Category: Fracking

lock-on-tastic continues/eviction court case news & more at Barton Moss (4-12 March 2014)

11.3.14

 

11.3.14

 

4th March – another lock-on delayed trucks significantly – 4 hours! 

The Manchester Evening News – sensationalist parroter of police and fracking PR – conducted a survey that found that 73% of Mancunians opposed fracking.

 

6th March – two hour lock-on and book shields deployed to protect against TAU (riot police) aggression. 

9th March – 1,200 march against fracking in Manchester city centre. 

10th March – eviction court case brought by Peel Holdings: judge considered two days of evidence over the weekend, and decided against the camp.  He'd previously said Peel couldn't evict part of the camp from a strip of agricultural land that Peel lease out to a tenant farmer.  On Monday he decided it wasn't agricultural enough!  Camp taking appeal to High Court. 

11th March – another lock-on!

BREAKING THE FRAME

A GATHERING ON THE POLITICS OF TECHNOLOGY

2nd – 5th May 2014

Unstone Grange, Derbyshire

YOU NEED TO BOOK -SEE BELOW

Organised by Luddites 200, Corporate Watch, and Scientists for Global Responsibility

A GATHERING ON THE POLITICS OF TECHNOLOGY

2nd – 5th May 2014

Unstone Grange, Derbyshire

YOU NEED TO BOOK -SEE BELOW

Organised by Luddites 200, Corporate Watch, and Scientists for Global Responsibility

Technology can bring some benefits for ordinary people, but its development is almost entirely conmtrolled by corporate, military and technocratic elites, so it usually serves their interests and reinforces their power.

The politics of food, energy, work, gender, peace, economics, health, etc are all shaped by choices about technology made by those elites. The whole way our society develops is massively influenced by technology, yet ordinary people never have a proper say in it.  We're always left reacting to the technocrats' latest plan, whether it's drones, internet surveillance, GM food, fracking, designer babies or nuclear power.

We think all these issues are linked. So it's time for a more joined up and more proactive approach, one which addresses the root causes of problems and is not limited by the dogma that technology equals progress.

  • We want to create a new politics of technology based on bringing together the insights of different movements and learning from each other.
  • We want a human-scale technology that serves real human needs, not corporate bottom lines.
  • We want democratic control of technology.

An world facing environmental meltdown and massive inequality -both caused byb 200 years ofn industrial capitalism- needs better solutions than more dangerous techno-fixes such as climate engineering.

Whether you're a technology politics campaigner, trade unionist, environmentalist. altech developer, artist or just plain concerned, BREAKING THE FRAME IS NOT TO BE MISSED.

YOU NEED TO BOOK

www.breakingtheframe.org.uk      

email: luddites200@yahoo.co.uk

(020) 7426 0005

Accommodation is either in the conference centre OR camping (which is cheaper).  The concessionary rate for camping is £36, which includes all meals for 4 days (it's a bank holiday weekend).

BUT if £36 is more than you can manage, we're committed to making sure nobody is left out for lack of money.  So get in touch now.  Rich people can make extra donations, of course!

lock-ons at Barton Moss

Lock-ons have been increasing – there's been one today (2 people, 2 hour delay), Monday 3rd March; there was another last Friday (2 people in tubes, 1.5 hours), and last Tuesday – 2 people locked-on into a barrel full of concrete, barbed wire and glass, to slow the police removal team down.

Lock-ons have been increasing – there's been one today (2 people, 2 hour delay), Monday 3rd March; there was another last Friday (2 people in tubes, 1.5 hours), and last Tuesday – 2 people locked-on into a barrel full of concrete, barbed wire and glass, to slow the police removal team down.

Apart from these days, there's been continued police violence, a reduction in time allowed for the slow lorry escorts, and the threat of eviction delayed till later this month. 

See http://northerngasgala.org.uk/ or frack-off.org.uk/ for more info

DART ENERGY has started work for CBM exploration in Sutton Cum Lound

DART ENERGY have begun work preparing the site at Sutton Cum Lound, the road is dug up and fences are to be erected any day now. The local community is working really hard to oppose the plans and need all the help they can get. There is a campaign info point nearby for anyone that wants to visit or help out there.

