Climate Chaos – Page 69

Shotton opencast coal mine sabotaged

Machines sabotaged at Banks Group’s Shotton opencast coal mine near Cramlington. On the morning of the 24th of May 13 machines were sabotaged at Shotton opencast coal mine. One excavator, two bulldozers and ten heavy earth movers were damaged. The damage included cut electrics, cut hydraulics and coal dust in oil tanks. Also 150 meters of water pipe was slashed, flooding an area of the mine. Shotton opencast is operated by Banks Mining and started working in 2008. It is expected to extract 3.4 million tonnes of coal, two million tonnes of shale and 750,000 tonnes of fireclay over an eight-year period. This action was taken by a group of autonomous people resisting total environmental destruction, climate change and civilised culture, and in solidarity with all people who are struggling against the coal industry.

UK arrests & raids, possibly climate action related

At lunchtime on Wednesday 26th May two addresses in Belper, Derbyshire, were raided by the North Yorkshire Counter Terrorist Unit.

One woman from The Sailboat Project was arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit criminal damage. She has since been released without charge, but bailed to return to the police station in two months (no bail conditions). Large quantities of property was confiscated, including IT equipment and mobile phones belonging to the arrestee and to other residents & visitors in the house at the time. Another woman who was away, today handed herself in to North Yorkshire police in Sussex and has been questioned and released.

One address in Sholebroke Avenue, Leeds was visited by police looking for specific people identified as having taken part in kayak training run by the Sailboat Project in North Yorkshire in April. The training was publicly advertised and well attended. The police questioned one individual. Questions included:
– what other groups are they part of
– why were they on the training
– who else was on the training
– were they planning to take action against power stations

The previous day (Tuesday 25th), police searched the premises of a different organisation not involved in boats, but with links to various gatherings. Nothing was taken. The warrant was under the Terrorism Act and is possibly related.

We are not aware of any other contact by the police, but plenty of other people were on the training…

International bike ride links communities in resistance: Merthyr to Mayo cyclist

22.5.2010
Today, a 50-strong international bike ride begins the 400 mile journey from a community resisting Britain’s largest open cast coal mine in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales to County Mayo, Ireland, where local people have spent the last ten years fighting a Shell-led gas development. We aim to offer direct support to these two local campaigns resisting the fossil fuel industry.

30 cyclists from the UK will join the “Madrid to Mayo” cycle ride in Cork, and many others from Ireland are expected to join on route. We will spend ten days traveling up the west coast of Ireland, distributing a specially produced newspaper, “Changing Times”. Events are being held along the way, each night we’re being hosted by different community organisations, and we’ll arrive in Mayo for the Rossport Solidarity Camp June Bank Holiday Weekend Gathering at Glengad.

It’s gonna be a good laugh, but hopefully more than that – the line we are drawing from Merthyr to Mayo is a reminder that none of us can afford to see these places in isolation.

The ride begins today with an event in Merthyr Tydfil where local residents and the solidarity cyclists are sharing stories, ideas, music and food.

“Our communities’ stories are repeated across the globe in the places where fossil fuels are sourced. Large corporations move into areas regardless of the wishes of the affected population; resources are extracted and, whilst the corporations reap vast profits, the local people have to suffer the health and environmental consequences. And, as the fossil fuels are burnt they contribute to climate change, affecting everyone.” – Merthyr resident, Alyson Austin.

Both communities have a long history of resistance, and their efforts have resulted in amazing successes. In Erris, Mayo, the campaign won a sizeable victory in November last year, when Shell’s application for their onshore gas pipeline was effectively refused by the planning authorities; it is unclear when (or if) permission will be granted in the future. In Merthyr Tydfil, campaigners are currently taking out a Group Private Nuisance case against the mining company, Miller Argent. Significant numbers of local people are participating in the legal action which aims to limit the mine’s impact on residents. Climate activists recently did a solidarity action by blockading coal trains headed from the mine to Aberthaw Power Station. In recent months, Mayo has seen string of actions locally, nationally and internationally in solidarity with political prisoners Pat O’Donnell and Niall Harnett (more information on the prisoners and how to write to them, and the campaign in general, on the shell to sea website.)

