earthfirst – Page 155

Mainshill Eviction Date Given: Monday 25th January & research about expansion of open-cast mining in Britain

Mainshill Solidarity Camp has received a reliable tip-off that the site will be evicted on Monday the 25th of January.

We’re taking this tip-off seriously and are preparing to resist any attempts to remove us from the area. Mainshill has stood in solidarity with the local community of Douglas for seven months and we’re not about to surrender to the wishes of fat cat landlords, scottish coal, or corrupt councillors any time soon!

Please come help us defend the woods! Come to the pre-eviction Gathering and find out how to get involved

For more info: http://coalactionscotland.noflag.org.uk/

For more info about coming to site please ring 07806926040.

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150 NEW OPENCAST MINES ON THE CARDS FOR THE UK BETWEEN NOW AND 2025 CLAIMS NEW REPORT FROM THE MINORCA OPENCAST PROTEST GROUP

To meet Britain’s energy needs between now and 2025 a new study undertaken for the Minorca Opencast Protest Group argues that they are unlikely to be the only locality in the UK to experience the prospect of an opencast mine on their doorstep. This new report “Opencast / Surface Mining: It’s Role in Providing UK Energy Security” suggests that ten new opencast sites a year will need to gain planning permission between now and 2025, making 150 sites in all, if targets to ensure Britain’s Energy Security are to be met. Using Government and Coal Industry data the report highlights the following:

• Most British coal is already produced by opencast methods.

• In future, of an expected 20m tonne British coal production, 10 -12m tonnes initially is expected to be from current and future opencast mines, possibly rising to a 100% opencast production in the 2020’s.

• However there are no current projections for the need for coal if CCS technology does not prove itself to be viable practically or commercially.

• Nor do current estimates for the demand for coal take account of the possibility of developing new technologies that use coal such as Underground Coal Gasification.

• Only seven deep mine are left working in England.

• No new deep mine is likely without a public subsidy.

• Unless new investment is undertaken the existing deep mines have a limited life and all could be closed by the end of the next decade.

• To ensure energy security, a mix of energy sources including predominately opencast British coal is needed according to the Government.

• That the Coal Authority, responsible for promoting and safeguarding coal, argued in 2006 that to ensure energy security, 10 new ‘low impact’ opencast mines would be needed a year for the foreseeable future.

• In the opinion of those opposed to opencast mining, by increasingly relying on opencast coal to provide energy security for the UK the Government are condoning the creation of new coal supplies by methods which are not only extremely environmentally destructive but will blight the lives of thousands of people over the next 15 years. Coal produced by such methods. ‘Clean’ coal? It is hardly that.

• Numerous areas of the UK are at risk of being the victims of opencast mining in the future, 9 counties in England, 10 in Scotland, 3 in Wales and 1 in Northern Ireland. In addition 21 unitary authorities across England Scotland and Wales could also be affected.

This, the second of MOPG’s Research Reports reaches these conclusions after undertaking extensive research and analysing the results. It claims to be the first report of its kind on Britain’s Energy Policy written from the perspective of those who oppose opencast mining.

Steve Leary, the Report’s author and MOPG Spokesperson said

“This report demonstrates that those opposing the Minorca application in Leicestershire are not just engaged in a ‘Nimby’ issue. Opposing the Minorca application raises significant questions about the future energy policy the Government is being locked into – a growing reliance on opencast coal production. MOPG is to ask the House of Commons Select Committee on Energy and Climate Change to enquire further on the findings of this report and to ask questions about whether current policy is worth the desecration of 10 new opencast sites a year for the foreseeable future.”
Minorca Opencast Protest Group logo
This 32 page report can be downloaded from the following web page:
http://www.leicestershirevillages.com/measham/mopg-reports.html
It will be available on the MOPG web site shortly at this site address
http://mopg.co.uk/MOPG-Research-Reports.php

Philippine community blocks entry of large mining firm

January 19, 2010
The community of Anislagan on the island of Mindanao has successfully blocked the Philex mining company from entering their lands.

According to a press release from the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan (LRC-CdO), nearly the entire community gathered to greet Philex, the largest mining firm in the Philippines, with a makeshift checkpoint they put together, on January 11, 2010.

The company was planning to commence work on a “livelihood training center.” However, “The Philex 6-vehicle convoy backed out after they failed to pass through the thousand residents of Anislagan,” states the LRC-CdO.

