Climate Chaos – Page 70

Massive “Climate Action Now” Banner unfurled

April 25, 2010

Massive “Climate Action Now” Banner unfurled

April 25, 2010

Massive “Climate Action Now” Banner unfurled

DELTA, BC, CANADA – GatewaySucks.org and the Council of Canadians (Delta/Richmond chapter) unfurled a massive banner today that reads “CLIMATE ACTION NOW” on land slated for freeway construction.

Historic homes are being demolished, and ancient indigenous sites are under threat from the South Fraser Perimeter Road (SFPR) project here on the Fraser River bank. The est. $2 billion SFPR is part of the controversial Gateway program, which would greatly increase greenhouse gas emissions in BC.

The action took place at River Road and Centre Street in Delta. It coincides with the multi-faith Pilgrimage to Burns Bog, and is visible from the pilgrimage route across the Alex Fraser Bridge. Pilgrims and activists aim to raise awareness about Burns Bog, a large, carbon-sequestering peat bog also under threat from the SFPR freeway.

“Our neighbours are being forced out of their homes, and ecosystems are being bulldozed,” says Delta resident Ernie Baatz. “Schools and programs are being cut across the province to pay for this climate changing freeway. We have to stand up to this appalling waste.”

Baatz and fellow activists also planted trees at the site today, to highlight the area’s potential as a riverfront park, not a riverfront freeway. Although preparatory work has begun on some sections of the SFPR, no build contract is in place. A request for proposals was issued by the Ministry of Transportation in April 2009.

Today’s action is part of a week of events dubbed “Earth Action Week” by GatewaySucks.org and the Council of Canadians (Delta/Richmond chapter). For the full list of events see www.gatewaysucks.org/earth-action-week-april-1826

Photographs are available at www.gatewaysucks.org/picture-links

Follow www.twitter.com/gatewaysucks for updates

For more information about the Pilgrimage to Burns Bog see www.pilgrimage2burnsbog.org

>> Big shout out to UK roads activists past and present. You inspire us! <<

Bristol and Bath Rising Tide Blockade Merthyr to Aberthaw Coal Train – update

Update:
18 people were arrested and some held for over 24 hours at Ystrad Mynach police station before being charged a with:
An unlawful act with intent to obstruct the railway under the Malicious Damages Act of 1861.
This Victorian law designed to protect the interests of rail owners has a mximum penalty of life. 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.

The 18 were held incomunicado for a portion of the time they were in the cells and were only allowed to phone out after 11.00 am yesterday. The house of one of those involved was raided by 8 police officers who spent 3 hours searching their home.

The last person was released at 7.30 pm last night. All had bail conditions stipulating that they should not go on the railway without written permission – but we were allowed to catch the train home!

The arrests were made by British Transport Police backed up by a large contingent of the South Wales police force. A helicopter was also used in the operation The cutting team removed the last blockader at 8.10 pm. after the line had been closed for over 8 hours.

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

…..

latest update is that absolutely every1 involved has been nicked up to about 17/18 people all told I reckon, including drivers, legal observers, etc. Vehicles believed to have also been impounded. 🙁 A second wave lock-on with more heavy duty gear believed to have attached themselves to track shortly after 1st wave cleared; all arrested later that aft/eve.

The activists, part of the Bristol and Bath Rising Tide direct action group, reached the rail track at midday today, and phoned the security at the coal mine to warn them about the protest. Three of the activists then used chains and padlocks to lock themselves to the train tracks. Two of the activists went to a nearby vantage point where they could warn any approaching trains The activists also stretched a large banner across the line.

Police arrived at around 2pm, and warned the activists that they would be arrested for trespassing and obstructing the train line. They arrested the activists not attached the train-line and began cutting through the padlocks at around 4pm. The last activist was taken away from the scene at 5.15pm. But a second group arrived and locked on further along the line. Police are now dealing with them.

27 April 3pm update: The police have released a statement saying a total of 18 people – 11 men and seven women – were arrested yesterday. The train line reopened at 8.10pm last night.