Please join us on the ride, for the gathering, and in continued resistance against patriarchal white-supremacist capitalist imperialism, and the fight for social and ecological justice!

http://www.merthyrtomayo.org.uk

Giant Elephant attacks Manchester Council meeting

……well sort of. New councillors were reminded yesterday that Manchester Airport is still the ‘elephant in the room’ when it comes to the local Climate Change Action Plan – since the Council have refused to include the flight emissions from the Airport in their carbon reduction targets. The 9ft inflatable elephant highlighted that the Council’s much-lauded plans are totally undermined by the omission of the Airport– especially considering that Manchester City Council own 55% of Manchester Airports Group.

As Councillors met altogether for the first time since the election, a trailer bike soundsystem played a set of aircraft noises as a reminder of what life under the flight path can be like for communities in Stockport and Knutsford.
Aircraft Noise – audio/x-ms-wma 4.4M

In November 2009, Manchester City Council released ‘Manchester: a Certain Future’ which laid out plans to reduce the city’s CO2 emissions by 41% by 2020. These calculations did not include the full impact of the airport. The next day the Council Planning Committee approved proposals to bulldoze residents homes at Hasty Lane, to expand the World Freight Centre at Manchester Airport. [1]

A report by the Committee on Climate Change (December 2009) has predicted that Manchester Airport could become as busy as Heathrow with the number of flights doubling by 2050, leading to a flight taking off or landing every 70 seconds.[2]

Recently, the new coalition Liberal Conservative government in London have blocked expansion plans at Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick. It seems the aviation industry will be looking to expand regional airports like Manchester to increase their profits.

Alex Fountain from the Stop Expansion at Manchester Airport coalition said, “The new councillors need to take a fresh approach to airport expansion. The council cannot continue to ignore its effects on local communities – such as rising carbon pollution and noise impacts.”

He continued, “There is a tourism defecit in the Northwest of England amounting to £2.2 billion. [2] That’s £2.2 billion more being taken out of the region than being brought in by airports. The argument that airport expansion is good for jobs and the economy is unfounded. We need an update assessment of the airport’s role in the region.”

Manchester Airport plan to become carbon neutral by 2015 – but this will not include emissions from flights.

A rendition of ‘Nellie the Elephant’ by the Toy Dolls was also heard playing out the soundsystem.
TUNE: Nellie the Elephant by the Toy Dolls – mp3 3.1M

Notes
————————–

[1] Council Approve Expansion Plans – Manchester Evening News – 21st November 2009 http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1183425_fury_over_airports_move_to_demolish_family_homes

[2] Manchester Airport to be as busy as Heathrow – Manchester Evening News – Monday 8th March 2010
http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1194908_manchester_airport_to_be_as_busy_as_heathrow

[3] Brendan Sewill’s ‘Airport Jobs: Cruel Hoax, False Hopes’ – page 21.
Available here:
http://www.aef.org.uk/uploads/Airport_jobs___false_hopes_cruel_hoax.pdf

http://www.stopmanchesterairport.org.uk

The new Action Update – full of of action news and analysis

In the new summer edition of the EF! Action Update, read about coal trains blockaded, peat bogs defended, and gas terminals shut down. Find out about the dangers of nanotech, current state of nuclear GM trials in the UK, Tesco uprisings, golf course trashing, tar sands action and much more.

Be inspired by our protest camp feature and the recent Titnore victory. And from across the seas, read about our brothers and sisters struggling against whaling ship sabotage, coal port pirates, riots in Zagreb, mining firm occupations in Bolivia, dam resistance in Brazil and much more.

“We are going to inherit the earth . There is not the slightest doubt about that. We Are not afraid of ruins. We carry a new world, here in our hearts. That world is growing this minute.” – Durruti

To download the latest EF!AU for printing, go to http://www.earthfirst.org.uk/efau/actionupdate_summer10print.pdf

To read the latest EF!AU online, go to http://www.earthfirst.org.uk/efau/actionupdate_summer10.pdf

TATE MODERN 10TH BIRTHDAY SEES ACTION AGAINST SLICK BP SPONSORSHIP

DEAD FISH AND OIL-DRENCHED BIRDS HANG FROM TURBINE HALL

Tate Modern was forced to close down parts of its No Soul For Sale tenth anniversary exhibition on Saturday (15 May) while it struggled to remove dozens of dead fish and oil-soaked birds (1) hanging from huge black balloons let loose in the Turbine Hall.

