earthfirst – Page 20 – Earth First!

Australia: Batman Blocks Coal Mine with Tripod

October 30th, 2014

Kicking off a weekend of action against Whitehaven’s controversial Maules Creek coal mine, a concerned citizen has scaled a tripod, blocking access to Whitehaven’s Tarrawonga haul road, blocking access for trucks trying to leave Tarrawonga coal mine. This comes as people from around the country converge at the Leard Blockade to defend water, climate and our democracy from Whitehaven coal.

Phil Evans, 33, a climate campaigner with 350.org has today put himself on the line to draw attention to Whitehaven dodgy dealings and destruction of our water and climate.

Leard Forest Alliance Spokesperson, and tripod activist, Phil Evans says,” I’m here to call ‘trick or treat’ on Whitehaven coal. Whitehaven need to be held responsible for the destruction of the community, water and the climate.”

Due to Whitehaven’s Maules Creek mine, the aquifers are predicted to drop by up to 2m. Previously during drought the agricultural community has not had water for their livestock and their farms. The Maules Creek mine, as the largest new coal mine under-construction in Australia, will contribute significantly to climate change causing further droughts for the local community and instability of global proportions.

“We hope the NSW parliamentary inquiry into the planning process will send the Maules Creek project back to square one, if any of the allegedly corrupt relationships between Aston executives and senior politicians from both sides have found to influence the approvals process in anyway.” said Mr. Evans.

Whitehaven’s planning, approval and construction processes have been plagued by questionable dealings and clouds of corruption. The multiple problems of the planning process have been brought to the attention of the NSW parliamentary inquiry into planning by community groups.

“The state ICAC has raised very serious concerns about the undue influence of coal on our democracy, but it has not gone far enough. The Leard Forest Alliance is calling for work to stop on the Maules Creek project, and an audit of the planning and approval process that allows Whitehaven to continue with this atrocity. We need a federal level ICAC and we need to take our democracy back.” said Mr. Drechsler.

“The time of coal getting special treatment is over. The corruption has got to end. It is up to all of us to reclaim our voice, and democracy” said Mr. Evans.

There have been over 265 arrests this year as part of the ongoing community lead campaign of peaceful civil disobedience against Whitehaven Coal.

from Front Line Action on Coal

Two Blockades Evicted at Hambach Forest Occupation

October 30th, 2014

RWE Wachschutz injures activists. One person losing consciousness due to beating by the security. Activists choked and arrested with cable ties.

Today was another blockade of cutting and logging in the Hambacher Forest, within the campaign “No Tree is Falling”.
At this blockade the RWE Security attacked the activists with batons and pepper spray. At this point some activists got injured.

In response a second blockade happened to make the security and the loggers aware that they injured activists. At this point security attacked the activists harshly with batons and pepper spray. In addition the logging machine was heading directly towards the activists. During this attack three activists were injured, one of them losing consciousness for a moment. Also the RWE private security arrested three people, they choked them and bond them with cable tie. Activists defended themselves. After one hour police showed up and arrested 3 more persons. The police came from Düren and also the Arrested people will be brought there.
Come around and support the Blockades. Show Solidarity everywhere, thats what the people need here.
Press Contact: 015754136100

The Hambacher forest is the site of an ongoing land defense campaign in Germany. The forest sits at the edge of a lignite (brown coal) mine and is under imminent threat from mine expansion.

News Ticker:

– several ambulance cars driving in the forest.
– police is evicting the blockades together with RWE Security
– The „Pile“ (Fort on the way to the Squatted Trees) is surround and activists are on Tripods and Trees.