To reinforce the checkpoint, the community formed into a human a human barricade, leaving the company with nowhere else to go

“Women and children here are ready anytime to defend our land. This land is where we survived. We should fight for it!” said Rizalina Lisbos, a mother of four, who was on the front line of the barricade.

Providing some background, the LRC-CdO explains: “Philex started its actual mining operation in the adjacent Barangay (village) of Timamana, Tubod, Surigao del Norte in the 1st quarter of 2009. Philex’s operation in Tubod, also known as the ‘Bayugo Project’, started as early as 1999 for their exploration activities. There was strong opposition from the Tubod people until the mining company started their community relations projects, like livelihood, drainage improvement, sports activities etc. After that people started to begrudgingly agree to the mining project.”

“However, the adjacent village of Anislagan sustained their opposition to mining for almost ten years, led by Anislagan Bantay Kalikasan Task Force (ABAKATAF), which is composed of multi-sectoral and interfaith groups in the village.”

“Anislagan provides irrigation to rice field in their village and to adjacent villages.We don’t need a livelihood training center inside our village from a mining company. What for?” states Mr. Ormega, the new president of ABAKATAF. “We have an existing self-sustaining and community livelihood here. The mining company already affected our irrigation, our rivers, and even to our water supply from their Bayugo project and now they are proposing a livelihood center.”

If the proposed “livelihood center” is the insult, than the mining project is the injury—and its bitterly ironic: If mining in the region goes ahead as planned, it would destroy the communities’ livelihood and their natural resources.

For more information, please visit: http://saveanislaganwatershed.blogspot.com and http://lrcksk.org

Drilling-Rig Sabotaged at Mainshill Woods

In the early hours of January the 13th an Apex drilling rig at Mainshill Woods was sabotaged.

The Machine was one of two drilling rigs working on the site of another opencast coal mine planned for South Lanarkshire.
Resistance is strong with a series of actions already this year.

See and take action against a list of contractors working in Mainshill Woods here: mainshill.noflag.org.uk

In the early hours of January the 13th an Apex drilling rig at Mainshill Woods was sabotaged.

The Machine was one of two drilling rigs working on the site of another opencast coal mine planned for South Lanarkshire.
Resistance is strong with a series of actions already this year.

See and take action against a list of contractors working in Mainshill Woods here: mainshill.noflag.org.uk

This action was taken by an autonomous group of people and is in solidarity with the Mainshill Solidarity Camp.

Pre-Eviction Gathering! Sat 23rd to Tues 26th January

*A long weekend of action, workshops and defence-building in preparation for the eviction of the Mainshill Solidarity Camp*

With the long-awaited and highly-anticipated eviction of the camp surely drawing closer, join us for the weekend (and as much time after that as you can spare!) to add the finishing touches to defences, build new ones and fortify barricades. Ever wanted to build yourself a treehouse? Dig yourself a tunnel? Make yourself a lock-on? Now is your chance!

We’re asking anyone who wants to be a part of stopping this open cast coal mine, anyone who wants to fight corporate greed, corrupt government and the feudal land ownership, and anyone who wants to defend a community from the self-interest of the few, to come to the camp and help us build a viable alternative to the destruction that will otherwise ensue.

Asking nicely has failed. Its time to fight back!

What to bring:

* Warm clothes and waterproofs
* Sleeping bag

Tasty vegan food will be provided, but bring any supplies you can. Any building materials, tools, climbing equipment, bedding or anything on our wish list you can spare please bring it along.

Directions – http://coalactionscotland.noflag.org.uk/?page_id=415#How%20to%20Get%20There

http://mainshill.noflag.org.uk/

Eric McDavid Update – 1/13/10

Dear friends,

Today marks the fourth year of Eric’s incarceration. These are not the kind of milestones we would like to be writing about to you. While other people have been celebrating the New Year, we have been incredibly conscious of the passage of time in an entirely different way. For four years, New Years has served as a reminder to us – as it probably does to millions of others – of how long we have been separated from our loved one. While others are celebrating new beginnings, we are faced with the reality that, so far, there has been no new beginning as far as Eric’s physical freedom is concerned. Some things remain painfully the same. Eric is still locked away by the state.