DEAD FISH AND OIL-DRENCHED BIRDS HANG FROM TURBINE HALL

Art activists from LIBERATE TATE, a growing network dedicated to ensuring the museum drop its sponsorship deal with BP, infiltrated Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall and released dozens of helium-filled black balloons with dead animals attached. Crowds of tourists and art lovers gathered to watch the balloons rise up in the air until they filled the ceiling of the Turbine Hall.

Josephine Buoys, who took part in the art action, said: “We took this action whilst Tate sponsor BP is creating the largest oil painting in the world. Across the Gulf of Mexico ecosystems and livelihoods are being devastated by their oil spill. Every day Tate scrubs clean BP’s public image with the detergent of cool progressive art. Yet there is nothing
cool about a corporation that cares more about its profits than life or the future of our fragile world.”

By late afternoon Tate staff had burst some the oil bubble-like black balloons by climbing onto a high gantry, but many remained out of reach and the rotting fish and seabirds hovered above the evening’s celebrations headlined by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth. Rumours circulated that Tate would commission a marksman to shoot the remaining balloons down from the top of the former power station.

LIBERATE TATE said: “Every time we step inside the museum Tate makes us complicit with acts that are harming people and creating environmental destruction and climate change, acts that will one day seem as archaic as the slave trade. We call on Tate to become a responsible, ethical and truly sustainable organisation for the 21st century and drop its
sponsorship by oil companies. As a public institution the Tate’s Trustees, chaired as they are by an ex-CEO of BP, must abandon its association with BP. All visitors to the Tate must be able to enjoy great art with a clear conscience about the impact of the museum on society and the environment.”

LIBERATE TATE distributed a communiqué (online here http://bit.ly/9RFfxJ) throughout the Tate Modern 10th anniversary promising further actions to ‘free art from oil’ by artists and activists across Britain until Tate ends its association with BP.

LIBERATE TATE have issued an open invitation for artists, activists, art lovers and other concerned members of the public to act to ensure that Tate ends its oil sponsorship by the end of 2011 ahead of Tate Modern’s expansion into its cleaned-out underground oil tanks.

LIBERATE TATE contact details:
web: www.twitter.com/liberatetate email: liberatetate@gmail.com

(1) – the ‘seabirds’ were made by members of Liberate Tate

Coal Action Network website relaunched!

Check out http://coalaction.org.uk/ for the updated and re-vamped Coal Action Network website and detailed coal maps of the UK. It is hoped that this website will be a useful resource to anyone taking action – or thinking of taking action – to protect communities, environments and the climate system from coal projects.

The CAN website will be kept up-to-date with recent news from campaigns and the industry. Have a look at The Coal Maps – mapping coal across the UK, contacts page for campaigns and groups active on coal, useful resources for campaign groups, arguments against new coal, upcoming events and links to information and other issues. You can get in touch to contribute updates and information and sign up to the CAN email list.

Through this website we aim to help link community struggles and arm ourselves with the information we need to resist new open cast coal mines and coal-fired power stations.

party at the pumps

15 May 2010
The shell garage on upper street in islington was closed for several hours this afternoon by more than a hundred protestors.

at lunchtime around 50 people gathered at oxford circus, watched by quite a large police presence with several van-loads on stand-by. the station was briefly closed ‘due to sheer weight of numbers’ but re-opened after ten minutes, and they set off for highbury and islington.

meanwhile, around 40 cyclists met at marble arch and, followed by a couple of police vans, they took a circuitous route through hyde park, down past buck house, and then for a triumphal lap round parliament square, shouting out support over the mobile sound system to the democracy village and to the decade-long protest by brian haw.

the mass then carried on up to angel, and then along upper street to the shell garage, which had already been well and truly closed down by the foot-soldiers and by the rhythms of resistance samba band (mostly deputised by soas members).