12:00: Policenews: Activists got arrested because of breaking Civil Laws. Probably to MünchenGladbach, Bergheim, and Düren. (Not Confirmed)
– around 100 Cops are in the Forest.
– Police and RWE Security tried to evict the „Pile“ with heavy Machines, although activists where in the blockade and there life was put at risk.
13:00 Work was stopped. Police said they want to finish the eviction until 15:00. 4 Persons are in the „Pile“
13:05 Until Now 6 Persons got arrested. But they‘re still in the Forest.
Black flag flying Song
13:50 Police is driving with heavy eviction machines in the Forest. Also more Cops are on the way in the forest.
14:00 Logging Work is started again. Trees on the way to Treeblockade are cuted to make way for the eviction.
14:10 Activists are transported out of the Forest. Cherry Pickers are driving in the Forest.
15:30 Seven more Police Cars drove to the forest. Now there are 3 Riot Units in the Forest.
– In the „Pile“ Blockade are actually 4 activists. One in the Trees, One in the Tunnel, Two on Tripods. The „Pile“ is completely surrounded by police
– At the Treeblockade until now there is no Security and Police. Only the way for heavy machines is ready.
15:45 Eviction of the Pile started. Cherrypicker is build up.
16:07 Police in Plain Clothes is watching the Meadow occupation.
16:30 Activists locked themselves to the barricade (Pile)
16:50 One Person got evicted from Tripod at the „Pile“
– Another Unit of Riot Police drove to the Forest.
– Tree Blockade „Grubenblick“ is surrounded.
– Cherry-Picker and Floodlight is at the Blockade.
– One Person is in the Trees above the „Pile“
17:30 I seems like the Police is stopping the evictions.
– The „Pile“ is evicted. One Person is still in the Trees. 3 more Persons got arrested.
18:00 The Barricade is pushed together by the police with heavy machines. The police is touching the tree on which the last person is sitting. Due to that the police risk the life of the activist. That has been pointed out to the police several time but the dont stop the work.
– Climbing Police arrived at the Tree Ocupation „Grubenblick“.
18:20 Nine Policecars are on the way to the part of the forest near the meadow.
20:30 The Searching on the Meadow by the Police is finished. More Information soon.
21:45 In the last 3 hours the following things happened:
– The Treeocupation „Grubenblick“ is evicted. The activists got arrested.
– The activist on the tree at the „pile“ blockade is still up there. Climbing Police is on the spot. At the Moment the Cherry-Picker is raised up.
– The first Person got released at the police station in Düren.

modified slightly from Hambach Forest Blog

USA: Burnaby Blockade, Encampment Stops Kinder Morgan Suveyors for a Second Day

October 30th, 2014

Angry protesters stopped crews from conducting pipeline survey work on Burnaby Mountain Wednesday, forcing the company to reassess how it will finish work needed for a National Energy Board decision.

October 30th, 2014

Angry protesters stopped crews from conducting pipeline survey work on Burnaby Mountain Wednesday, forcing the company to reassess how it will finish work needed for a National Energy Board decision.

RCMP officers watched as some protesters confronted a Trans Mountain survey crew, yelling “go back to Texas,” while another protester crawled under a survey crew’s SUV, wrapped himself around the front tire and refused to leave.

Stephen Collis, a spokesman for the protesters who call themselves the Caretakers, said they plan to hunker down.

“We’re currently occupying the space that they have identified that they need to work in. Since we’re on public land, we have every right to be here,” he said. “They can’t really work in a space that’s filled with dozens of people. That’s the intention.”

The plan worked, at least for the day.

Workers left in another vehicle, and one man carried several signs under his arm that read No Entry Until Further Notice and Field Testing Area Under Order of the National Energy Board.

Greg Toth, senior director for Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain expansion project, said all survey work on the mountain was stopped, although other crews were still working around Burnaby.

He wasn’t yet sure if the company would ask for an injunction preventing protests.

“We have to reassess, based on today’s activities,” said Toth. “It’s quite a vocal protest. Our priority is the safety of our crews and the general public. So we’ll retrench and look at what options are available.”

The demonstration comes in the midst of a bitter battle over the company’s plans to expand the pipeline through Burnaby.

