwater for campaigners around the region. Three national-level speakers gave talks:
Greenpeace
Ben Ayliffe, nuclear campaigner for Greenpeace said: “Greenpeace is opposed to new nuclear power stations because they would make a minimal contribution towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions, they have multiple dangers from long-lived radioactive waste through to nuclear proliferation, and they are a distraction from real solutions such as renewable energy.”
“In particular we see two major problems – waste disposal and economics – both could sink the proposal for Hinkley C,” he said.
“The coalition government has said that there will be no subsidies for new nuclear plant. Economics could be the thing that makes it impossible for Hinkley C to go ahead. No nuclear power station has ever been built without public subsidy.”
On waste he said that the amount EDF were being asked to pay for disposing of the radioactive legacy from Hinkley C was not enough to cover the true cost. “It amounts to a £1 billion subsidy to the company per year, according to our calculations,” he said.
He also referred to delays and cost over-runs on similar projects in both Finland and France, where the first reactors like the one proposed for Hinkley C are being built.
The Greenpeace strategy was to challenge the process of approving new nuclear power stations all the way. This included exposing the risky economics, promoting the alternatives and legal challenges.
Health
Professor Chris Busby talked about studies that he, and Somerset Health authority in the eighties, had shown that there was a higher incidence of cancers round Hinkley Point and other nuclear power stations. He said the international model used by regulators to estimate the effects of radiation on human health is being widely challenged, and a former head of the international radiation commission accepted that their model did not stand up in the case of a serious accident.
“Our studies have shown raised levels of cancer along the downwind coast from Hinkley to Burnham-on-Sea. Health officials have objected to our findings on spurious grounds including random clusters in other areas but year on year we keep finding an entrenched problem near Hinkley. The officials have got it wrong.”
Alternatives
Neil Crumpton, former Friends of the Earth energy campaigner, presented an alternative vision of the UK’s electricity supply in which nuclear power was marginalised and new sources of renewable energy, such as concentrated solar power imported from North Africa, were developed on a large scale. He also dismissed the suggestion that the lights would go out without nuclear, listing the many other options, including gas-fired plants, which were queueing up to fill any gap in supply.
“Friends of the Earth and other organisations are confident we can put forward a reasonable low carbon energy network based on current technology. More than that we can very soon tap resources like Clean Coal Technology and solar-power from the Sahara to boost our own abundant natural elements of wind, tide and wave driven electricity.”
Jim Duffy
Stop Hinkley Coordinator
www.stophinkley.org
07798 666756
Quotes from Crispin Aubrey who coordinated the Action weekend: 01278 732921 / 07920 523673
Professional photographs for the media available immediately from
Simon Chapman: 07889 747916
Early evening on Sunday 12th September a group of autonomous individuals successfully occupied a new site in Happendon Wood, South Lanarkshire!
Early evening on Sunday 12th September a group of autonomous individuals successfully occupied a new site in Happendon Wood, South Lanarkshire!
Coal Action Scotland are inviting people to join The Happendon Wood Action Camp (THWAC) to help defend the wood from destruction by Scottish Coal, and to take action in solidarity with communities in the area resisting the expansion of the coal industry in the Douglas Valley.
You can find out more about the camp at http://happendon.coalactionscotland.org.uk — and more information about why we’re at Happendon and what we’re doing there will be coming very soon.
In the meantime, check our press advisory, for immediate release, below:
Contact:
Sam Macdonald (Off-site Contact: Information and Photos) 07984706188
Jo Reed (On-site Contact: Visits and Interviews) 07806926040
media@coalactionscotland.org.uk
Scottish Coal’s
Happendon Wood Occupied
Last night (12/9/10) a group of people occupied areas within Happendon Wood, South Lanarkshire (1) to defend it from destruction by Scottish Coal, part of the Scottish Resources Group. They have begun to build shelters and defences on the site, with large banners hung from trees at the front of the site that say: “Defending the Douglas Valley” and “No Opencast Here”. The Happendon Wood Action Camp has come out of a long-term struggle by the local community and Coal Action Scotland (2) to halt coal expansion in the Douglas Valley which is already one of the most heavily mined areas in Europe.