Dear friends,

Please remember that this time of year can be particularly difficult for folks who are locked up. Take a minute to write Eric – or another political prisoner – and let them know that folks on the outside are still thinking of them and supporting them.

Appeal Update
——————
Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of news about the appeal. The government’s response to Eric’s opening brief is currently due on Feb. 1 (they’ve now asked for two extensions). We will let you know as soon as we hear anything more. Once the government files their response, Eric’s lawyer will have two weeks to file his final response (more potential extensions notwithstanding ). Once everything is filed it could be more than a year before a decision is made.

How to Help
————
We recently added a PayPal button to Eric’s website (again). You can find it on the “Help” page: http://www.supporteric.org/howtohelp.htm Please consider making a donation to Eric’s support fund. Currently the majority of these funds are being used to help his partner cover the costs of going to visit him. These visits are incredibly important to Eric and his partner and are imperative for maintaining everyone’s sanity. They would not be possible without all of the support that Eric has received. Our sincerest thanks to everyone who has donated in the past. If you would like to donate but would prefer not to use PayPal, please let us know and we will send you the details about who to make the check out to and where to send it.

If you cannot donate money, there are other ways you can help. Eric is locked away from his loved ones and his communities and he doesn’t have access to a lot of information. Receiving news from the outside helps him feel a little more connected to the issues he cares about. If you run across a good article from an independent media source that you think Eric might like, please send it his way. Just keep in mind that Eric is still in the appeals process, and everything he receives is read by the authorities. Even unsolicited mail can result in sanctions against prisoners. Be prudent with your choice of material.

Our thanks to everyone for all of your support these last 4 years.

Yours,
Eric’s Support Crew

http://www.supporteric.org

Hasty Lane Adopt-a-Resident Launch- Manchester – Sun 7th Feb 2010

On Sunday 7th February 2010, Hasty Lane tenants threatened by the expansion of Manchester Airport will be teaming up with climate justice campaigners in the public launch of the Adopt-a-Resident scheme. Like at Heathrow, the scheme aims to build solidarity and campaigning links and to send out a message that if the bulldozers come, they will have to deal with people from across Manchester standing together to protect people’s homes and to protect the climate.

Public launch – Sunday 7th February 2010

Hasty Lane ‘Adopt a Resident’ Launch
Sunday 7th February 2010
1pm – 3pm

Hasty Lane, next to Manchester Airport, WA15 8UT

What will the day involve?
———————————————
We’ll have a grand tour of Hasty Lane, including the threatened houses and nearby wildlife spots. We’ll introduce each other and have a live video link up with Sipson village near London Heathrow. There will be tea, cake and music.

What what what?
———————————————
In November 2009, Manchester City Council approved plans to bulldoze people’s homes on Hasty Lane to expand the World Freight Centre at Manchester Airport.

Not only do these plans threaten people’s homes, but the rising emissions from air freight also threaten the stability of the climate.

But we can stop them. We’re inviting you to Adopt-a-Resident at Hasty Lane. Together, we can team up to rein in Manchester airport’s climate wrecking expansion plans. Together, we’ll also show that if the bulldozers come, they will have to deal with people from across Manchester standing together to protect people’s homes and to protect our future.

At the same time, we’ll be twinning Hasty Lane with Sipson village at Heathrow. Like Hasty Lane, Sipson is also threatened by airport expansion plans. A third runway at Heathrow would bulldoze around 400 homes.

With residents, supporters, campaigners and activists linking up across Manchester and across the country – we can stand together to protect people’s homes and to protect our climate.

For more information, see:
http://stopmanchesterairport.blogspot.com/

or contact: manchester@planestupid.com

TRANSPORT
———————————————
Stop Expansion at Manchester Airport will be organsing transport from central Manchester. To book your space email manchester@planestupid.com with the subject HASTY LANE.

Otherwise,TRAIN + BUS
Get the train to Manchester Airport transport interchange then either bus numbers 18 & 18A towards Hale Barns/ Altrincham. Get off at the top off Hasty lane.
take the TRAM to Altrincham interchange and take buses number 18 or 18a towards the Airport/Wythenshawe. Get off at the top off Hasty lane.