The National Energy Board granted Trans Mountain access to the sites so it can complete work through Burnaby Mountain, it’s preferred route for the pipeline. The NEB ruled the City of Burnaby can’t prevent the activity because the work is needed for the board to make a decision on the expansion application.

The City of Burnaby announced it will appeal the NEB ruling.

Mayor Derek Corrigan said he didn’t believe the regulator has the authority to consider constitutional questions concerning city bylaws.

Toth said the National Energy Board and the Federal Court have given the company every right to do work needed to support the decision-making process.

He said it’s ironic that crews haven’t been allowed on Burnaby Mountain, considering the company and city residents have determined the route is the least disruptive option.

“It’s really in response to strong feedback from the local residents and the general public in the area for the alternative routing, which would have been through the streets,” he said.

In July 2007, a geyser of oil covered more 100 homes, after a crew accidentally pulled up the pipeline, spilling 250,000 litres.

The cleanup cost about $15 million.

The 5.4-billion dollar expansion plan would come close to tripling the capacity of the existing pipeline between Alberta and B.C. to about 900,000 barrels of crude a day.

Raging Grannies Blockading Entrances and Exits of WA Department of Ecology

October 30th, 2014

UPDATE: Grannies Unlock After 6-Hour Blockade

Currently, seven members of the Seattle Raging Grannies are blocking the entrance to the Department of Ecology headquarters, stalling traffic and preventing employees from entering work. The groups are sitting in rocking chairs chained together across the Department’s vehicle entrance.

They are telling workers that the Department is closed today for a “Workshop on How to Say No to Big Oil.” Today’s action coincides with hearings on a controversial study on the safety of oil trains conducted by the Department of Ecology. Hundreds are expected in Olympia to express concern at the study’s narrow scope and omission of risks to the environment or treaty rights.

Police and FBI are on the scene trying to direct traffic, and ecology management is making supportive employees move inside so they can’t talk to the media about their support of the elders.

Dale R Jense, program manager for the department’s oil spills safety program, is currently walking the line and talking to the grannies, who remain in high spirits and are singing songs. There is a group of supporters making sure that the DoE knows that fossil fuel shipments are unpopular, dangerous, and bad for the planet.

“We’re here to help the Department of Ecology learn how to say no to the oil industry,” said Beth DeRooy. “After granting permits to four illegal oil train terminals and letting former BNSF executives write their oil study, I was worried the folks over at the Department never learned how to say no and needed a little help from their grannies.”

Since 2012 the Department of Ecology has granted permits for oil-by-rail terminals at four of Washington’s five refineries. Terminals in Tacoma, Anacortes and at Cherry Point outside of Bellingham, have begun taking trains while a fourth is under construction at the Phillips 66 refinery in Ferndale. Environmental groups have argued that the these terminals are illegal under the Magnuson Act, which prohibits expansions at Washington refineries that may increase the amount of oil they handle.

Permits for a fifth oil-by-rail terminal at Shell’s Puget Sound refinery are currently under consideration. “Hot on the heels of record wildfires, Governor Inslee’s so-called Department of Ecology is going to ignore the environment in this study? They’re acting more like the Department of Oil Trains,” stated Cynthia Linet.

Last year Governor Inslee directed the Department of Ecology to conduct a safety study on the extremely controversial shipment of oil by rail. The governor’s study has been criticized for ignoring impacts on the environment, treaty rights and global warming, as well as failing to question whether they should build oil-train terminals in the first place.

The Department of Ecology has declared that impacts on the environment, tribal treaty rights or local economies are “ancillary” and not being considered. The Department has also come under fire after revelations that a number of the study’s authors are former BNSF executives.

“You’d think bringing exploding trains to help oil companies devastate Native American communities in North Dakota would be easy to say no to, but it looks like the Department of Ecology needs a stern lesson from their grannies,” said Carol McRoberts.