——-

Bristol and Bath Rising Tide Stop Coal Train – Happening Now !

Please Call 07835366330 for on-site interviews and updates.
Alternative number (off site): 07909172768

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 Ffoss y Fran’ have 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, highlighting the democratic deficit in the planning process, which takes in to consideration the social-environmental impact of such projects. 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 the quantity of high quality coal is only about as half as good as they initially believed. They are in fact making a loss on the project.

Notes To Editor:

1. Rising Tide is an international network of groups tackling the Root Causes of Climate Change and Climate Injustice. http://www.risingtide.org.uk/

2.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.

3.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.

Bristol and Bath Rising Tide
info@risingtide.org.uk
http://www.risingtide.org.uk

PARTY AT THE PUMPS PART 2… THIS TIME IT’S SHELL!

MASS ACTION CALL OUT

When: Saturday, 15th May
Meet: 1PM at Oxford Circus
Bring: a zone 1-2 tube pass, noisemakers, your friends & family and your
dancing shoes
Oxford Circus meeting point map: http://tinyurl.com/OCnw-SVmap

MASS ACTION CALL OUT

Shutting down a petrol station for 5 hours on a sunny Saturday afternoon was so much fun we’re going to do it again. Shell’s Hell – in the tar sands and beyond – is next in the firing line.

Party 1 had Samba, twin sound systems, a live Ceilidh band, face-painting, free cakes and 200 people. Party 2 will be bigger and better, with activists joining us from Brighton, Oxford and beyond.
See here for a video of Party at the Pumps Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An6-tdxd12M

And for all you cyclists out there, there will be a special Party at the Pumps Critical Mass making its way to the party. Meet 1PM at Marble Arch (under the arch).

Get ready for sunshine, music, and dancing on the forecourt!

Why target Shell?

Party at the Pumps Part 2 is taking place just three days before Shell’s AGM, where the company will come under fire from shareholders over its plans in the Canadian tar sands; and a week before the Merthyr to Mayo solidarity bike ride, which will link two communities in Wales and Ireland resisting fossil fuel extraction.

Party at the Pumps is in solidarity with communities around the world who are resisting Shell’s destruction of lives and livelihoods, poisoning of lands and waters, and fuelling of climate chaos. In Northern Canada, Shell’s tar sands projects are ignoring First Nations treaty rights, causing rare forms of cancer and killing wildlife (http://www.ienearth.org/tarsands.html). In Rossport, Ireland, a dangerous onshore pipeline and massive refinery are transforming an area of outstanding natural beauty into an environmental disaster zone with serious public health and safety implications (http://www.rossportsolidaritycamp.org). And in Nigeria, where Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight Ogoni colleagues were hung by the Nigerian state for campaigning against Shell’s devastation of the Niger Delta, resistance to Shell and Big Oil continues (http://www.remembersarowiwa.com).

These struggles may be happening in distant places, but they are driven from Shell HQ. On May 15th, we bring the resistance to the heart of London.

This action is jointly called by London Rising Tide/London Tar Sands Network and Climate Camp London.
http://www.no-tar-sands.org
http://www.risingtide.org.uk
http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/london

Indigenous People take over mining firm in the wake of Climate Change conference

April 19, 2010

With the Global People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of the Mother Earth set to begin in Cochabamba, Bolivia, a group of Indigenous people have occupied the offices of a mining firm in the southeastern province of Potosi near the Chilean border.

April 19, 2010

The occupation began several days ago, on April 12, with roughly 700 Qulla People blocking access to a key railway line that leads away from the San Cristobal silver-zinc-lead mine, owned by Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation.

The Qulla say that Sumitomo is dumping mine waste directly into the Madera River, contaminating the land and threatening their water supplies; and constructing roads that are trampling on the rights of Mother Earth. They are demanding compensation for the environmental damage and calling on the Potosi government to honour their agreements, which includes providing help with some local infrastructure.