Stop Expansion at Manchester Airport
– Homepage: http://stopmanchesterairport.blogspot.com/

Rapid Technology Transfer Group to take over the Earth Centre

A campaign has been running to reclaim the earth centre in doncaster as a community skill share centre. It has come to light that the local council and a conglomorate of many multinationals has been planning a take over. They deal in chemicals, construction, nuclear, engineering, audiovisual, 3D tech, aerospace, defense and a whole lot more.

They planned an open day to our knowledge this has not been publicised and very few people in the community are aware so in order that the community not be excluded again! We feel it important to share this information and urge you to attend:

Earthw rks
Development Planning 2010
First Quarter – Open Days – Tuesday, February 9th and Wednesday, March 31st
This is an open invitation to all organisations and individuals willing to contribute expertise to restore the site of the former Earth Centre as a national resource for researching, understanding and practising sustainability.

Please e-mail mike@therttg.org to register and receive full details. Outdoor wear is recommended. Photography for personal use is permitted in all areas.

for more details of this situation please see http://welovetheearthcentre.blogspot.com

climate camp ‘where next?’ regional gatherings and reader

PROPOSALS FOR 2010 SO FAR

We’ve got a new discussion board up on the Climate Camp website with all the proposals for the regional gatherings received so far, plus some other useful texts from the Where Next? discussions. Join the discussion here:

http://discussion.climatecamp.org.uk

REGIONAL GATHERINGS IN JANUARY

PROPOSALS FOR 2010 SO FAR

http://discussion.climatecamp.org.uk

REGIONAL GATHERINGS IN JANUARY

Here are the latest confirmed details of our regional gatherings in January…

(More details as we have them will be posted at:
http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/get-involved/national-gatherings/next)

—

Climate Camp Reader

Dysophia and Shift Magazine have joined forces to put together a Climate Camp Reader, “Criticism without Critique”, published in January 2010. This reader hopes to encourage and faciliate debates at the next climate camp gatherings. To download it follow this link:
http://dysophia.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/cca_reader.pdf
The editorial is posted below:

Editorial

In January & February 2010, the Camp for Climate Action will go through a period of introspection as it works out where it shall go next. While in some ways the Camp has been a success, it has also come under a barrage of criticism from some quarters within the radical movements that spawned it.

To help this debate we have put together a set of resources and relevant articles to inform and spark discussion relating to this criticism. Our bias is obvious, though the opinions expressed are those of the authors alone. Whether you agree with them or not, we believe they are worth taking on board. We hope at least that you feel confident answering their challenges, rather than just dismissing them.

Now is the time for the Camp to examine its politics in more depth, to work out just what it stands for. This is a cross-roads in its development, to continue down a path of ever increasing liberal, reformist approach, or to be the noisy radical, pointing out all the white elephants in the climate change debate. The future of the movement around the camp is being shaped here. The decisions being made now will have profound impacts on who is and who is not involved in the future.

The Camp for Climate Action grew out of the radical anarchist and environmental movements, a synthesis of the organisational skills developed at the Anti-G8 protest camp at Stirling, and the ecological direct action movements such as Earth First! The perception that emerges from these criticisms is this has been lost along the way.

We accept that this booklet makes challenging reading and that we offer little in the way of solutions. These, we believe, must come from within the camp itself. However, it is apparent that there is a need for two things. Firstly, a greater visibility for the anarchist roots within the day to day life of the CCA process and proposals. Secondly, and just as important, a more open and explicit critique of capitalism and how it is the root cause of climate change.

If we do neither out of fear of a mainstream media backlash, then we are reduced to being another NGO. Yet, the power of the Camp has always been the promise of a genuine alternative action in the face of prevarication and obstruction from governments and corporations – now is the time to spell that critique out and use it to build real alternatives, not legitimising the system we complain of. It was the strength of the Camp’s founding critiques that gave it the boldness its subsequent successes have rested on.

Ultimately, the message of the Camp is a very radical one – that radical social change is needed, especially if we are to tackle of the root causes of climate change. The answer is not to water down our actions and our messages, but to be bolder than ever. That is the excitement and power that gives the Camp its life.

To download the reader follow this link:
http://dysophia.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/cca_reader.pdf

http://dysophia.wordpress.com/
http://www.shiftmag.co.uk/

Forest occupation against Very High Voltage power lines in Catalonia

Since October 17th we’re occupying a piece of forest that was meant to host one of the hundreds of electrical towers that conform the new Very High Voltage (MAT) power line, and that will eventually interconnect France, Spain and, time will tell, Africa. The place we now call our home is in an area called Guilleries (Girona), near Sant Hilari Sacalm village, at about 1000 metres high and surrounded by mountains in a pretty isolated environment.