Many of North Dakota’s oil wells are on tribal lands of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara nations. In addition to spills and other local pollution, the oil boom has brought tremendous social costs to the communities. Deaths from auto accidents, drug abuse and violent crime have exploded; housing shortages force many to live in substandard conditions; and sexual violence such as rape and sex trafficking have become prevalent in a once small community.

“My daughter is 15 months old and my heart aches that I do not even want her to be at home for fear of what she’d be exposed to,” said Kandi Mossett, a member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara nations who submitted written testimony to today’s oil train hearings. “This oil boom using fracking has been devastating for us and no amount of money can ever give us back what’s being lost.”

Protestors handed out doughnuts and coffee as they turned away employees’ cars. They also handed out a flier explaining “How to Say No To Fossil Fuels.” The flier calls on the Department of Ecology to reject all new fossil fuel projects proposed for Washington and to explicitly link their rejection to concerns about global warming.

Climate justice activists point out that if all proposed fossil fuel terminals are built, the Northwest will be transporting five times more carbon than the Keystone XL Pipeline.

“It’s grandma’s common sense – we need to keep carbon in the ground to stop catastrophic global warming, and if they can’t ship it, they have to leave it in the ground,” said Rosy Betz-Zall. But while he has been widely hailed as one of the greenest governors in America, Inslee has yet to outright reject a major fossil fuel project, or even declare a moratorium on projects that would increase dangerous shipments of explosive oil.

“Governor Inslee talks about being a climate champion, but he keeps saying ‘maybe’ to new fossil fuel projects, when what we need is a solid ‘NO’,” said Deejah Sherman-Peterson.

“Take it from your granny: if you want to say yes to something good – a just, clean energy future – you have start by saying NO to something bad – building more fossil fuel infrastructure.”

Today’s protest follows an intense wave of opposition to oil-by-rail across the Northwest this summer with protestors locking themselves to barrels of concrete and sitting atop tripods to blockade railroad tracks across Washington and Oregon.

80 Arrested At Spontaneous Protests Over #ZAD Remi Fraisse’s Assassination By French Police

October 30th, 2014

80 people have been arrested simply for speaking up against state terror and capitalism, by a total panicked riot police force in Paris desperate to repress spontaneous demonstrations over the execution of 21 year old Remi Fraisse at Testet.

The streets of Paris, Lyon and other cities have been covered in anti-capitalist, anti-police and anti-state messages; the signs of rage over the assassination by the police of a 21 year old pacifist, and defender of the Testet forest.

Cops encircled people, trapped them, captured them and dragged them to police vans simply for being on the streets and speaking up, such police brutality and abuses simply remind of well known totalitarian regimes, deplored by Europe all over the world, except in Europe.

Remi Fraisse died on the spot when he was hit by a tear gas grenade fired by riot police Saturday night during the repression of a protest in the Testet forest to stop a dam which will profit some industrial farmers at the cost of destroying 40 ha of forest.

Witnesses’ testimonies forced cops to admit they killed Remi. A state official called him “stupid” for “dying for an idea”. While state officials are trying to control the public rage over the police killing by claiming that patience is needed for “proper investigation”, the boss of riot police said that Remi’s murder was a fatality and that no cop will be suspended. He hinted no cop will be held accountable either. Images filmed just prior to Remi’s assassination expose the barbarism of the police and their brutality in repressing the protests.

Images above have been aired by France 2 aired and they prove the barbarism of the police repression against ZAD. Cops fired with intent to kill, unlike what their boss says, they fired tear gas grenades at people who were several meters from them.