“Our demands are fair and must be met. The mine is ransacking our natural resources. We want compensation for the damage and … we want help with our development,” says protest leader Mario Mamani. Since the protest began, some 80 containers loaded with ore have also been seized and they have occupied the company’s offices. According to latest reports, the Qulla set fire to the offices and they have started to overturn the containers.

At the same time, the Qulla are also expressing frustration over President Evo Morales’ refusal to let them set up “Table 18″ at the Climate Conference.

According to the Achacachi Post, which is sponsored by the US government, the National Council of Ayllus and Markas of Qullasuyu (CONAMAQ) wants the table to discuss environmental problems in Bolivia, including Sumitomo’s pollution of the Madera River and the concern about Lake Intikjarka (Titikaka) being filled up with “sewage from the cities of El Alto, Batallas, Huarina, Tiquina, Achacachi, Mina Matilde in Bolivia and Puno and Huancane in Peru.” The lake is an important fishing resource for the Qullas and Uru-chullunis.

The Bolivian Deputy Minister of Environment, Juan Pablo Ramos, told the Associated Press that it’s not their intention to circumvent the discussion, but the world conference is not the appropriate settin,g because it will be focused on global issues.

CONAMAQ, however, says they are still going to proceed with Table 18, because “the Earth is our mother [and she has her rights], “for example, not to be contaminated.”

The Rights of Mother Earth will be one of the central focuses of the Conference. Other tables will include discussions on Agriculture and food sovereignty, the Kyoto Protocol, Dangers of the Carbon Market, and establishing an Environmental Court.

Overall, the World People’s Conference on Climate Change is a vital follow-up to the failed UN Conference in Copenhagen. And while the Qulla have been unfortunately sidelined, perhaps we can take stock in the fact that they won’t be labelled as criminals and thrown in jail.

We should, nevertheless, pay close attention to the Qulla. If nothing else, they are reminding us that we cannot ignore the rivers for the ocean. Instead, we must lead by example for every tree, river, plant and animal, ecosystem, every person, community and Nation.

We certainly can’t leave it to companies like Sumitomo and United States government or the United Nations. It’s up to each and every one of us.

Shell gas terminal blockaded, Bacton, Norfolk, UK 7am April 19th – updated

Solidarity with Pat O’Donnell and against Shell on Earth!

Update:

Solidarity with Pat O’Donnell and against Shell on Earth!

Update:

the road was closed off till 2pm, when people were removed and arrested – seven people at the scene on suspicion of obstructing the highway, and three people have been summoned to appear in court at a later date.

——-

Activists have today blockaded the access to Bacton gas terminal (1) on the North Norfolk coast; the road is currently blocked by activists lying in the road attached to steel arm tubes and by a large steel tripod.

Bacton gas terminal is the largest of its kind in Britain, pumping North Sea gas to Britain and mainland Europe; the terminal is operated by Shell and the protesters say they are taking the action in solidarity with a community in Republic of Ireland, who are opposing the development of a similar facility near Rossport in County Mayo (2). Shell heads the consortium developing the Irish terminal, refinery and pipeline.

A participate commented: “Bacton has been blockaded today in solidarity with the people of Mayo who have been protesting against Shell virtually daily since 2005. Residents there have been subjected to ongoing harassment from Shell and their contractors. Pat O’Donnell, a local fisherman, is currently serving a 7 month jail sentence for his part in the resistance to Shell’s development”.

Community resistance in the Rossport area has been fuelled by concerns that the new terminal will ruin the the coastal environment, farmland and wildlife habitats, as well as fishing grounds vital to the local economy. Fears for the local environment include potential disturbance to coastal conservation areas, which support wildlife such as dolphins and porpoises, plus the possibility that local drinking water could become contaminated. Residents also claim that due planning process has not taken place and that construction work started before planning consent was fully approved.

“ We want our action today to send two strong messages; firstly to Shell, that wherever they are in the world, there are those who will oppose their destruction of both the environment and local communities. Secondly, we want to send a message of solidarity to those opposing the Irish terminal, especially to Pat O’Donnell. Their struggles will not be forgotten”.

