Author: earthfirst

Dine’ Establish Blockade Near Proposed Power Plant Site

December 14th 2006

Lucy A. Willie, right, stands at the proposed Desert Rock Power Plant site outside of Burnham on Wednesday where she and several friends and family stayed overnight to stop a contractor for Desert Rock Energy Company from doing preliminary work.

Dine blockadeDecember 14th 2006

Lucy A. Willie, right, stands at the proposed Desert Rock Power Plant site outside of Burnham on Wednesday where she and several friends and family stayed overnight to stop a contractor for Desert Rock Energy Company from doing preliminary work.

Please send far and wide!!!!

URGENT Support is requested from Dine Elders and Youth!

Sithe Global & DPA are proposing to build the Desert Rock power plant, a 1,500 MW Coal Fired plant in the Four Corners area on the Navajo Reservation. This is an area already polluted by 2 other major coal power plants. Local Navajo residence and community members oppose this project for many harmful reasons!! This Desert Rock power plant is still in the environmental review process and has NOT yet been permitted.

However, Desert Rock company trucks have began moving onto the backyard of Alice Gilmore, an elderly navajo woman, and her family on wednesday to begin drilling efforts. Desert Rock officials and police have not shown any documents or permits to the local residents stating their purpose or permission to be there. Dine supporters and community members have joined Alice and her family to blockade the road. They are elderly women and youth, and they have been camped out on the road over night since Tuesday! Desert Rock trucks have repeatedly rushed them and have almost run-over people a number of times as they attempt to get by. Desert Rock power company is violating the lease rights of the local Navajo residences and is harassing elderly Navajo women and youth! This is an urgent time and support is needed!!!

Please read on to find out how you can help! and Please pass this onto others! (press release and additional article)

What they need:
– More People Support
– Fire wood
– $$
– Attention!

how You can Help!

– More People! More people are needed to sit in support! All are welcome!
directions to the area are below:
The site is between Gallup, NM and Shiprock, NM (northeastern, NM). Take the road between Gallup and Shiprock, the 491. at the Mustang Service Station (one of the only service stations between the two), turn East on road #5 towards Burnham Chapter. From Burnham Chapter turn North onto gravel road #5082. About 10-12 miles up the road turn West until you see the encampment. There will be markers (balloons) out on the roads. (if you begin to see a dragline, you’ve gone too far)

– Fire wood! it is cold outside and many of the resisters are elderly women. if you can get firewood to the site it is very very much needed! the directions to the site are above.

– $ Money! Resisters are in need of money for gas and food, and also for bail money if necessary. Please send donations to local resident and supporter:
Elouise Brown
1015 Glade Lane 34
Farmington, NM 87401
Elouise can also be reached at: thebrownmachine@hotmail.com

– ATTENTION! the more media and observers are present the least likely Desert Rock is likely to run people over or harass them. contact the media, tell them what is going on. Contact Navajo Authorities, tell them you are extremely concerned. Be a legal observer. Spread this Alert!

###

Contact the Following Authorities! Tell them you have heard about Desert Rock’s harassment of Navajo elders and youth. Tell them you are extremely concerned! If enough people contact these offices they will know that the world is watching.

Shiprock Police Department
phone: (505) 368-1350
fax: (505) 368-1293

Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley’s Office
P.O. Box 9000 Window Rock, Arizona, 86515
phone #: (928) 871- 6352

also: George Hardeen, Navajo Nation Communications Director Office of the President
Office #: 928-871-7000
Cell #: 928-380-7688
e-mail: georgehardeen@opvp.org

Bureau of Indian Affairs (Gallup Office) they are conducting the Environmental Impact Statement.
Harrilene Yazzi, NEPA Coordinator Bureau of Indian Affairs, Navajo Regional Office
P.0. Box 1060 Gallup, New Mexico 87305
Phone: 505-863-8314
Fax: 505-863-8324

Be a Legal Observer – get to the site and help record/witness what is happening

Send this Action Alert Far and Wide!

Thank you for your support!!!

Enei Begaye
Executive Director
Black Mesa Water Coalition
408 E. Route 66, Suite #1
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
Office #: (928) 213-9760
PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Contacts:
Sarah Jane White, Doodá Desert Rock Committee (505) 860-6166
Dailan J. Long , Diné CARE, Doodá Desert Rock Committee (505) 801-0713
Elouise Brown, Doodá Desert Rock Committee (505) 974-6159
Lori Goodman, Diné CARE (970) 759-1908

BURNHAM, SANOSTEE & NENANEZAH RESIDENTS BLOCKADE DESERT ROCK PROJECT

Burnham, NM –Burnham, Sanostee & Nenanezah Elders and citizens are braving the cold to protect the land from the encroaching Diné Power Authority (DPA) and Sithe Global LLC at the proposed Desert Rock site. Navajo residents confronted the Diné Power Authority/Sithe Global on Tuesday afternoon after learning of water drilling that had been occurring without the knowledge and notification of local residents.

“I have said ‘No’ over and over again and you keep coming over!� Nenanezah elder Alice Gilmore exclaimed to Sithe/DPA employees at the confrontation. For Gilmore, the issue is despicable and uncalled for since she gave no consent to allow DPA/Sithe into her grazing area. Members of the Doodá Desert Rock committee gathered to support her opposition and asked Sithe/DPA to disclose Drilling permits that allowed drilling activity to occur, to no avail. The residents refused to leave after the Navajo Nation Police attempted to give access to DPA/Sithe Global, claiming that permits for the Desert Rock project are not for public disclosure. The Burnham residents barricaded the roads to disallow traffic into the Desert Rock site and have remained in place since the Tuesday incident occurred.