the shell garage looked great! several people held a huge “danger – keep out” banner across one access. a simple “closed” banner was strung across the other. above, another banner declared “stop shell’s tar sands hell”, and some activists found a route up to the roof to drop another “stop tar sands” banner from there.

a head-count numbered 125 at one point. an excellent turn-out on a day with when there were several other protests in town, and most encouraging, there were many new faces, keeping the fit team and police photographer, neil, busy.

police-wise, there were about a dozen officers around making notes, and one FIT team. down the road were another serial waiting in a van, and another van of TSG further out of sight.

activists handed out hundreds of fliers, and public response was overwhelmingly positive.

More photos

Ffos-y-Fran Coal Train Blockade – Action Report (and ‘Pictures’)

An action report as promised.
All cameras were seized by police – instead sketches have been drawn to document the action.

A group of individuals who met through the Rising Tide network and were inspired to take direct action against the route causes of climate change. They maintain an 8-hour blockade of coal trains carrying fuel from Ffos-y-Fran open-cast coal mine to Aberthaw power station.

An aerial view of the mine, the protest groups and the police response

ACTION

On 26th April 2010 in the early afternoon a group of individuals made their presence known to staff and security at Ffos-y-Fran open-cast coal mine in Merthyr Tydfil. Having ensured their presence around the tracks was known and no trains would be leaving until they were removed, they proceeded to lock themselves to the train track using chains and super glue. This single track is used to transport train-loads of mined coal to Aberthaw power station, and the first and only train for the day was due to leave soon after. Legal observers and support were present.

It took a long time for police to make the lengthy journey from the nearest police station, however they sent their friendly neighbourhood helicopter on plenty of pointless gas-guzzling jaunts around the area. Once the police properly arrived they immediately arrested the four support people, placed them in handcuffs and made them wait beside the track while a cutting team arrived to remove the group who had locked on to the rails. Despite the handcuffs, the support team continued to provide food and water to the lock-on team. Later the police also arrested the legal observer who was clearly on the other side of the fence and not on the track. After approximately 4 and a half hours of lengthy response times and a paper-chain of police bureaucracy that group was removed and arrested.

The first group locked on complete with washing-line banner

As this group of people were being led off the train tracks they informed the police of some incredibly irritating news. A second group had been hiding just round the corner and were as they spoke emerging and locking onto the tracks with heavy duty lock-on tubes. Clearly too exhausted from their hard work operating bolt croppers to take a quick stroll down the line to check this out, the helicopter took to the skies once more. One quick swoop confirmed what it had failed to notice on its many swoops earlier – four protesters with a legal observer and support, cheerfully waving from the train track before, now finally sure their presence had been noted, calmly taking their places on roll mats and rugs and locking on inside two lock-on tubes placed in convenient gaps under the railway line. By this point it was 5.00pm.

A network rail engineer ran a couple of hundred metres down the tracks to check upon the new group. The police drove. Again on arrival they immediately arrested the legal observer and support, who were cheerfully reading a novel to those locked. Despite failing to produce on demand a Risk Assessment of the cutting operation (but plenty of whinging about how dangerous it is) it took the cops until 8pm to cut open the tubes – one of which was multi-layered, and the other of which had a very thick metal layer. A special groan was reserved for when they realised the protesters had not just chained but also superglued their hands together inside the tubes and had to send for some industrial glue remover.

The second group flagging down the chopper before locking on

All arrested were taken to Ystrad Mynach Police Station. This included four people who were enjoying a nice day out in the beautiful surrounding countryside, who the police arrested out of some kind of belief that they were in some way involved. In total 18 were arrested and spent 24 hours in the cells. It is believed that no coal left Ffos-y-Fran that day.

The second group in position

CONSEQUENCES

It appears that legal observers and support roles were originally arrested on suspicion of conspiracy, however they were subsequently charged with the same charge as those who had locked on. All 18 were eventually charged with “Unlawful Act With Intent To Obstruct The Railways” contrary to section 35 of the Malicious Damage Act 1861. This rather quaint law designed to protect the interests of private landowners over 150 years ago carries a rather less quaint maximum sentence of life in prison. However the protesters have stated that they are not anticipating anything approaching that kind of sentence as the law is obviously out of date and ample safety measures were taken to ensure there would be no danger to the train, the train driver, the police or the protesters.