Hundreds gathered in spontaneous demonstrations, called “illegal” by the French media, in Paris, triggering a massive deployment of cops. 200 people were interrogated by police for simply being on the streets. Cops tried to stir violence, they encircled over 100 protestors around the town hall and tried to kettle them. Protests are announced in Italy tomorrow, too.The chief of riot police claims that cops have the right to kill because “they did not have the intention” to murder Remi, he says it’s not “conceivable” to suspend cops over the assassination of Remi. This cop positioned himself above any state law, since prosecutors claim that the “investigations” of Remi’s assassination continue. Apparently, anyone’s life is cancelled just at the sight of cops in Europe, since they are not responsible when they fire their lethal projectiles. Remi’s death is also another proof that police riot weaponry cause death, but it seems that since they are called non-“lethal” by the apologists of state barbarism, cops who use them are absolved of any responsibility. Death is what awaits anyone who stands in the way of profits which in Europe are placed above all, life, human needs and environment.

Footage from protest in the evening of October 26th in the town of Gaillac in the Tarn department:

http://youtu.be/jUQjY1tRVAw

http://youtu.be/rbeBMBHxixM

Argentina: Quechua Community Members Occupy Airport During Second Day of Protest Against Plupetrol

October 29th, 2014

Inhabitants inform the authorities that, if their requests are not respected, they will be taking more direct measures, such as manually closing pipeline valves. They ask that DINOES (Special Operation Division) does not intervene.

October 29th, 2014

On the second day of protesting against the negligent decisions of Pluspetrol, a dominating E&P private company originating from Argentina, Quechua inhabitants took their retaliation to the airport.

During a press conference, Aurelio Chino Dahua, president of Fediquep (Indigenous Quechua Federation of the Pastaza), explained that the people feel deceived by both the corporation and the state. He relates such uneasiness to the the state’s disengagement from alleviating Pluspetrol’s social-environmental impacts on the community, even in the face of raw evidence.

The indigenous leader also projects his indignation towards the government’s lack of commitment, stating that, although the Quechua people have fostered active dialogue with the authorities since 2011, not one program has been implemented with the sole purpose of meeting their demands.

Dahua reiterated that, during the last months, Pluspetrol Norte has been eroding and dividing the communities, and that Fediquep has been blatantly ignoring the inhabitants’ rights. For such reasons, he proposes that the company retreats from the area and, if they wish to resume the operation, heeds to the community’s direct participation. It is also being demanded that families are connected to the electricity that is provided by Loreto Regional Government and Plustpetrol.

Meanwhile in Nuevo Andeos, the people hold their grounds in hopes that attention will finally be brought to their demands.

Not too long ego, it was them who requested a remediation process of Shanshococha Lagoon, as well as adequate compensation for Pluspetrol’s experimentation throughout the past 15 years.

As the converstation moves, it is evident that yesterday’s demonstration in Nuevo Andoas is being vigorously supported by surrounding areas within the Pastaza and that will surely resonate beyond.

[EF! Newswire Note: The following post is a loose translation of an article first published by Servindi.]

21 Year Old ZAD Activist Killed in Clashes with Police at Testet Dam Resistance

October 26th, 2014

17 hours after police attacked again the ZAD resistance in Testet, south of France, a 21 year old ZADist was found dead. During the clashes, witnesses say they saw a man collapse and noticed the police taking him away.

On Saturday, October 25th, thousands of people from all over France gathered at Testet in opposition to the dam project and the violent repression of the ZAD resistance, which is ongoing for years, and has increased in the past months.

Police attacked the protestors to remove them, and some militants battled the cops until late in the night. Police fired rubber bullets, tear gas grenades; several protestors were badly injured.

Later in the night, firefighters and police claimed they have found the body of a man in the woods, while eye witnesses who were there say the body was found at police roadblocks.

“A witness said he saw someone collapse in clashes and being removed by the police“ , says Ben has Lefetey, spokesman for the Collective for safeguarding wetland Testet, during a press conference Sunday morning.

Police blame the clashed on the resistance, to justify the brutal repression they enforced on the protestors. The commander of the gendarmerie Tarn, quoted by the AFP, claimed that “100-150 anarchists masked and dressed in black threw incendiary devices” and other projectiles at police surrounding a mobilization “2000″ opponents.