Members of Diné CARE/Doodá Desert Rock Committee met this morning at the Shiprock Courthouse to get answers about drilling permits yet the Lieutenant Dempsey denied access to Gilmore and other concerned residents to view the permits. Residents are asking for: 1.) A copy of the categorical exclusion that is allowing the drilling activities to commence. 2.) Copies of the Clean Water Act Sections 401, 402 and 404, that would prove compliance with regulatory requirements have been met. There are major disturbance taking place and according to the Clean Air Act, these permits are a pre-requisite for drilling activity.

The proposed area is home to extended families, but arbitrarily drawn political boundaries by the Navajo Nation and company representatives have the families separated into the three chapters: Burnham, Sanostee, and Nenahnezad. The boundary defining Burnham and Nenahnezad has been moved south for benefit of DPA/Sithe as recently as two years ago.

“The local residents are not protesters but are resisters. Who would be happy if a well is being dug in their backyard especially when it is done in secrecy? So, how can those residents be considered protesters when they are simply standing up for their rights to have clean air, water, and environment.� Stated, Elouise Brown of Sanostee.

Burnham, Sanostee and Nenanezah residents are not waiting for remedy; many have set up camp at the proposed site and are refusing to move until they get the needed documents. “We’re fed up with them,� states Sarah J. White, President of the Doodá Desert Rock Committee, “the grandmas and the grandpas are being walked over by these monsters and they’re being denied information. We’re standing our ground now.� This incident follows accusations made against Sithe/DPA about environmental injustices, EPA’s proposed issuance of prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) permit Air Quality Permit for Desert Rock Energy Facility and the creation of Navajo Nation Energy Policies without public input.
###

Lori Goodman
Dine’ CARE
10 A Town Plaza, PMB 138
Durango, CO 81301
PH: (970) 259-0199
FAX: (970) 259-2300
Cell: (970) 759-1908
kiyaani@frontier.net
dinecare.org

=====================================================================

Navajo traditional elders blockade power plant site

By Brenda Norrell
U.N. OBSERVER & International Report

BURNHAM, NEW MEXICO, USA – Elderly Navajo women and their children formed a blockade, built a fire and camped at the site of a proposed power plant on tribal land in northwest New Mexico. The blockade of traditional Navajos halted site work in a region that is already toxic with air and water pollution from power plants, oil and gas wells and
scattered radioactive tailings from the Cold War.

Facing the threat of arrest by tribal police at the blockade, Navajo elderly, including one medicine man, said they are willing to go to jail to protect their land and way of life.

Most of the elderly are already ill from living in an area where power plants have released 100 tons of coal combustion waste that is blowing in the wind. One of the Navajo elderly resisters is in a wheelchair and another has severe asthma.

For the second night on Wednesday night, Dec. 13, Navajo resisters camped in the cold at the site.

“I have said ‘No’ over and over again and you keep coming over!� said Nenanezah elder Alice Gilmore, who holds the grazing permit for the area of the proposed Desert Rock Power Plant. The Navajo Nation and Sithe Global LLC plan to build the power plant, which would be the third power plant in the Farmington/Bloomfield area.

Confronting Sithe and Navajo DPA employees, Gilmore was adamant that she has not given permission for the power plant on her land. Navajo elders from Burnham, Sanostee and Nenanezah chapter, all taking a bold action to fight the tribal government and corporate aggression, joined Gilmore at the blockade.

“We’re fed up with them,� said Sarah J. White, president of the Doodá Desert Rock Committee. “The grandmas and the grandpas are being walked over by these monsters and they’re being denied information. We’re standing our ground now.�

White said Navajos at the barricade need everything in the way of food, firewood and supplies.

“We need everything from A to Z,� White said.

The blockade was formed just 10 days after Navajo Nation elected leaders gathered with representatives from 14 countries and formulated a global ban on uranium mining on Native lands. The power plant blockade also comes as Navajo Nation leaders are fighting in the
federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to protect San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, Ariz., from the desecration of snowmaking from recycled wastewater for tourism. The mountain is sacred to 13 area Indian tribes.

However, both Navajo President Joe Shirley, Jr., and the Navajo Nation Council support the construction of the Desert Rock Power Plant and accompanying coalmine, which Navajos say would add more pollution to the air, land and water, already saturated with disease-causing toxins.

The Navajo Nation tribal government has attempted to censor the voices of Navajos speaking out against the Desert Rock power plant in New Mexico and the use of aquifer water for coal mining by Peabody Coal on the western side of the Navajo Nation in Arizona.

The proposed site of the new Desert Rock power plant is in the Four Corners Region, targeted since the 1970s as a national sacrifice area for energy production.

It is also the sacred region of Dinetah, the place of origin of Navajos. However, the air is so polluted in the region of Dinetah near Bloomfield that persons with asthma and respiratory diseases find it difficult to breathe.

Further, Navajos say while they struggle with respiratory diseases, cancer and the death of their loved ones in this region, many Navajos must also haul water and live without electricity, since the power plants on Navajo land primarily provide electricity for non-Indians.