Ends

Notes
1.Bacton gas terminal is on the B1159, between the villages of Bacton and Mundesley.

2.For further information on the Irish based Shell to Sea campaign, opposing the gas terminal near Rossport in Mayo, visit www.shelltosea.com

BP + TAR SANDS = CLIMATE CRIME – Thu 15 Apr 10

Dateline: BP Shareholders Annual General Meeting, ExCel Conference Centre, London, Thu 15 Apr 10 – At the apex of the ‘BP Fortnight of Shame’, at the entrance to the BP AGM, climate chaos and human rights activists persuade BP shareholders to vote for the FairPensions anti-Tar-Sands motion. Mobilised by the UK Tar Sands Network, Rising Tide and Climate Camp, we let BP shareholders know, in no uncertain terms, that BP + TAR SANDS = CLIMATE CRIME.

Vidz at YouTube
• ‘BP + TAR SANDS = CLIMATE CRIME’ – 1, 2, 3, etc.
» LINKs to follow shortly, once editing and uploading is complete

TWO WEEKS OF INTENSE COLLECTIVE BP BRAND-TRASHING
Organised in solidarity with our indigenous First Nations sisters and brothers at the sharp end of the Canadian Tar Sands climate crime atrocity, the ‘BP Fortnight of Shame’ began on Fossil Fools Day, Thu 01 Apr 10, with widespread direct action pranks, including London Rising Tide delivering a ‘Back to Black’ Corpoate ID rebranding package to BP’s global headquarters in St. James Square – see, eg:
• ‘BP Goes Back to Black’
» video, 2:38 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNLzN3zld7o

Then on Sat 10 Apr 10, the London direct action component of an International Day of Action on Canadian Tar Sands saw 200+ people mount an “illegal” occcupation of the Shepherd’s Bush BP petrol station for a samba-&-ceillidh-powered ‘Party at the Pumps’ – see, eg:
• ‘BP hit by nationwide protests over plans to Enter the Tar Sands’
» video, 5:14 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An6-tdxd12M
» pix-&-vidz-led action report – http://london.indymedia.org.uk/articles/4613

The fortnight’s culminating protest occured alongside the Colombia Solidarity Campaign, demanding “BP MUST RECOGNISE ITS RESPONSIBILITY TO CASANARE WORKERS, COMMUNITIES AND THE ENVIRONMENT”, on the west plaza entance to the ExCel Conference Centre, as vote-casting investors arrived for the BP shareholders Annual General Meeting. First Nations Tar Sands campaigners Clayton Thomas-Muller and George Poitras from the Indigennous Environmental Network of North America were on hand, giving interviews to journalists and videographers, before going into the BP AGM at for the 11:30 start.
For more on the international anti-Tar Sands actions, check out:
• ‘Anti-Tar Sands Protests Gather Momentum’
» IMC UK Feature article – http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/04/449169.html

MAKING A KILLING IN COLOMBIA, AGAIN AND AGAIN
Bruno Federico of COSPACC (Corporación Social para la Asesoría y la Capacitación Comunitaria) spoke in his native Italian, ably translated by Claire Hall of Espacio Bristol-Colombia, of the mass murder of social movements opposed to BP’s exploits in Casanare, eastern Colombia, where BP has been operating for twenty years.

“During that time, 2600 people have been disappeared, 6500 people have been killed by paramilitary groups, right wing armed groups that have institutional links to the Colombian government.
More recently there has been 100 documented cases of direct state assassinations of civilians. Community leaders were forced to flee and social organisations that challenged BP’s practices were exterminated.
There has also been severe environmental damage caused by the extraction; water contamination, water depletion, landslides from seismic exploration. There has been very little challenge to BP’s environmental impact due to the communities being unable to organise.
However communities and workers are currently mobilising and have presented a list of demands to BP around five key themes:
– labour issues,
– social investment,
– human rights,
– public good
– and environment.
More info – http://www.espacio.org.uk/bp/CasanareMission2007Report.pdf
[source: ‘Oil, Violence and Social Movements in Colombia’ – http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/04/449208.html ]

