Action Reports – Page 168

Vestas blockade – help urgently needed on the Isle of Wight – new camp update

Workers and supporters at the Vestas wind turbine factory in Newport on the Isle of Wight are attempting to stop the remaining blades being shipped out of the factory. This is the only leverage the workers, who have been hung out to dry, really have left against the company.

Here’s the latest from the Vestas campaign blog:

http://savevestas.wordpress.com/2009/09/04/i-see-no-ships-no-vestas-blades-will-move-from-newport-isle-of-wight-today/

“No boats today. Day one of the blockade was a success. Vestas did not try to move any blades. We are calling on activists to come and participate asap. We’re drafting a press release tonight.

“I know, a million questions flow, but we will have to wait a little longer. I imagine they are very busy down there – many of them for months now. Could do with reinforcements, so if you can free up a couple of days in the next week to go and help it would be priceless. I know it is a big ask but there are good reasons for asking it.”

See the blog for more details, travel info, etc:
http://savevestas.wordpress.com/

Site phone:
07935 868 009

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VESTAS WORKERS FIGHT ON FOR 600 JOBS
JOIN US ON THE BLADE BLOCKADE

Vestas has started rapidly shipping their remaining blades from stock in Southampton to the USA. At least two ships carrying 90 blades each have sailed from Southampton recently. Our best information is that Vestas may try to ship out the wind-turbine blades left in their Newport factory in the Isle of Wight in the coming days.

Protesting against the movement of those blades, and of the moulds which Vestas also wants to move, is the chief leverage that the workers have with Vestas. The occupying workers who were sacked must be reinstated with full redundancy paid. The government talks about 400,000 green jobs in the next five years – let’s make it start with Vestas. Just as importantly we believe that these blades should be used here in the U.K..

Around 10 blades, worth three quarters of a million pounds, were unfinished on 20 July when workers occupied the St Cross factory, to resist closure, and bosses sent home workers from the Venture Quays for fear that factory would be occupied too. Now the blades have been finished.

On Friday 4th September at 7am, workers and around 30 supporters from the mainland set up a camp to blockade the Marine Gate and prevent the blades being removed from the factory.
We have two hours notice about barges leaving Southampton, giving us this time to mobilise. The barges could come twice a day as it has been normal practice in the past for the barges to come and collect blades during the night also– the only time they don’t move the blades is (ironically) when it’s windy.

It is possible to win this campaign, if we keep up the momentum.
Support the Vestas workers – email savevestas@gmail.com
Pressurise Government: email Mandelson: www.bis.gov.uk/contact-us/ministers-l
Complain to Vestas through vestas-celtic@vestas.com or call 01925 857 100
Pass a resolution of support in your trade union or organization.
Encourage people to visit, or can pay for transport and expenses of those supporters who maintain the picket.
Send a donation payable to ‘Ryde and East Wight Trades Union Council’ to 22 Church Lane, Isle of Wight, PO33 2NB
For more information: www.rmt.org.uk. http://ventnorblog.com/topic/vestas-sit-in/ -a local news site with videos.

JOIN US ON THE BLOCKADE
With this blockade in place we now have the power to prevent the blades being moved out onto the barges. The new marine gate camp is an inspiring place to be and is a very welcome addition to the well-established Magic Roundabout Solidarity camp at the main gate. There is plenty of place to camp with a great view of the river. We are running a variety of workshops, locals are very supportive and the fireside chats each evening are inspiring. Come down and see for yourself. Bring friends and family.

Climate Rush On Tour

4th September 2009
The Climate Rush started on a one month tour of South West England at Sipson, making a procession to Heathrow Airport this morning with local residents to oppose the building of the third runway.

I was pleased as a fairly local resident opposed to further development of Heathrow to be able to join the Climate Rush and their two carts and three horses at Sipson this morning. Slightly less pleased that my own trusty steed, a 13th birthday present from my oldest brother many years ago, punctured a few hundred yards short of the Airplot site where they had been camping over night.

Greenpeace bought the Airplot site in the middle of the site for a third runway at Heathrow and invited everyone to join the plot as a beneficial owner, alongside the four legal owners, “Oscar winning actress Emma Thompson, comedian Alistair McGowan and prospective Tory parliamentary candidate Zac Goldsmith and Greenpeace UK.” You can still sign up for your small piece of the site at http://www.airplot.org.uk/ , and I think most if not all of us there today have already done so. The hope is that it will make it harder for the development of the site to go ahead.

I first photographed the opposition to the further development of Heathrow in 2003, when local residents organised a march (pictures at http://mylondondiary.co.uk/2003/06/jun.htm) against the proposal for a third runway, and have attended and photographed a number of protests since.