The Navajo blockade comes as O’odham in Sonora, Mexico, challenge a secret plan by the government of Mexico, with the knowledge of the US EPA, to create a hazardous waste dump near the sacred site of Quitovac where O’odham hold ceremonies. The Navajo blockade coincides with an action by Pima on Gila River tribal land in Arizona to halt expansion
of a hazardous dumpsite.

At the same time, Yaqui in Sonora, Mexico, gathered to prohibit the use of banned pesticides in agricultural fields, now resulting in cancer and deaths.

At the proposed new Desert Rock power plant site in New Mexico, Navajo residents confronted the Diné Power Authority/Sithe Global on Dec. 12, after discovering that water drilling was carried out without the knowledge and notification of local Navajo residents.

Members of the Doodá Desert Rock committee gathered to support Gilmore’s opposition and asked Sithe/DPA to disclose drilling permits that allowed drilling activity to occur. However, no permits were provided.

The residents refused to leave after the Navajo Nation Police attempted to give access to DPA/Sithe Global, claiming that permits for the Desert Rock project are not for public disclosure. The Burnham residents barricaded the roads to disallow traffic into the Desert Rock site and Navajos remained at the blockade.

Members of Diné CARE/Doodá Desert Rock Committee met Dec. 13, at the Shiprock tribal courthouse to get answers about drilling permits. Navajo residents said a tribal police lieutenant denied Gilmore and other residents access to view the permits.

Navajo residents are asking for a copy of the categorical exclusion, which would allow the drilling activities to commence, and copies of the Clean Water Act Sections 401, 402 and 404, that would prove compliance with regulatory requirements have been met.

“There are major disturbance taking place and according to the Clean Air Act, these permits are a pre-requisite for drilling activity,� Navajo residents said in a public statement.

Further, Navajos say tribal boundary lines were redrawn to accommodate the power plant corporation.

The proposed area is home to extended families, but arbitrarily drawn political boundaries by the Navajo Nation and company representatives have the families separated into the three chapters: Burnham, Sanostee, and Nenahnezad.

Navajo residents said the boundary defining Burnham and Nenahnezad was moved to the south for the benefit of DPA/Sithe within the past two years.

Elouise Brown of Sanostee said, “The local residents are not protesters but are resisters. Who would be happy if a well is being dug in their backyard especially when it is done in secrecy? So, how can those residents be considered protesters when they are simply standing up for their rights to have clean air, water, and environment.�

Burnham, Sanostee and Nenanezah residents are not waiting for remedy; many have set up camp at the proposed site and are refusing to move until they get the needed documents.

Navajos said this incident follows accusations made against Sithe/DPA about environmental injustices, EPA’s proposed issuance of prevention of significant deterioration (PSD) permit Air Quality Permit for Desert Rock Energy Facility and the creation of Navajo Nation Energy Policies without public input.

For more information on the Navajo blockade:
Lori Goodman
Dine’ CARE
PH: (970) 259-0199
FAX: (970) 259-2300
kiyaani@frontier.net
dinecare.org

how to make lock-ons (lessons from Faslane 365)

The basic principle of a lock-on is to lock yourself onto something so that you cannot be easily physically removed. That something can be another person or something fixed. The best way is with a climbing carabina and a chain or rope around your wrist. The important thing is to make it very difficult for the police or whoever to cut your lock-on off. Thats where the fun part comes in, covering that lock-on to make it very difficult to get to, thus delaying the authorities and making your blockade as successful as possible. They will possibly have access to specialist equipment.

The basic principle of a lock-on is to lock yourself onto something so that you cannot be easily physically removed. That something can be another person or something fixed. The best way is with a climbing carabina and a chain or rope around your wrist. The important thing is to make it very difficult for the police or whoever to cut your lock-on off. Thats where the fun part comes in, covering that lock-on to make it very difficult to get to, thus delaying the authorities and making your blockade as successful as possible. They will possibly have access to specialist equipment.

Simple steel lock-on tubes are great but can be cut into in 20 minutes with a specialist drill head. The yellow pipes with a 2 cm thick wall are also great because the plastic actually melts around the drill head making them very hard to get into.

To make an oil drum lock-on you simply need an oil drum and some piping – preferably steel – which is just wide enough to fit your arm in and no more, cut so that it is as long as the barrel is wide. Drill a hole in the middle of this pipe section so that a metal rod can be inserted, this is what you actually lock on to. Cut holes on either side of the barrel so that this pipe can fit in in such a way that two people can lock-on on either side. Then simply fill this barrel with concreate and all sorts of hell like scraps of metal (lengths of thick steal wire will hold it together), megamorphic rock (very solid rock), quartz and the odd diamond if you want to bling it up, lengths of shredded polyprop is also very good at stopping the break-up of concreate from the wrath of a jack hammer. If you wanna be real hardcore putting in canisters of camping gas or lighter filler make the cops quite reluctant to cut into them (or even just saying you have, they wont take the risk), this is of course pretty dangerous. It will take the most skilled cutting crew in the country at least a couple of hours to cut you out of there. Two people locked on is better than one because with one person they may just try to lift it out of there with a fork lift truck, two bodies makes this far less likely.

The “Baby barrel� lock on is much more portible, fitting into a normal ruck-sack this one is for the blockader on the go. Its just a steel lock on tube inserted into a small barrel lengthways, its a similar idea as the oil barrel lock on with the concrete mass surrounding where you are locked on to the other person inside the tube. It is a little easier to cut into but its portability and ease of construction makes this the one to have this christmas.