DART ENERGY have begun work preparing the site at Sutton Cum Lound, the road is dug up and fences are to be erected any day now. The local community is working really hard to oppose the plans and need all the help they can get. There is a campaign info point nearby for anyone that wants to visit or help out there. Volunteers are needed for researching, contacting councils and local groups, farmers and businesses and for flyering in Retford this Sat 29th Feb. There is a public meeting in Retford on March 19th at the Well 7pm. DART is also looking to exploit South Yorkshire and has already caused alot of damage in Scotland and many other parts of the earth. http://www.worksopguardian.co.uk/news/local/sutton-cum-lound-protestors-unite-against-energy-firm-s-drilling-plans-1-6460799

Earth First! Direct Action Manual Is Ready for Print

Cover for Direct Action Manual

Cover for Direct Action Manual

Earth First! Direct Action Manual. To support this publication, preorder your copy or donate today.

After several years in development, the Earth First! Direct Action Manual is ready to go to press. A group of frontline activists has assembled over 300 pages of diagrams, descriptions of techniques and a comprehensive overview of the role direct action plays in our campaigns in defense of the Earth.

We are now in a three-week fundraising campaign to ensure that this critical book gets out to people who can use it. You can preorder your copy and get some extra thank you gifts for your early endorsement by donating today. More importantly, though, we have offered a chance for you to help us spread this knowledge. Every donation over $50 gives you the chance to send a free copy of the manual to a campaign of your choice. The more you give, the more manuals we can put in the mail.

The manual will be printed in the coming month with longtime Earth First! partner, The Gloo Factory. This community-minded, union print shop has supplied Earth First! and its affiliates with stickers and merchandise for decades and remains committed to using a high standard for recycled and reclaimed material, as well as supportive worker conditions.

The manual was first printed nearly two decades ago and has been out of print since its initial dissemination. Though many of the considerations for civil disobedience and intervention have remained tried and true, new elements have altered the ways we put these tactics into action. The Earth First! Direct Action Manual will continue the role of safe and effective actions in stopping the destruction of the planet.

Support this effort today!

Barton Moss anti-fracking update

 

Embedded image permalink

15th Feb 2014

Lorries being brought in on a Saturday, tankers so likely full of chemicals, followed by trucks with pipes. 

 

Embedded image permalink

15th Feb 2014

Lorries being brought in on a Saturday, tankers so likely full of chemicals, followed by trucks with pipes. 

Campers trying to stop, one locked on top of a tanker. 

Three days ago a court ruled that the road was not a public highway, but a footpath, opening up the threat of being arrested for aggravated trespass by blocking the trucks on the footpath (it is legally possible under Section 68 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994). 

Live feed 1 and Live feed 2

Romanian Villagers and Priests Occupy Chevron Fracking Site in Protest

9/2/14

Romanian police clashed with villagers on Wednesday as they tried in vain to force them off a field they have occupied for a third day to prevent U.S. energy giant Chevron from drilling for shale gas.

9/2/14

Romanian police clashed with villagers on Wednesday as they tried in vain to force them off a field they have occupied for a third day to prevent U.S. energy giant Chevron from drilling for shale gas.

Hundreds of protesters blocked access to the site at Silistea in eastern Romania where Chevron plans to drill an exploration well, lying down in the mud and holding hands to form a human chain.

Some 250 anti-riot police engaged in an hours-long stand-off with the protesters, with skirmishes as they physically tried to force them off, but the demonstrators pushed their way back onto the field.

The group of protesters, some of whom have been sleeping at the site since Monday, had grown to about 500 on Wednesday, preventing Chevron bulldozers and excavators from accessing the site.

Orthodox priests also joined the protest.

Many of the villagers in the rural region arrived on horse carts, some brought their children who held up signs reading: “Stop Chevron!”, while an elderly woman leaned on her cane beside them.

They are afraid of the environmental and health impact of the highly controversial method used for shale gas drilling, called hydraulic fracturing or ‘fracking’.

The technique consists of pumping water and chemicals at high pressure into deep rock formations to free oil and gas.

Environmentalists say fracking may contaminate ground water and even cause small earthquakes.