I grew up in Hounslow under the main flight path a couple of miles from touchdown where my parents had lived since the 1930s. Although I was a plane spotter at an early age, we all realised the havoc aircraft noise was creating in our lives, even back in the 1950s. I still sometimes have nightmares about planes going over in flames (as they sometimes did) and crashes, although since Terminal 4 blocked one of the existing runways (Heathrow used to have six runways) planes no longer take off or land over my present house to the south west of the airport. Noise is still however a problem – as it is for perhaps a quarter of Londoners. We often – almost continuously on summer days – have planes making steep turns on full power shortly after take-off blasting the peace (the airport authorities usually deny it ever happens, but they clearly talk total nonsense much of the time.)

My sister lives at least twice as far from the airport as me, but the noise there is often unbearable. Even very much further away, at Vauxhall, noise is still a problem, as you can see from a recent film by Jason N Parkinson – http://jasonnparkinson.blogspot.com/2009/08/film-under-flight-path-crossroad.html

Back in the 1950s we knew Heathrow was in the wrong place, only gaining permission for development by pretending it was needed for military use (always a deliberate lie.) Every further development there has always been obtained by underhand means. When T4 was built, they gained permission by promising they would never ask for a further terminal. At the enquiry for T5, they said they would never ask for a third runway. Were they to get away with this runway (and hopefully they won’t) it would not be long before they tried for another.

Heath Row was some of the best agricultural land in Britain. It and the surrounding area was the site of some of the oldest settlements in the country – long before the Romans came – for that very reason. Many of its prehistoric sites have been lost, some under the airport, others under other developments. My grandfather had a market garden and an orchard not far away, and Cox’s Orange Pippin, the finest of all dessert apples, was first recognised as a chance seedling and cultivated by Richard Cox a mile or so down the Bath Road around 1825. Around the Airplot site are apple trees of various varieties, both eating and cooking apples, and we also ate damsons from a nearby tree.

Sipson to the north of the airport was one of several Middlesex villages I used to cycle through as a kid, although development since then has been a little harder to it than some. Neighbouring Harmondsworth, also to be destroyed if the third runway goes ahead, has rather more of its original charm, with a village green with a pub and church and, a few yards away, one of the finest medieval tithe barns.

The procession left from the Airplot site, led by local residents from NoTRAG, ( http://www.notrag.org/) though most were at work today – more were expected later in the day and at the ‘Celebration of Community Resistance’ in Sipson tomorrow. Suffragettes (including a ‘token’ male) wearing ‘Deeds Not Words ‘ and ‘Climate Rush’ red sashes carried three banners, Justice, Equity and Truth; Equity travelled on a horse-drawn cart along with a violinist.

The banners read:
JUSTICE: Rich Countries Must recognise historic responsibility for climate change.
EQUITY: Emission quotas must be per capital; the rich have no more right to pollute than the poor.
TRUTH: Emission caps must be set in line with the latest climate science.

We went south down Sipson Road to the Bath Road, and across it onto the Heathrow site, turning to walk along the Northern Perimeter Road outside the perimeter fence. There we were joined by a police car, which helpfully stopped traffic for us. A few hundred yards along we were unsure of our route, and Tamsin Omond who was close to the front of the procession, rushed across to ask the police how we could return to the Bath Road.

Once we were off the airport site the police left us and we made our way back up Sipson Way and Sipson Rd to the Airplot site. Altogether we had walked around two and a quarter miles, and the horse pulling the cart hadn’t even raised a sweat. It was time for us – and the horses – to eat some of the apples. A couple of the suffragettes climbed a tree to pick some more, but they turned out to be cookers. The kettle had been hanging over the embers of a wood fire and a few more sticks soon brought it to the boil for tea.

Later events in the day included a childrens’ activity session, a tea-party with local residents and an evening of music. Activities continue on Saturday before the Climate Rush moves on – at walking pace – to Aylesbury for events there from 8-11 Sept and continuing at other places on their route to Totnes by the end of the month. Details are at http://www.climaterush.co.uk

ELF Topples Two Radio Station Towers in Washington

Everett, WA: Two radio station towers were torn down early Friday by the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) in the Lord’s Hills valley in Snohomish County, WA. The towers, owned by station KRKO, have been a source of controversy for years. A sign left at the scene claimedresponsibility by the ELF.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 4, 2009

Earth Liberation Front Topples Radio Station Towers in Snohomish County, WA

” Due to the health and environmental risks associated with radio waves emitted from the towers, we applaud this act by the ELF,” stated Jason Crawford, a spokesperson for the North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office. “When all legal channels of opposition have been exhausted, concerned citizens have to take action into their own hands to protect life and the planet.”