HOLDING BP TO ACCOUNT FOR CLIMATE CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES
The UK-based FairPensions ethical investment campaign had tabled Special Resolution 25, a deliberately softly worded proposal aimed at garnering the widest possible support from shareholders, to which Clayton, George and other Tar Sands campaigners spoke:

“Special Resolution
That in order to address our concerns for the long term success of the Company arising from the risks associated with the Sunrise SAGD Project, we as shareholders of the Company direct that the Audit Committee or a Risk Committee of the Board commissions and reviews a report setting out the assumptions made by the Company in deciding to proceed with the Sunrise Project regarding future carbon prices, oil price volatility, demand for oil, anticipated regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and legal and reputational risks arising from local environmental damage and impairment of traditional livelihoods. The findings of the report and review should be reported to investors in the Business Review section of the Company’s Annual Report presented to the Annual General Meeting in 2011.”
[source: ‘Oil sands [sic] resolution and response’ – http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/set_branch/set_investors/STAGING/local_assets/downloads/pdf/IC_AGM_oil_sands_resolution.pdf ]

In an attempt to marginalise any criticism of the “right” of the BP Board of Directors to commit what ever climate crimes they deem to be a profitable “investment”, Special Resolution 25 was shunted to the arse-end of the agenda, to be rushed past at the hurry-up so that the shareholders could adjourn for their free lunch, courtesy of the BP bosses.

By miracles of modern communications technology, we were able to listen in on the proceedings of the debate inside the BP AGM on the sound system (see pic B7 above). So in the debate around the FairPensions Special Resolution, we got to hear the impassioned pleas from George, Clayton and others to BP to account for the financial and ecological risks, the environmental damage (local and global), the health damage to downstream First Nations communities, and the human rights violations that BP’s Tar Sands encroachments would entail– and to the polite, bland, evasive, corporate greenwash reply supplied on behalf of the BP Board. But we did hear from a person supporting the Special Resolution of and article in Wednesday’s Financial Times:

“BP has until now not had a presence in the vast resources of Canada’s oil sands, which are second only to Saudi Arabia in terms of proven reserves. It is now working on the proposed $2.4bn (£1.5bn) Sunrise project, split equally with Canada’s Husky Energy, and expects to make the final investment decision by early next year.”
[source: ‘BP to press on with Canada oil sands plan’, by Ed Crooks and Fiona Harvey, at FT.com (free registration required), on 14 April 2010 23:27 – http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6828b3de-4813-11df-b998-00144feab49a.html ]

So in fact, as the questioner put in, BP had already POSTPONED their final investment decision for a FOURTH time, until 2011 – I wonder if all the pressure piled on them by our ‘BP Fortnight of Shame’ might have influenced them so to do?

As I was preparing to leave for home, we got word on an iPhone from FairPensions of the voting percentages on the their Special Resolution:
In favour: 06%
Absentions: 09%
Against: 85% (ie: voting as directed to do so by the BP Board of Directors)

WE WILL SHUT THEM DOWN
This is, of course, merely a single battle in the long-running war over the Tar Sands atrocity, in a struggle for the future life-bearing capacity of our small blue jewel of a home world, which pits the climate criminal oil corporations against people and planet. BP bosses thought they could get away with applying their corporate “Silent Running” tactic (adopted by analogy from the military submaniner’s tactic of that name) to their desire to mire BP in Tar Sands shit, whereby executives would gain big bonuses if they suceeded in keeping their corporation’s climate criminal activities OUT of the public domain, unscrutinised by jounalists, and under everybody’s radar. Thanks to the initiative shown by our First Nations sisters and brothers like Clayton and George, plus Susan and Ariel Deranger (see, eg: ‘From Athabasca to Copenhagen’, video, 3:49 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2vfa6qwKgw ), our campaigning direct action depth charges have blown them to the surface for all to see.