The reasons for this occupation are many: we won’t accept without fighting yet another gigantic infrastructure that will solve absolutely nothing and in fact, will worsen things up. We have to choose which side we’re in: either we stand for western civilization or we fight against it. It’s time for action. This is an attempt to show that some people still have what it takes, that challenging the establishment is a condition for us to be able to live in this world.

Some of the “problems” this MAT line hopes to solve are: to be able to secure electrical power for the tourist villages (especially in summer) of Girona (Costa Brava, for example); electrical supply for the TAV/AVE (which would happen to be the first one to need it!); avoid electrical blackouts like the one of 2007? in Barcelona… We’re not going to enter the debate arena in which one side shows an “independent study” that states how much this power line is needed and the other side comes yet with another study that shows the opposite. It’s obvious which side we’re with, but we state that it is imperative to actually FIGHT this power line and not just keep debating and making press conferences.

In the meantime, we’re trying to build the foundations of a new world starting right here and now, reconnecting with the Earth. Living what our instincts tell us, hurting the empire and making pressure on its fissures. From here, from the forests that have always hid the rebels, maquis, conspirators and plotters. We can still be kinda invisible and feel protected by these forests.

They’ve sold us the idea of progress and science as a nostrum/panacea that will free humanity of its fears and that will give us commodities never dreamed before. A commodity that, on the other hand, we never get to catch because progress has to create new gadgets every single minute. What we’re able to see is that progress reduces us to total useless persons, full of insecurities and passivity. Every moment we spend in this world we lose knowledge about how a life would be without all these commodities they sell to us.

So long the occupation is very successful. In this (almost) two months, a lot of structures have been built: many beds on the trees, a communal “chill” house in between three trees to read and plot, a communal kitchen, a info point, a “warehouse” to store materials and keep things dry…and many resistance structures that will keep police busy for (we hope) some days when they try to evict us. Also very important has been the help and involvement of many people we didn’t know until some weeks ago: local people from the nearby villages, people from Barcelona and other cities that show up and help, people that decide to stay for some days (or even that came to live with us) and bypassers that are curious of what we’re doing.

Our communication strategy has been to try to communicate directly with people instead of letting mass-media portray us and manipulate us as they want. No work has been done with them. We have used our own means: texts, flyers, posters, face-to-face talking with people of the villages, social movements and our own blog (desdelsboscos.blogspot.com). Mass-media are never impartial, less when they’re means to enrich themselves and to keep this capitalist machine running full-speed. That’s why we invite everyone to show up with no cameras or microphones.

From the forest, a big hug to all people trying to get rid of this capitalist-industrialist system and that struggle to create a world without any kind of domination!

How to get there by car, bus or train
Wish list

Des dels boscos website – http://desdelsboscos.blogspot.com/

First day of struggle at Valsusa

Last night the struggle resumed in Valsusa. In this Alpian valley of Italy a High Speed Train railway is projected with all its related infrastructure. However yesterday it was a first victoryfor activists: 100 of them surrounded the geological survey works… and the pigs did not turn up!!

This is a new phase in the struggle against this destructive project. People from Valsusa have been up against it for many years now. People already stopped this project four years ago and then the authorities started to think other possibilities, including transferring the project to another valley. Now, they are back in Valsusa to try it again. However, resistance has not vanished in the valley, it keeps strong and once again they’ll try to stop the excavators and the… thousands of cops deploy for protecting them.

last night it was the first night, but this will be a long fight, with loads of snow and cold. But they are used to it and so the defeated the machinery before.

Valsusa’s activists send a call to anyone to join them, offering food and shelter.
Police are already taking on strategic places. So are activists. From tomorrow onwards the fight will be direct and will last days.

SERA DURA!! IT’LL BE HARD!
NO PASARÁN! THEY SHALL NO PASS!
NO TO THE HIGH SPEED TRAIN!

(in English: http://www.notav.eu/modules.php?name=Zina&op=modload&file=index&p=Documenti%2FInglese)

previous stories on this struggle:
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/685
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/1516

and other High Speed Train struggles:
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/23225
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/23229