In a statement, the association Action for the Environment says: “Acting for the Environment can see that after several weeks of police violence indiscriminately and sometimes outside any legal framework (identity papers and personal effects burned, disrespect private areas …), the police have once again made use of rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas and even though the event took place in a good atmosphere [sic] -child. The presence of the police at the end of the day will appear again for what it is: a provocation leading to a tragedy.”

“According to preliminary information we have collected, the death took place in the context of clashes with the police at 2:00 am. We are not saying that the security forces have killed an opponent, but a witness we said the deaths happened during clashes, “he told AFP by phone Ben Lefetey, spokesperson of the group Save the wetland Testet, which includes most of the opponents of the dam project . “We do not know more about the cause of death.”

Contacted, the prefecture did not want to comment. The prosecutor in Albi, Claude Derens, refused to make any comment “before the results of the autopsy will take place tomorrow (Monday) in the afternoon.” According to a source close to the investigation, the young man who died was 21 years old and “was among those who were in the midst of clashes last night” (Saturday).

“The proposed reservoir dam 1.5 million m3 of water stored is growing figure “Notre-Dame-des-Landes Southwest”, in reference to this common Loire-Atlantique, where significant mobilization caused the freeze in 2012 the creation of a new airport. Since the beginning of clearing September 1, skirmishes and rallies have multiplied around the site. The proposed water retention is supported by the General Council of the Tarn. Opponents denounce an expensive project for, according to them, only a small number of farmers practicing intensive agriculture.”

“Member of the Paris collective support Notre-Dame-des-Landes and sympathizers es-es of the opponent Testet. According to the information available, one of us died that night during clashes with riot police in the ZAD Testet. Neither oblivion or pardon.”

Massive protests are announced later on Sunday.

Pacific Island Warriors Blockade World’s Largest Coal Port

October 25th, 2014

Climate Change Warriors from 12 Pacific Island nations paddled canoes into the world’s largest coal port in Newcastle, Australia, Friday (October 17th) to bring attention to their grave fears about the consequences of climate change on their home countries.

The 30 warriors joined a flotilla of hundreds of Australians in kayaks and on surfboards to delay eight of the 12 ships scheduled to pass through the port during the nine-hour blockade, which was organised with support from the U.S.-based environmental group 350.org.

The warriors came from 12 Pacific Island countries, including Fiji, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Micronesia, Vanuatu, The Solomon Islands, Tonga, Samoa, Papua New Guinea and Niue.

Mikaele Maiava spoke with IPS about why he and his fellow climate change warriors had travelled to Australia: “We want Australia to remember that they are a part of the Pacific. And as a part of the Pacific, we are a family, and having this family means we stay together. We cannot afford, one of the biggest sisters, really destroying everything for the family.

“So, we want the Australian community, especially the Australian leaders, to think about more than their pockets, to really think about humanity not just for the Australian people, but for everyone,” Mikaele said.

Speaking at the opening of a new coal mine on Oct. 13, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that “coal is good for humanity.”

Mikaele questioned Abbott’s position, asking, “If you are talking about humanity: Is humanity really for people to lose land? Is humanity really for people to lose their culture and identity? Is humanity to live in fear for our future generations to live in a beautiful island and have homes to go to? Is that really humanity? Is that really the answer for us to live in peace and harmony? Is that really the answer for the future?”

Mikaele said that he and his fellow climate warriors were aware that their fight was not just for the Pacific, and that other developing countries were affected by climate change too.

“We’re aware that this fight is not just for the Pacific. We are very well aware that the whole world is standing up in solidarity for this. The message that we want to give, especially to the leaders, is that we are humans, this fight is not just about our land, this fight is for survival.”

Mikaele described how his home of Tokelau was already seeing the effects of climate change,

“We see these changes of weather patterns and we also see that our food security is threatened. It’s hard for us to build a sustainable future if your soil is not that fertile and it does not grow your crops because of salt intrusion.”