So now you know of the sigle most destructive industrial climate criminal atocity on Earth, we invite you to find out more via the links below, then to make the most important transition of all: from concerned citizen to active climate chaos campaigner. Because the greater our number, the stronger our forces, and the more quickly we can score the telling victory required for the future of our human civilisation and our precious ecosphere: SHUT DOWN THE TAR SANDS!

LINKS
» Climate Camp UK – http://www.climatecamp.org.uk
» Columbia Solidarity Campaign – http://www.colombiasolidarity.org.uk
» COSPACC: Corporación Social para la Asesoría y la Capacitación Comunitaria – no website found
» Espacio Bristol-Colombia – http://www.espacio.org.uk
» FairPensions – http://www.fairpensions.org.uk/tarsands/action
» Indigenous Environmental Network – http://www.ienearth.org/tarsands.html
» Rising Tide UK – http://www.risingtide.org.uk
» Support the Beaver Lake Cree – http://www.co-operativecampaigns.co.uk/toxicfuels/beavercreenation.php
• UK Tar Sands Network:
» website – http://www.no-tar-sands.org
» blog – http://www.tarsandsinfocus.wordpress.com

Footnotes

More photos at https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/04/449231.html?c=on#comments

All these photos and video clips are ‘CopyLeft’
This means you are free to copy and distribute any of my photos and videos you find here, under the following license:
• Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License
» http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
» Accreditation: tim.dalinian.jones@gmail.com

NB: These pix are edited and downsized versions (up to 800x800px, 0.64Mpx, typically 100-900 KB) for onscreen display. If you would like the free, edited, full-sized versions (up to 3072x2304px, 7.1Mpx, typically 1-2 MB) for print, poster, placard, banner, etc, please email your request to tim.dalinian.jones [at] gmail.com quoting the picture title(s) you’d like.

Eyjafjallajoekull – climate activist extraordinaire

Here’s to an incredible first action ..

In 24 hours the Eyjafjallajoekull Volcano made a small estimated release of 7,412 tons of CO2, in doing so grounding 60% of European flights for the day and preventing the release of 206,465 tons of CO2. I make that the most successful direct action of all time – hats off to the world’s latest domestic extremist.

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2010/planes-or-volcano

Upcoming action dates & activist gatherings, 2010 – updated

scroll down for latest dates…

8-10 October 2010
Earth First! tree planting weekend – Treesponsibility

10 October 2010
Glasgow airport shut-down action

12 October 2010

scroll down for latest dates…

8-10 October 2010
Earth First! tree planting weekend – Treesponsibility

10 October 2010
Glasgow airport shut-down action

12 October 2010
Global Minga for Mother Earth

12-16 October 2010
Direct Action for Climate Justice, CJA call-out

13 October 2010
It’s Hammertime! – Smash EDO

16 October 2010
Crude Awakening – big oil day of action in London City

23-24 October 2010
Stop Nuclear Power Network UK Gathering, Bristol

10-12 December 2010
Earth First! tree planting weekend – Treesponsibility

=========

Old dates from this calendar:

2010

15-17 January 2010
Peace News Winter Gathering, Nottingham

23-26 January 2010
Mainshill Pre-Eviction Gathering

5-7 February 2010
EF! Winter Moot, North East England

12-14 February 2010
UK Rossport Solidarity Gathering, Nottingham

19-21 February 2010
Camp for Climate Action national ‘where next?’ gathering, Bristol – regional ones happening over January & February (details here)

26-28 February 2010
No Borders Winter Gathering, Nottingham

14 March 2010
UK Tar Sands Campaign Gathering, York

11am till 6pm (Vegan lunch by donation)
With BP’s AGM just 1 month away, and 2 weeks of actions planned for 1st to 15th April, come and connect with other UK-based Tar Sands campaigners, share ideas and create actions. We’ll be looking at strategies and actions for targeting Shell, BP and the Royal Bank of Scotland – Britain’s Dirty Threesome on Tar Sands investment.

We’re meeting in Derwent College, York University, room D/056 – from the station or city centre, take bus number 4 to the very last stop, walk back about 50 meters, and the road entrance to the college is signed on the left. D/056 is accessed from the outside, beyond the dining hall and ponds.