Portability is often an important factor. Being able to stash and camoflage your lock-on will help here but always have a plan B if it gets found. The police will eventually be able to cut you out, no material is unbreakable but the longer you can hold your blockade the more you will have achieved out of your eventual arrest. Happy blockading.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it… (report from activist security gathering)

ID cards, injunctions, CCTV with voice activated alerts, national license plate monitoring, face recognition, directional microphones, network profiling, DNA databases, keylogging, phone taping, bugging and tracking, these are just some of the tools of repression being used against those battling to save the world from total domination and destruction.

ID cards, injunctions, CCTV with voice activated alerts, national license plate monitoring, face recognition, directional microphones, network profiling, DNA databases, keylogging, phone taping, bugging and tracking, these are just some of the tools of repression being used against those battling to save the world from total domination and destruction.

This message will self destruct in 10 seconds…. 9.. 8.. 6.. 5.. 4.. 3.. 2..

One might think that this is some cloak and dagger spy thriller, or orwellian distopia – but todays world is one of overt and covert surveillance and repression. The likes of you and me are the target and this is no paranoid delussion – they really are out to get us.

This was the stark reality presented at a top secret conference on activist security that took place this month. Meeting in a quite location somewhere near the coast, dozens of campaigners from around the country came together to learn about the technology and techniques being used by the authorities and private agencies as they attempt to gathering information and disrupt and destroy campaigns.

The aim of the gathering however was not to make everyone paranoid and feel helpless in the face of the technological assaults on our privacy, but rather to equipe people with the awareness and knowledge to enable them to take steps to reduce the risk to themselves and those they associate with.

The two day conference involved a wide variety of workshops, some discussion-based, some practical or computer-based. Lessons learned by those attending included the importance of ‘need to know’, the now proven fact that switching off a mobile phone is not enough to prevent it being remotely activated as a bug or tracking device. Also discussed was how to spot and loss a tail, how to trap and expose infiltrators, issues of security for campaign groups and their offices such as maintaining a secure contacts database. Computer based skills covered included encryption of stored data and electronic communication, and ways to use the internet for research etc without leaving a trace.

Mush of the information presented during the workshops came from the document ‘Practical Security Advice for Campaigns and Activists’ and this, along with the experiences and ideas contributed by the participants of the gathering are apparently going to be put together as a printed booklet for distrubution next year. Additionally there are plans for a ‘walls have ears’ style poster outlining basic precautions which can be displace in meeting spaces and social centres etc to remind people of the need to consider security.

info@activistsecurity.org
http://www.activistsecurity.org/

21 Arrests as British Nuclear Weapon Sites Disrupted

11.12.2006

1st report: This morning the Trident submarine base at Faslane and the atomic weapons factory at Aldermaston have both been the focus of disruption as activists blockaded entrance gates.

11.12.2006

1st report: This morning the Trident submarine base at Faslane and the atomic weapons factory at Aldermaston have both been the focus of disruption as activists blockaded entrance gates.

At Faslane the North gate was blockaded by activists from the Trident Ploughshares campaign. The gateway was blocked around 7 a.m. by a group of cyclists who formed a cordon and then locked on to each other using chains and padlocks. Shortly afterwards another group on foot blockaded the gateway by lying in the road, joined to each other through tubing of plastic and other materials. Police, using specialised cutting teams, removed these blockages and made 14 arrests.

At the same time a group from Faslane Peace Camp blocked the road at the entrance to the South gate of the base, using lock-on tubes and barrels filled with concrete. It took two hours to clear the roadway. There were 7 arrests.

The Faslane protests are part of the Faslane 365 campaign which so far has led to over 350 arrests.

2nd report: Faslane Nuclear base successfully blockaded for over 2 hours

Garry | 13.12.2006 19:01 | Faslane | Anti-militarism | Scotland
Monday the 11th of December saw one of the most successful blockades of the Faslane nuclear submarine base since the start of the Faslane 365 campaign. The blockade was a joint effort between a group of Trident Ploughshares and the crew from Faslane Peace camp.

Monday the 11th of December saw one of the most successful blockades of the Faslane nuclear submarine base since the start of the Faslane 365 campaign. The blockade was a joint effort between a group of Trident Ploughshares and the crew from Faslane Peace camp. One of the roads to the base was completely blockaded for 2 hours and 10 minutes. In a day that saw 20 people being arrested and the running total rising above 365 people, 3 of the blockaders have actually been summoned to court on charges of breach of the peace.

At approximately 6:30 am a group of people from the peace camp assembled by the road leading to the base just by the south gate. After waiting for one of the patrolling police vans to drive past, they pulled part of the fence of the peace camp out into the middle of the road creating a temporary boundary between themselves and the police who were not much more than 100 metres away. Behind this fence they had hidden 2 large oil barrel lock-ons which were rolled out onto the road, 3 people locked onto them in a line then 3 others joined them with 2 tough steel lock-on tubes, and another “baby� oil-drum lock on creating a daisy chain of six people with 5 pretty hardcore lock-ons.