Chevron has permits to explore for shale gas in three villages in this part of eastern Romania as well as on Romania’s Black Sea coast.

“Chevron is committed to building constructive and positive relationships with the communities where we operate and will continue our dialogue with the public, local communities and authorities on its projects,” the company said in a statement to AFP.

“Our priority is to conduct … activities in a safe and environmentally responsible manner consistent with the permits under which we operate,” it added.

Also Wednesday, more than 2,000 people staged a protest in the capital Bucharest, shouting “no to shale gas”.

Romania’s ruling centre-left coalition has been defending shale gas exploration after fighting it when it was in the opposition.

Reclaim the Power gathering 8-9 February

After an incredible day of idea generation and visioning at the last gathering, it’s time for concrete proposals and decisions about our next steps.


Location: Oxford
Time: Saturday 8th February 11am ­­– Sunday 9th 4pm
Address: TBC
Crash Space/Social: Provided. Further details TBC.
Meals: Provided, donation cost TBC
Travel Pool: Available. Please book travel tickets in advance so that this can support the most people.
Notes from Manchester Visioning Day are here: http://bit.ly/1lQ0Yd3

In early December a large number of people came together to discuss the radical visions they had for the future – visions that Reclaim the Power, as a network, could help bring about.

It was a very open day of discussion with a clear structure, but with no pre-planned agenda. Everything we talked about was generated by participants, and a huge number of different ideas were placed on the table.

So what next? Well, the idea is that all of that discussion feeds into a month of creative proposal making before the next gathering. This will be a space for short and medium-term decision making where we work out what we’re doing in the next few months – and how this fits in with long term visions.

Rough proposal area groups formed at the December gathering, including:

1. How to challenge corporate power
2. Movement and diversity
3. Energy and fossil fuels
4. Positive solutions

If you would like to link up with these groups and input into proposals for next steps, just contact info@nodashforgas.org.uk and you will be put in touch with a group contact.

This said, all proposals are welcome! If you’re working on your own, outside these groups, then great. The more ideas the better.

The proposal deadline is the 31st January 2014. Please try and follow this rough four point list when writing them, as it is essential that all the proposals be considered on an equal footing.

1. What is it?
2. How does it link to long-term strategic aims?
3. Timeline?
4. Resources needed? (inc, people, costs, skills)

Specific venue and agenda details to follow soon. In the meanwhile, please check http://bit.ly/1lQ0Yd3 to see the discussions and outcomes of the last agenda.

See you soon,

RTP Gatherings Team

info@nodashforgas.org.uk

 

SALFORD COUNCIL CIVIC CENTRE SHUT DOWN BY BARTON MOSS CAMPAIGNERS

Salford Civic Centre Shut Down By Barton Moss Protectors     31st January 2014

 

ANTI FRACKING CAMPAIGNERS SHUT SWINTON CIVIC CENTRE

Salford Council's Civic Centre in Swinton was dramatically shut down this afternoon as five anti-fracking campaigners from the Barton Moss Protection Camp locked on in the reception area.

The campaigners' action was against Government attempts to bribe Salford Council to allow fracking in the city.

The front doors of Salford Civic Centre were closed this afternoon as five campaigners locked on in its reception area to draw attention to ConDem Government attempts to bribe councils to accept rates and community payments in exchange for allowing fracking in their cities.

Two anti-fracking campaigners from the Barton Moss Community Protection Camp – site of exploratory drilling by fracking company IGas – superglued themselves to bars on the reception windows, while two more attached themselves to an arm tube, with another superglued to them. It took the Greater Manchester Police Protester Removal Team around two hours to free them, while the Centre remained closed to the public.

"The protectors are here protesting against Salford Council's allowance of IGas to do exploratory drilling with a view to fracking at Barton Moss" said Darren Nesbit, an observer from the Camp "We've had one of the protectors, Boris, here on the lawn of the Civic Centre for the last few weeks and we attended the demo at the full Council meeting recently.

"Everything we do is to, firstly, raise awareness of fracking and the corruption of the Government and Council, and, secondly, to let councils know that this is what will happen to every council in the country if they allow fracking or any other corporate rape of the earth which will affect their residents."