1 April 2010
Fossil Fools Day

1-4 April 2010
The Huntington Lane Fossil Fools weekend convergence

1-15 April 2010
BP Fortnight of Shame
including London Mass Action

17-18 April 2010
Social Centres in a Time of Crisis, Leeds
A weekend of workshops, discussions and socialising for everyone with an interest in radical autonomous social centres

22-23 April 2010
anti-aviation 48 hours of sticker-whacking, subvertising, adbusting pandemonium

23-26 April 2010
Anti-nuclear Camp, Suffolk – see latest EF!AU for details

6-10 May 2010
Activist Tat training week: putting up marquees, erecting and mending flat pack toilets, as well as technical and theoretical (power, plumbing etc) skillsharing

15 May 2010
Party at the Pumps 2

21 May-5 June 2010
Merthyr to Rossport solidarity bike ride – Climate Chains

5-8 June 2010
Rossport Solidarity Camp Gathering, Ireland

11-19 June 2010
World Naked Bike Ride – 11 June: Manchester, Southampton; 12 June, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London; 13 June: Brighton, Bristol; 19 June, Sheffield, York

18-21 June 2010
Outdoor Skillshare, Scotland

19 June 2010
National Gathering of the Stop Nuclear Power Network, London

25 June-31 August 2010
Ecotopia Biketour, from Critical Mass, Towards Car Free Cities Conference, to the French & German climate camps and much in between.

6-12 July 2010
Anti-Industrial Land Defence Action Camp, Catalonia
Go only if you can speak Catalan or Spanish – http://acampadaderesistencies.blogspot.com

14-22 July 2010
Nordic climate action camp, Southern Sweden

22 July-1 August 2010
French Camp Action Climat, near Le Havre

22 July-2 August 2010
Swiss climate camp Fr / De

23-27 July 2010
Peace News Summer Camp, Oxfordshire

29 July-4 August 2010
Belgian Climate Camp, near Liege

4-9 August 2010
EF! Summer Gathering, Derbyshire

12-16 August 2010
Irish Climate Camp, County Tyrone

13-17 August 2010
Climate Camp Cymru

21-24 August 2010
Climate Camp targets RBS in Edinburgh: Action Days

21-29 August 2010
German Klimacamp, near Erkelenz

27-30 August 2010
National Animal Rights Gathering, near Northampton

27-29 August 2010
Dutch Earth First! Gathering and CJA meeting – Groen Front!

Peat Bog Extraction halted in Greater Manchester

15.04.2010
Update:

As you know, we locked on around 10:30. Some of the workers initially reacted aggressively, trying to move the digger while people were on it, using abusive language and assaulting one of our group – though we were emphasising that we were peaceful and that they were breaking the law by acting dangerously towards us. After about 20 mins of several members of our group talking calmly to them, they stood down and waited for the police to arrive. The police turned up shortly after, trying to talk us down, but we stayed locked on until the Tactical Aid Unit arrived with Bolt cutters to extract us.
Interestingly, it seemed they wanted everyone else out of the way, so they could ‘deal’ with us and get the job done as quickly as possible. We’ve found out that lots of local people tried to join us, but were being stopped by the police well out of visible distance. The police tactical aid unit also showed little regard for our safety – their intention was to simply remove me from the digger by any means necessary – which was effectively to try to throw me off it.

An ambulance also turned up preemptively, which suggests they were anticipating that our extraction would necessitate the use of force, and unnecessary harm to our persons.

I think we managed to stay there for a good while to halt the destruction of the bog and to get the message out.

After the police released us, we met up with some of the local campaigners (Save Our Northwest Greenbelt), who’d had a meeting in the evening, which was really empowering.

At first I was arrested for aggravated trespass, but then de-arrested and re-arrested after being cut free under new charges.

We’ve been charged, oddly, under section 4A of the Public order act, which covers using words/behaviour to cause harassment/distress, even though our protest was completely non-violent and good humoured.