It took the police about 20 seconds to arrive on the scene by which point they had successfully blockaded the main road between Helensburgh and the base. The police called for back up and for the cutting teams and within minutes there were between 30 and 40 police on the scene. They immediately got to work cutting into the lock-ons and were as usual very concerned not to let anybody see what sort of cutting equipment they were using to the extent that they erected large visual barriers to conceal their work. Peace campers did however manage to get footage of their equipment from our birds eye observers in the trees. They had 3 separate cutting units at work on us yet it still took them 130 minutes to clear the road. 7 people were arrested at this incident 6 for blockading and one for possessing a rope and harness.

As this blockade was happening a second group blockaded the entrance to the base at the north gate. The group of Trident Ploughshares blockaded the round-about by chaining their bicycles together and locking themselves to them with D-locks around their necks. Others were arrested for simply cycling around the roundabout slowly. This blockade was successful in shutting down the road for half an hour. Both blockades together ensured that the work of the base was severely disrupted for the whole morning.

Of the 20 people arrested all have been released but 3 of the releases were under condition that they will appear in court on the 20th of December. These are the first of the 360 odd people that have been arrested to be formally charged with breach of the peace and gives an opportunity for the first time since the launch of Faslane 365 to actually bring the legality of the Trident system into question in court. Particularly important since the announcement by Blair that Trident is to be replaced despite being illegal under international law.

We are now witnessing an escalation of the campaign against the spectre of nuclear war. Expect to see much more civil society resistance throughout next year as the Faslane 365 campaign comes to a climax.

www.faslane365.org
www.tridentploughshares.org
www.cnduk.org
www.peacenews.info/
www.faslane.co.nr/

—————————————

Aldermaston arrestSeven people have been arrested during an action which blocked two gates at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston this morning.

The Aldermaston bomb factory, where preparations are being made for a new generation of nuclear weapons for the UK, has also been blockaded this morning by the Block the Builders campaign. The “Home Office” gate of the site was closed, causing a tailback of worker traffic as far as the A4.

The protest at Aldermaston was part of an ongoing campaign against the £5.3 billion development at Aldermaston which will not only provide information for the British nuclear programme but also for the US programme under the sharing of information under the Mutual Defence Agreement. The facilities include a new laser system which will help scientists create conditions similar to that inside a nuclear bomb to allow more accurate modelling. This allows Britain and the US to circumvent the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty which bans the actual testing of nuclear weapons.

http://www.blockthebuilders.org.uk/
http://www.cnduk.org/pages/altwhitepaper.pdf

A Trident Ploughshares spokesperson said: “Our government, far from honestly moving towards disarmament, is planning to tie us to weapons of mass destruction for the next 50 years. We must do what we can to put a spoke in the wheel of this ongoing crime. Trident, present or future, is an instrument for bullying and mindless, unrestrained violence. It belongs to a mindset of threat, hatred and fear and is the very opposite of what we need at this critical stage in the history of the human race.”

—————————————

Invitation:building support for action against climate change: 14th December, Manchester

What can we do to support and encourage radical action against climate chaos?

One of the follow-up meetings after the climate camp focused on what we can best do to support action taking place on climate change. There will be another in Manchester on Dec 14th.

What can we do to support and encourage radical action against climate chaos?

One of the follow-up meetings after the climate camp focused on what we can best do to support action taking place on climate change. There will be another in Manchester on Dec 14th.

We met at the Northern Eco-Action gathering in Bradford on November 11. At a productive and energising meeting, we came up with a list of concrete suggestions, and a whole load more questions to be answered. A report of
the meeting is attached.

We’ll be taking these questions forward at a further meeting, which will look at what we can best do to support local actions and groups taking radical action on climate change, consider how best to stay in touch and share skills and resources. Proposals from this meeting will be brought to the next gathering in Leeds in January.

We’ll be meeting in Manchester on Thursday, December 14, 11am-5pm. Bring food to share for lunch.
The venue is at Bridge-5 Mill (otherwise known as MERCi) – fully accessible & close to Manchester Piccadilly train station, details at http://www.merci.org.uk/visiting-b5m.php

We will be putting people’s thoughts and responses online in the lead-up to the meeting. Two of these are below: one a report from a workshop at the EarthFirst! Summer Gathering, one the reflections of one of the participants at the meeting in Bradford. If you have something to contribute to the debate that you would like people to read before we
meet, please email it to actionsupport@climatecamp.org.uk and we’ll circulate it to those who are coming.

If you want to read any other thoughts sent out before the meeting, or if you’re likely to arrive late or need somewhere to stay, please email actionsupport@climatecamp.org.uk to let us know you’re coming.

“Supporting radical action against climate change across the country

Report from meeting Saturday 11 November, Bradford Resource Centre
(Meeting to develop ways of supporting local climate action groups and actions, how to stay in touch and how to share skills and resources. Plus co-ordinated days of actions.)

We started by looking at what we need in order for lots of actions to be taking place.

Broadly speaking, they fell into two categories. The more abstract:

– inspiration
– buzz
– energy
– (feeling of) a critical mass taking part in actions
– sense of urgency
– hope

and the more concrete:

– people finding out about actions so they can get involved
– feeling of success (and publicising our successes)
– skills
– money
– information resources
– feeling of difference from approaches and tactics that haven’t worked in the past
– lessening/avoiding/ability to resist state oppression
– strategic reflection

We felt that the more concrete needs would follow relatively easily if the first were met: people’s energy and inspiration would mean that money is raised, information resources get researched and distributed, etc..

We identified as the main catalyst to inspiration and energy was positive reports of success from lots of actions taking place. So, the question became: where is the best place to concentrate our energy and resources to influence and establish the positive feedback loop that would lead to an escalation of direct action taking place?