The Scottish Resources Group have applied for planning permission for a mixed use development (3) on this land (which is in an area of Great Landscape Value) in the Douglas Valley, but they intend to opencast the area first. The South Lanarkshire minerals plan highlights areas within the new development as having recoverable coal deposits that can be excavated during the current local plan. Scottish Coal actually wouldn’t be allowed to build on the land without open casting it first, otherwise this would be “sterilising the nations asset” and therefore illegal. (4)
Scottish Coal have not yet publicly declared their interests in opencasting Happendon Wood but many members of the local community have expressed deep concerns that they will be blighted with yet another opencast coal mine. In a recent meeting about the development, MSP for Clydesdale Karen Gillon told local residents that she did not doubt that they would remove the coal, in spite of the fact that the area that SRG wish to develop takes in the opencast workings at Poniel, which are currently due to be restored. Local resident and Douglas and Glespin Community Council Chairperson Lindsay Addison is enraged by the behaviour of Scottish Coal in South Lanarkshire:
“We have serious concerns that this is an excuse for another opencast. We do not want this development, let alone another mine. We will fight it all the way and support the efforts of the wider community in its opposition to new coal in the Douglas Valley.”
SRG’s application for planning permission for this development is ongoing; the decision by the council will likely be made in the coming months. Questions have been raised about the close relationship between Scottish Coal and South Lanarkshire Council (SLC) resulting in SLC issuing each member of the Douglas and Glespin Community Council legal notices stating that proceedings against them are to begin at Lanark Sheriff Court over alleged libel claims. This move is seen by the community as an attack on their freedom of speech. (5)
Notes to Editors:
1. Location: In South Lanarkshire, about 30 miles south of Glasgow, Happendon Wood is an area just off the B7078, surrounding the Dewers warehouse site and Poniel Opencast workings. To reach the site, driving south along the B7078 from Lesmahagow (running alongside the M74), take the first left after Happendon Services onto the C-road; the site front is on your left after about half a mile. A map is available at http://coalactionscotland.org.uk/?page_id=1974#Where
2. Working with and supporting communities across Scotland, the Coal Action Scotland collective exists to challenge the advancement of coal as an energy source by informing people about the dangers posed by new coal, promoting alternatives, working with those involved, and directly challenging new coal exploitation from source to point of use. Mainshill Solidarity Camp was set up just along the road from Happendon Woods last year where people stayed for over seven months, ending in a five day eviction and a total of 45 arrests. See: http://coalactionscotland.noflag.org.uk/
3. This application is Poniel / Happendon Mixed Use Development application from the Scottish Resources Group (Scottish Coal). It is for “Mixed use development comprising industrial and storage and distribution warehousing, business units/office accommodation, hotel with conference and commercial leisure facilities, retail/restaurant floorspace, landscaping, open space and associated infrastructure (planning permission in principle)”, but it is expected that once they get permission for this they will actually be bound to opencast the area for coal. The planning reference for the application is: CL/10/0180.
4. The Coal Authority issue licences to coal companies. The following was discovered in correspondence between them and Scottish Coal:
‘Where development is proposed over areas of coal and past coal workings at shallow depth, The Coal Authority is of the opinion that applicants should consider wherever possible removing the remnant shallow coal. This will enable the land to be stabilised and treated by a more sustainable method; rather than by attempting to grout fill any voids and consequently unnecessarily sterilising the nation’s asset.’
5. For articles and quotations on the legal threats to the Community Council see:
http://www.lanarkgazette.co.uk/news/South-Lanarkshire-Council-copyright-threat.6526004.jp
http://coalactionscotland.org.uk/?p=1966
http://www.jonathanmitchell.info/2010/09/02/whats-wrong-with-south-lanarkshire/