All were bailed to return to Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates Court at 10am on 10th May 2010. All were bailed “not to be upon or allow yourself to be upon any property owned, leased or rented by British rail network”. They were allowed to travel home by train that day however any future train trips had to be cleared by arresting officers. Those who gave fixed addresses were bailed to reside at those addresses. Those who did not give fixed addresses were bailed to reside at contact addresses, despite making it clear they did not have any permission to live there and had no connection with those addresses other than being able to receive post from those addresses. Some were also bailed to sign in regularly at local police stations. One of those arrested was bailed to reside in Cornwall but sign in daily at Bath Police Station without the use of trains!

CLIMATE PROTESTERS FACE LIFE SENTENCES AFTER COAL TRAIN BLOCKADE

On Monday 26th April, people involved in the Rising Tide Network
literally put their necks on the line by blockading the railtrack which
carries coal from the controversial open-cast mine at Ffos-y-Fran in
Merthyr Tydfil to Aberthaw Power Station. It took the combined efforts
of British Rail Police and South Wales Police over 8 hours to remove the
last of the protesters at 8.10pm on Monday evening.

18 People from Bristol and Bath are due in court on 10th May, charged
under the Malicious Damages Act of 1861, a law to protect the interests
of 19th Century rail owners. If convicted they face anything up to a
life sentence in prison. The 18 People, who are part of the Rising Tide
(UK) Network were held for over 24 hours, and were only allowed to phone
out after 11.00 am yesterday (Tuesday). The house of one of those
involved was raided by 8 police officers who spent 3 hours searching
their home.

Kim Green from Rising Tide (UK) said:

“We are protesting the continued extraction and burning of fossil fuels
in the face of a global climate emergency. The failure of the Copenhagen
climate talks to deal with this huge problem, and the obvious policy
inadequacy the three main UK parties contesting the general election to
take the necessary action to tackle the problem has highlighted the need
for the people to take grass-roots direct action.”

Kim Green continues:

“This action is also in support of the local people of Merthyr Tydfil
whose campaign ‘Residents Against Ffos-y-Fran’ has been fighting the
mine for over six years. The mine causes noise pollution for up to 16
hours a day, dust and dirt are carried into the town by the wind, and it
turns the rain black.”

The process by which Miller-Argent were able to get the go ahead to
exploit this resource at the social cost of both the local and global
community failed to take into consideration the social-environmental
impact of such projects, highlighting the democratic deficit in the
planning process. The newly formed quango “The Planning Commission” will
only make these things worse, being able to ignore any consideration in
favour of profit.

Miller Argent have been quick to pressure their small workforce into
mobilising against local concerns – but their apparent concern for their
workers is betrayed by the fact that they are actually looking to sell
the mine as there is only half the quantity of high quality coal as they
initially believed. They are in fact making a loss on the project.

On the potential life sentence, a spokesperson for the 18 said:

“We would not anticipate facing any such penalty as we took great care
to ensure the safety of all taking part and had made certain that the
coal train would not leave the loading area before the line was blocked.”

“This was a carefully planned action: hence it’s success. However, we
admit that it was a drastic course of action but even this barely
matches the climate crisis we will face if much more radical measures
are not taken now.”

All 18 have been bailed to appear at Merthyr Tydfill Magistrates Court
on 10th May at 10.00 am.

*** Aberthaw Power Station is the biggest polluter in Wales. In 2006 it
released 7.4. million tonnes of Co2. It is Projected to run until 2025
with NO PLANS to fit carbon capture storage (CCS) technology. 40% of the
coal for the power station is supplied by Ffos-Y-Fran. It was targeted
by Bristol & Cardiff Rising Tide in 2008.

*** Miller Argent own and run Ffos-Y-Fran. Argent are in turn owned by
the BT Pensions Group. Both of these organisations make much of their
ethical and sustainable practices. But in this case they seem to be
placing profits over and above any element of social responsibility.