As a precursor to evaluating this, we tried to list some of the more and less concrete things that would be likely to have this input, some steps that could be taken. This list is not comprehensive, but reflects the directions our thinking and discussion took on the day.

Resource packs
– briefings
– template actions
– press releases
– potential targets
– legal briefings
– reports of success stories
– leaflets
– stickers
– other merchandise: beer mats, branded condoms, lollipops etc.
– different modes of how local groups might organise
– potentially useful action tat (e.g. dinghies)

Skillsharing

Secure means of communicating and networking

Convergence
– face-to-face meetings
– parties
– big actions
– treeplanting

Publicising actions
– print media: ours
– EF! update
– schnews
– local newssheets
– print media: others’ (we provide the stories, they publish)
– liberal press (often keen for stories, sometimes sympathetic)
– more mainstream press
– cascading, decentralised methods, e.g.:
– word-of-mouth
– stickers
– graffiti
– email
– film showings
– web-based
– EF! action reports
– indymedia
– indymedia climate
– rising tide
– climate camp
(also use of email and web for distribution of paper-based media)

Ways in
– distribution of newssheets
– distribution lists
– people to help!
– friendship networks
– local groups contacts — publicised (not necessarily a group: can be person(s) up for stiff if more want to get involved)
– public meetings and gatherings
– presence on demos, at conferences, festivals
– big, advertised public actions
– stalls
– gateway actions/groups
– roadshow

Kickstart actions
– local
– bigger

Identity
– network identity rather than movement identity
– heterogeneous membership
– existing networks
– individuals
– groups
– friendship groups

Note on local organising (particularly relevant for contacts and for resource packs)
All local groups are different, and what works somewhere might not be the best way of organising in a different area. There are lots of successful ways of organising, including
– one ‘action group’ with a broadly consistent membership but changing focus, perhaps doing actions under different banners
– different groups with people who attend more than one as informal links
– different groups with a forum in which they come together
– there is no local group, but people occasionally come together to do stuff
We shouldn’t be prescriptive: there are as many sorts of local organising as there are local groups.

The way forward from here:
The main task ahead is to work out how we can best use our resources for the greatest effect. This goes both for which areas we prioritise, and how we can best tackle each area. In looking at, say, web-based publicity, we need to look at what it is we need to fulfill our aims, evaluate whether any of the existing fora meet these aims, and if not, if it would be possible to transform them into something more useful for our purposes, and the likely effort involved in this (worth comparing with, say, resources to set something up from scratch.)”

“NOTES FROM EF! Summer Gathering Workshop:
Building a movement for climate justice beyond the Camp for Climate Action

Most interesting is section 3 – HOW WOULD THE NETWORK BE ORGANISED?

1 WHAT SHOULD IT ACHIEVE?
* Dismantle the fossil fuel industry (and therefore Capitalism)
* Place CC at the center of social thinking/culture in wider society, not just us
* Provide support for each other – knowing that others are working on the same issues
* Develop renewable energy, decentralised around the country, locally run
* Develop and set up workable alternatives
* Awareness raising and education
* Work to reduce consumption/demand – also means reshaping how we think about economic growth/progress
* Focus on aviation/aviation as a new anti-roads movement?
* Focus on Nuclear be ready for nuclear new build with strong arguments and analysis

2 WHAT WOULD THE NETWORK DO/ HOW WOULD IT BE DIFFERENT?
* Direct action!
* Building housing co-op movement, urban/rural links to re-localisation
* Radical analysis not pissing about
* Think long term re-localisatiom (within the movment also)
* Working in communities allotments, residents groups.
* Works with NIMBY groups re aviation/nuclear.
* Links with majority world.
* Find weak points in system now increasingly info/communications rather than physical spaces.

3 HOW WOULD THE NETWORK BE ORGANISED?
* Need a group/named network to feel part of, to feel belonging and sense of support
* Setting up new network seems inefficient why not use whats already there Rising Tide Network? has basic structure in place, communication and decision making structures, news-sheet, web-hosting, etc., international element RT North America, Australia, etc
* No time for lobbying government
* Use social centres
* Gatherings for decisions making
* Regionally based support for local individuals

4 WHAT NEXT?
* Recognise that people are motivated to come together to work on a specific action or project, rather than form a group for the sake of a group
* So harness the energy coming out of the camp by calling for everyone to take part in specific upcoming actions it is this that will kick-start local groups
* Oct 3-4 Day of Action coinciding with G8 Energy and Enviro ministers meeting in Mexico (called by Rising Tide North America) soon but maybe good because there will still be a buzz on after the camp
* Oct 21st Shell sponsored Wildlife photographer of the year award RT is doing a tour of the country with people from Shell affected communities (eg. Rossport, Nigeria), along with an alternative exhibition, in the run up to the award winner being announced on Oct 21st. RT will only be able to get to a few cities people who come to the the camp could be part of/expand this?
* February 2007 possible International Day of Action against Shell (called by Rossport Solidarity)

* Another camp? Maybe local camps are more sustainable, so no big camp next year but lots of small regional camps.