Our court date is May 10th, 9:30am at Salford Magistrate’s court – a solidarity demonstration is being planned for this date, and any support would be gratefully welcomed!

——-
Activists shut down extraction on a Peat Bog extraction site by locking onto a lorry and a digger. Work was still halted at the time of writing.

Earth First activists shut down Peat Bog extraction at Chat Moss in Greater Manchester. They entered the site at 10.30 am, locked onto a lorry and digger which was being used to remove peat from the site. As of 2pm two activists were still locked onto the vehicles, with around 5 cops in attendance.

Peat bogs have recently become the focus of international attention because they act as huge ‘carbon sponges’: as peat is formed it locks away carbon that has been absorbed by plants as they grow, thereby helping to reduce the carbon in the atmosphere and slow global warming. The draining and extraction of this unique habitat causes the release of thousands of years worth of stored carbon. Globally, peat bogs cover just 3% of the world’s surface but store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests combined.

The greatest threat to peat bogs is from peat extraction for use in horticulture. An area the size of 250 Trafalgar Squares is dug up every year for the UK horticultural industry, with 70% of this demand coming from amateur gardeners. This is despite the fact that there are a wide variety of good quality peat-free commercial composts, meaning that there is no need for the UK to consume any peat at all. The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, for instance, has been peat free since 1992.

Local campaigner Mary Chapel, said:

“We are stopping the destruction of Chat Moss bog and to protect this site for the benefit of present and future generations. They harbour a wide variety of birds, plants and animals that can be found nowhere else. Instead of protecting this valuable habitat Sinclair’s / Joseph Metcalfe are vandalising it in order to make a profit when there are countless alternatives to peat for use in compost, as well as more sustainable jobs in those industries.”

Another campaigner Justin Hocks continued:

“Peat bogs like Chat Moss store vast amounts of carbon and are potentially one of our best assets in fighting climate change. The Council tell us they are serious about climate change and the environment yet allow valuable sites like Chat Moss to be bulldozed. They say they will protect the Green Belt but it’s all just hot air. We have come here today in solidarity with the local Save Our Greenbelt campaign, and to protect this valuable habitat and to say enough is enough – leave our bog alone!”

Notes for Editors
[1] Earth First! is a Direct Action protest movement first formed in the UK in the early 1990s against the road building programme and protecting wilderness. Later Earth First! groups took Direct Action against the introduction of GM crops into Britain, and helped mount the campaign to save Thorne and Hatfield Moors, Yorkshire’s most important peat-bogs.

Over 94% of the UK’s lowland peat bogs have been damaged or destroyed, mostly in the last 50 years, and Natural England estimate that 3 million tonnes of CO2 is emitted every year in the UK from our damaged peat bogs – the equivalent to the average emissions of 350,000 households.

Protecting existing peat bogs and restoring damaged or degraded ones could lock carbon in the soil and help to actively reduce the UK carbon footprint, as well as helping to protect many rare species of plants and animals, improve biodiversity and protect a wild and rare habitat.
For copies of Natural England’s report: England’s Peatlands – Carbon Storage & Greenhouse Gases by Natural England. http://naturalengland.etraderstores.com/NaturalEnglandShop/product.aspx?ProductID=335ef60d-241e-4495-9625-094fc3cf9689

Link to higher quality photos – http://www.mediafire.com/?zloylojzlgq

BlueNG Superglued in Protest Against Agrofuels

14.4.10
Last night, Agrofuel company Blue NG had their head offices visited by activists and all of the doors superglued shut. This action was in protest at Blue NG’s involvement in plans to build an agrofuel power plant.

Blue NG are up to their necks in recent plans to build biofuel-powered plants in london. Despite their greenwash, it is well documented that this plant will contribute to global warming, food shortages, and respiratory diseases in the area around it.

With an important planning meeting regarding the plant happening today, anti-agrofuel activists decided to get their point across by visiting the company’s head office during the night, jamming all the locks with superglue, and leaving a brief communique explaining their motives.