Tokelau’s coastline is also beginning to erode. “We see our coastal lines changing. Fifteen years ago when I was going to school, you could walk in a straight line. Now you have to walk in a crooked line because the beach has eroded away.”

Mikaele said that he and his fellow climate change warriors would not be content unless they stood up for future generations, and did everything possible to change world leaders’ mentality about climate change.

“We are educated people, we are smart people, we know what’s going on, the days of the indigenous people and local people not having the information and the knowledge about what’s going on is over,” he said.

“We are the generation of today, the leaders of tomorrow and we are not blinded by the problem. We can see it with our own eyes, we feel it in our own hearts, and we want the Australian government to realise that. We are not blinded by money we just want to live as peacefully and fight for what matters the most, which is our homes.”

Tokelau became the first country in the world to use 100 percent renewable energy when they switched to solar energy in 2012.

Speaking about the canoes that he and his fellow climate warriors had carved in their home countries and bought to Australia for the protest, he talked about how his family had used canoes for generations,

“Each extended family would have a canoe, and this canoe is the main tool that we used to be able to live, to go fishing, to get coconuts, to take family to the other islands.”

Another climate warrior, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, from the Marshall Islands, brought members of the United Nations General Assembly to tears last month with her impassioned poem written to her baby daughter Matafele Peinam,

“No one’s moving, no one’s losing their homeland, no one’s gonna become a climate change refugee. Or should I say, no one else. To the Carteret islanders of Papua New Guinea and to the Taro islanders of Fiji, I take this moment to apologise to you,” she said.

The Pacific Islands Forum describes climate change as the “single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and well-being of the peoples of the Pacific.”

“Climate change is an immediate and serious threat to sustainable development and poverty eradication in many Pacific Island Countries, and for some their very survival. Yet these countries are amongst the least able to adapt and to respond; and the consequences they face, and already now bear, are significantly disproportionate to their collective miniscule contributions to global emissions,” it says.

Pacific Island leaders have recently stepped up their language, challenging the Australian government to stop delaying action on climate change.

Oxfam Australia’s climate change advocacy coordinator, Dr Simon Bradshaw, told IPS, “Australia is a Pacific country. In opting to dismantle its climate policies, disengage from international negotiations and forge ahead with the expansion of its fossil fuel industry, it is utterly at odds with the rest of the region.”

Dr. Bradshaw added, “Australia’s closest neighbours have consistently identified climate change as their greatest challenge and top priority. So it is inevitable that Australia’s recent actions will impact on its relationship with Pacific Islands.

“A recent poll commissioned by Oxfam showed that 60 percent of Australians thought climate change was having a negative impact on the ability of people in poorer countries to grow and access food, rising to 68 percent among 18 to 34-year-olds,” he said.

Visit IPS news for fresh perspectives on development and globalization

Construction of Areng Dam Continues Despite Natives Protests

October 21st, 2014

Regardless of the dam’s progression, Chong inhabitants continue to express their discontent.

The detention and release of 11 environmental activists in Cambodia’s Areng Valley in mid-September ended the last major protests of the controversial Stung Cheay Areng hydro dam project.

Activists had been detaining and blocking convoys of vehicles into the valley since March of this year, but their makeshift roadblock has since been commandeered by the country’s Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.

The valley’s native Chong inhabitants have watched the dam project grow with a mixture of fear and bitterness. The Chong have dwelt along the Areng for over 600 years but soon, if the dam is completed, it will flood at least 26,000 acres of land. Mother Jones writes that the estimates range between 40 and 77 square miles.

This will displace more than 1,500 people, and is already inviting the rape of the Central Cardamom Protected Forest. To begin the dam project, new roads had to be built to transport equipment back and forth, providing free access to unscrupulous timber companies. At least 20,000 cubic yards of rosewood (worth an estimated $220 million in timber) have been illegally logged since the dam project began.