* Also recognised that some new local groups will need support Rising Tide might be able to help, or at least help link up people who need skills/training with people who could provide this”

Iceland Camp Against Heavy Industry Starts July 6th

The campaign to defend Europe’s vastest remaining wilderness continues. After the direct action camps in Iceland in the summers of 2005 and 2006 against the Karahnjukar dam and ALCOA’s aluminium smelter, the Saving Iceland campaign moves on to bring industrialisation of Iceland to a halt. A new camp in Iceland will commence on July 6th 2007 (location to be announced later). New plans for dams, power plants, smelters and other heavy industry need to be stopped. Targets include corporates such as ALCOA, ALCAN, Century Aluminium, Barclays, Mott McDonald, Bechtel, Rio Tinto and BH Billiton. Iceland, with it’s vast geothermal and megahydro possibilities, is a new frontier for energy craving industrial moguls, in times of increasing energy scarcity and insecurity. Stopping industrialisation and ecological destruction of the last unspoilt country in the west would be a major strategic victory for the green and anarchist movement and a new incentive for a global movement against industrialisation and ecocide. This includes the campaign against ALCOA and AluTrint’s plans for a smelter in Trinidad and other direct action against dams and heavy industry.

The campaign to defend Europe’s vastest remaining wilderness continues. After the direct action camps in Iceland in the summers of 2005 and 2006 against the Karahnjukar dam and ALCOA’s aluminium smelter, the Saving Iceland campaign moves on to bring industrialisation of Iceland to a halt. A new camp in Iceland will commence on July 6th 2007 (location to be announced later). New plans for dams, power plants, smelters and other heavy industry need to be stopped. Targets include corporates such as ALCOA, ALCAN, Century Aluminium, Barclays, Mott McDonald, Bechtel, Rio Tinto and BH Billiton. Iceland, with it’s vast geothermal and megahydro possibilities, is a new frontier for energy craving industrial moguls, in times of increasing energy scarcity and insecurity. Stopping industrialisation and ecological destruction of the last unspoilt country in the west would be a major strategic victory for the green and anarchist movement and a new incentive for a global movement against industrialisation and ecocide. This includes the campaign against ALCOA and AluTrint’s plans for a smelter in Trinidad and other direct action against dams and heavy industry.

Climate chaos and aviation: giant issue – giant letter

5.12.2006

5.12.2006

Yesterday climate activists from Southwest Climate Action smartly stormed North Somerset Environment and Planning Offices to protest against the planned expansion of Bristol International Airport.

The planners were taken aback by the style of delivery when presented with a giant letter, but as the protesters explained, climate change is a giant issue.

They occupied the lobby and some climbed onto the roof, claiming they were trying to escape the rising sea levels that climate change will bring. A nearby soundsystem played recorded sounds of planes taking off in order to bring home to the planners the effects that their decisions could have upon people in the Southwest.

In the lobby protestors had the full attention of key people involved in making this decision and together they flooded them with the arguments: moral, environmental and economical, for why expansion must not happen.

The planners admitted to the protesters that they might have to rethink the entire approach to the national program of expansions in the light of increasing news about climate change. The recently published Stern Report predicts that climate change will push the world economy into a depression if we do not act now.

Councillor John Crockford-Hawley, North Somerset Council Executive Member for Strategic Planning and Transport, also agreed with our statement that if expansion went ahead it would make a mockery of peoples individual efforts.

Stansted airport was refused planning permission for their expansion last week. The planners said that the Stern report was a major factor in their decision. The government plans to expand almost every airport in the UK, tripling air traffic by 2030. But this would make it impossible to meet the targets for emissions in order to avoid runaway climate change.

The protesters urged people to oppose the expansion. Passerbyers thatt felt moved wrote their comments on postcards which were handed in at the end of the day. The deadline for objections is Dec 22nd, which is the last chance for people to have their say.

Southwest Climate Action are a group of individuals inspired by the climate camp and the global movements for climate justice. They have pledged that, if the expansion goes ahead, they will take direct action in order to stop it.

The submitted letter:
Monday 4th December 2006

Dear Planners,

We are a group of individuals who are very alarmed by the proposed master plan to expand Bristol International Airport considering consensus by climate scientists that we need to take action now to avert catastrophic effects on humans and the ecosystems we are part of.

We need to prevent global temperatures from rising by more than 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels: the point at which dangerous processes caused by climate change could spiral out of control, such as the melting of the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, which could raise global sea levels by 7m and Weston being flooded.

Aviation: Bristol Airport already pumps out more emissions than the whole of Bristol’s traffic. If the airport expansion go’s ahead it will be impossible for North Somerset to meet their target of 60% cuts by 2050.

Local Economy: Tourists spend £11bn in the UK, while UK tourists spend £26 billion abroad – a loss of £15bn to our economy. Regional tourism is the single largest industry in the South West with 8% of all jobs; with expansion the tourism deficit is likely to double by 2030.

Furthermore, the Stern report reaches the simple conclusion: “the benefits of strong, early action on climate change considerably outweigh the costs.�

In light of this information it is critical that you fully acknowledge this information now.

Demand’s

Recognise that climate change is a serious global threat, it demands an urgent response.

Recognise the glaring contradiction between the councils stated commitment, through the Nottingham declaration, to tackle climate change and the expansion of the airport.

Recognise that if the airport expansion goes ahead it will be to the detriment of the local and global economy.

Acknowledge that the ‘Master Plan’ contains inaccuracies and fails to deal with the issue of climate change, and thus is irresponsible.

Acknowledge that the people of the South West will stand by the council in the rejection of this insane planning application. North Somerset council will not be alone in rejecting the current wave of ill-conceived airport expansions.
Uttlesford Council Planners have recently turned down the expansion of Stansted saying
“It would be premature to grant planning permission for the increased use of the runway in advance of clarification by the Government as to whether part of its response to the Stern Review and other recent research will be to withdraw or amend its Air Transport White Paper.�
“Given new evidence, such as the Stern report it is uncertain whether the policy of encouraging airport growth is a reasonable basis on which to proceed.
If the expansion is given the go ahead, despite the acknowledgement of the above information, then the council will be complicit in the devastation of lives, communities and habitats around the world, who will be hit by the impacts of climate chaos.

It would be negligent for the council to allow the expansion, but if they do we will take sustained action to stop it, taking responsibility for our lives and our future.

Yours truly,
South West Climate Action

westsideclimateaction@gmail.com

BIG Aldermaston Blockade on 11th December

The government will publish its white paper on the future of Britain’s
> nuclear weapons on Monday 4 December 2006.
>
> We need to show that there is massive opposition to any new nuclear
> weapons. Block the Builders are calling a mass blockade of AWE Aldermaston

The government will publish its white paper on the future of Britain’s
> nuclear weapons on Monday 4 December 2006.
>
> We need to show that there is massive opposition to any new nuclear
> weapons. Block the Builders are calling a mass blockade of AWE Aldermaston
> on 11 December. People from as far away as Yorkshire and Merseyside are
> already indicating their intention to come to the Berkshire bomb factory.
>
> While there will be a three month period for “debate” after the
> publication of the White Paper, Tony Blair has also made it clear that, in
> the end, MPs will only get to vote on the government’s preferred option.
> Meanwhile building work at Aldermaston continues apace, making a mockery
> of the supposed “debate” as millions are being invested in new facilities.
> Right now, work on the Orion laser site – a key facility for the future of
> Britain’s WMD project – is well underway.
>
> On Monday 27 November 400 people descended on AWE Aldermaston to carry out
> a citizen’s weapons inspection organised by Greenpeace and Block the
> Builders (see http://moblog.co.uk/blogs.php?show=9068 for pix). Let’s
> build for a massive blockade on 11 December!
>
> If you care about Britain throwing billions at its weapons of mass
> destruction while people die on hospital trolleys, if you care about a
> lack of resources for tackling climate change, if you care about the money
> being spent on keeping troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, now is the time to
> get off your bum and come and show your opposition to how your money is
> being spent and Britain’s status as a WMD proliferator.
> What do we want? Genocidal weapons of mass destruction or real security?
>
> This may well be an arrestable action, but we also need supporters.
> If we fail to act now, there will be another 20+ years of Britain as WMD
> state.
>
> Details of the blockade can be found at:
> http://www.blockthebuilders.org.uk/Blockades.php
> For ongoing updates and campaign alerts, join the tng list:
> http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/aldermaston_tng
> For regular news, see: http://www.aldermaston.net/news
> —
> *****************************************
> BLOCK THE BUILDERS!
> nonviolent direct action against new nuclear weapons
> *****************************************
> Pledge *your* support at http://www.blockthebuilders.org.uk/pledge
> *****************************************
> _______________________________________________
> Btb_organise mailing list
> Btb_organise@aldermaston.net
> http://lists.aldermaston.net/mailman/listinfo/btb_organise
>

Nativity donkey arrested at Faslane North Gate

2.12.2006

A small group of protesters at Faslane Naval base were arrested at around 18:30 for holding a nativity-themed blockade at the North Gate to the base. The group of radical Christians are currently being taken to Clydebank Police Office to be held, presumably until Sunday afternoon or Monday morning.

Faslane 365 Nativity scene (donkey, mary & joseph)2.12.2006

A small group of protesters at Faslane Naval base were arrested at around 18:30 for holding a nativity-themed blockade at the North Gate to the base. The group of radical Christians are currently being taken to Clydebank Police Office to be held, presumably until Sunday afternoon or Monday morning.

Yet another day of the Faslane 365 blockade ended as the police broke another weird and wonderful lock-on device. And tomorrow being advent Sunday, and thus, the beginning of advent, it seemed only appropriate that Mary, Joseph and the (lock-on-device-aka-) Donkey should arrive at the gate, only to be sent away again. Better put, it would be appropriate if you’re part of Prayer-i58, the radical Christian-based anti-authoritarian network.

Not getting what they wanted, they sat down and police moved in to arrest them, discovering over £50 worth of locks and chains holding the pair in place. After some time spent cutting them out, the police took them to the holding area just beyond the base, before beginning their journey to cells for the night.

Having phoned around, legal support can confirm that the pair are en route to Clydebank Police Office, where many other 365’ers have been held over the recent weeks. The total arrests number currently stands at 327 arrests (as shown on the F365 website). As today is a Saturday, it is possible those arrested might be inside until as late as Monday afternoon.

EF! gathering advance notice: date & contact to get involved

The Earth First Gathering 2007 is well into the planning stage.

Make space in your diary now: 18th – 22nd July 2007, somewhere in Norfolk. Please circulate this information widely.

If you want to get involved contact nexter@riseup.net.

The Earth First Gathering 2007 is well into the planning stage.

Make space in your diary now: 18th – 22nd July 2007, somewhere in Norfolk. Please circulate this information widely.

If you want to get involved contact nexter@riseup.net.

Thanx
The Collective.