The dam itself is being constructed by Sinohydro Resources, China’s largest dam-building contractor and its third firm to take on the task. Initially, China Southern Power Grid was to build the dam, but relinquished its contract with the Cambodian government in 2010 on purportedly “moral” grounds.

A report from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency on the project later pointed out that the dam would only generate an output of 108 megawatts – too little for so high a monetary and environmental cost.

China Guodian Corporation was the next firm to take up the project, but pulled out in 2013. They, too, found the dam to be economically unviable.

Though the dam would be hypothetically capable of generating enough power for 87,000 homes, International Rivers argues that “the dam will only operate at 46 percent capacity during the dry season, precisely when Cambodia most needs the electricity.”

In addition to this low energy output, the dam is projected to be more of a burden to Cambodia than a blessing – even without taking the valley’s 31 endangered animals into account. Areng is just one of 17 dams the country wants to build over the next two decades, but most of their power will be exported to neighboring countries. What’s worse, Sinohydro will own the dam for the next 40 years before turning it over to the Cambodian government, at which time the dam’s maintenance costs and environmental impacts will potentially make it worthless to the country.

Despite all this, Cambodia’s Minister of Mines and Energy and Minister of Environment have both stated that the Areng dam is on schedule for completion by 2020.

But that hasn’t stopped natives from protesting.

“Even if they piled money one meter above my head, I don’t want their Chinese money,” one villager told Mother Jones’ Kalyanee Mam. “I want to stay in my village. Even with all this money, I could only spend it in this life. I wouldn’t be able to pass it on to my grandchildren. I just want my village and my land for the future of my grandchildren.”

by Planet Experts

Wrexham Borras drill site occupied – Please support the camp

19.10.2014

GP Energy (who were bought out by Dart who in turn have been bought out by IGas) applied for planning permission to do an exploratory drill for coal bed methane (CBM) at Borras, Wrexham. Frack-off describes coal bed methane as the evil twin of shale gas. Wrexham council refused the application back in March after at lot of work by local people to educate the planning committee on the dangers of unconventional gas extraction. The success of this was at least in part due to increased awareness of the issues as a result of a test drill happening at the same time in nearby Farndon. Unfortunately, the Wales Planning Inspector overturned the council's decision earlier this month – on some distinctly dodgy grounds – and the site is now under imminent threat of test drilling, even though it is in an area where the government's own report has indicated CBM extraction isn't feasible due to the geology.

A public meeting has been called for 23 October in Borras but, in advance of that, the site has been occupied this weekend and a community protection camp set up. Support (including more campers) and supplies needed. Please get there if you can. Postcode LL13 9TG. There's a camp Facebook group or you can contact Frack-Free Wrexham for more information.

Camp flier

Flier for meeting and camp info

Around 25 people were on site this afternoon. Those who had been camping since Friday said they were overwhelmed with the number of people who'd called round to the camp to wish them well and drop off supplies, water, building materials, camping gear and all sorts of other useful stuff. As well as a group of tents in the middle, a compost toilet had already been built, as well as a shelter by the fire and a kitchen under construction.

Community Protection Camps can only succeed with the support of the local community, so if you live locally, or further afield, and care about protecting the countryside, air, water, food… (property owners might also care about their property values which are liable to plummet in areas where drilling goes ahead), please call in to the camp and see what's needed. There's a warm welcome for all friendly visitors – just turn up. Police presence so far has been low key.

The site is quite muddy, particularly around the gate, so bear that in mind if you're planning to go into the field. If you're driving, parking is possible on the verge alongside the gate and if you're travelling by bus, the site is about 1 mile from the Holt Lodge Inn. Take the turning nearly opposite the Holt Lodge into Shepherds Rd. Follow this road right to the end, turn left at the T-junction and the site is on the left just after the Borras village sign. The C56 bus from Wrexham or Chester, both of which have railway stations, stops at the Holt Lodge Inn. A camp phone number will be available soon.

Frack Free Wrexham
e-mail: frackfreewrexham [AT] riseup.net