For the past eight years, opponents have waged a legal battle against the towers, arguing that AM radio waves cause adverse health affects including a higher rate of cancer, harm to wildlife, and that the signals have been interfering with home phone and intercom lines.

Last year, the first four towers were erected by KRKO after numerous hearings and appeals. KRKO plans to build two more towers to boost the station’s broadcasting power.

” We have to weigh our priorities and the local ecosystem in Everett, along with the local residents, do not need additional sports news radio station towers that come at the expense of reduced property values and harmful radio waves,” Crawford continued. “We sincerely hope that people continue to take direct action to stop the threats to human health, wildlife and the planet.”

The E.L.F. is an international underground organization that uses direct action in the form of economic sabotage to stop the systematic exploitation and destruction of the planet. Since its inception in North America in 1996, the ELF has inflicted well over $150 million in damages to corporations and governmental agencies that are profiting from the destruction of the Earth.

The North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office is a legal news agency representing the earth liberation movement. The NAELFPO reports on the covert direct actions taken by the Earth Liberation Front in defense of the planet. Targeting deforestation, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), urban sprawl, automobile and industry pollution, and other threats to the natural environment, the Earth Liberation Front uses nonviolent economic sabotage to compel industries and governments to reshape their environmentally destructive policies.

The NAELFPO can be found on the web at http://www.elfpressoffice.org

Contact:
North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office
Tel: (202) 521-1482
info@elfpressoffice.org

Camp for Climate Action – protest round-up

Wednesday 2nd September 2009

Activists Invade Construction Company HQ

Wednesday 2nd September 2009

Activists Invade Construction Company HQ

Activists from Don’t Build Kingsnorth have today invaded the Dartford offices of construction giant Laing O’Rourke. The protest is against the company’s bid to build Britain’s first coal fired power plant in 30 Years at Kingsnorth in Kent.

A large group of activists entered the offices, handed out leaflets and talked to staff. Meanwhile, another team scaled the building and hung a banner reading “Don’t Build Kingsnorth”.

Laing O’Rourke is among six companies bidding to build the controversial power station which would, if built, emit more carbon dioxide than the entire country of Ghana[1].

One of the activists, Pietro Testa (35) said, “In their publicity Laing O’Rourke claim that their people want to respond to unprecedented environmental challenges. We’re here today to hold Laing O’Rourke to account and to tell them clearly that building Kingsnorth would directly contribute to an unprecedented environmental catastrophe.”

Another activist, Hannah Chisolm (21) added, “Coal is the dirtiest form of fossil fuel. Climate change is already killing 300,000 people a year[2]. Building another coal power station is clearly insanity. We were inspired by Thames Valley Climate Action’s action at the offices of another Kingsnorth bidder, BAM Nuttall earlier in the year. Any firm bidding to build Kingsnorth needs to know the extent of the opposition they will face.”

“A year ago I went to the Climate Camp[3], which was held outside Kingsnorth. Today’s protest shows that, even though the location of the Climate Camp has changed, Kingsnorth remains a target for Climate Change campaigners.”

Contact: 07950 457 344 for interviews and photos

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center: http://cdiac.ornl.gov/
2. Global Humanitarian Forum: http://www.ghf-geneva.org/
3. Climate Camp: http://climatecamp.org.uk/

Leaflet handed out to staff

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2.9.09
This morning climate activists entered the Dept of Energy and Climate Change [pic], protested outside [pic] and blocked the door with a canoe [twitpics 1|2|3|4]

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Climate Activists Hit Big Business and Banks

Tuesday 1st September 2009

Today over 300 activists from the Climate Camp took action against the root causes of climate change.

20 activists blockaded the headquarters of RBS in the City of London from 8.15am [1]. Seven activists glued themselves to each other in the trading floor inside the offices, and were removed by the police at 1.30pm. One has been arrested. 70 protesters arrived at 10am and rushed a second entrance, forcing RBS to close the building. As of 4pm, the activists were showing no signs of leaving. [RBS-specific press release]
[Videos 1 | 2 | 3]

7 naked protesters demonstrated at the offices of Edelman PR, exposing the naked truth behind E.ON’s greenwash campaign around new coal-fired power stations in the UK. [2] The superglued protesters were removed at 1pm. [Edelman-specific press release] [Edelman protest video]

At 11am activists from Alberta, Canada, accompanied by 300 participants from the climate camp, marched from Trafalgar square to the National Portrait Gallery, the Canadian embassy, and the head offices of BP and Shell. [3] Activists climbed onto the balcony of the Shell building in Waterloo and dislodged the ‘S’ from the main sign to reveal the word ‘Hell’. [BP protest video] [Shell protest video]

Maddie Alinska said: “This shows that people realise that it is becoming necessary to take action because bankers, corporations and politicians are unwilling and unable to meet the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced. We are seeing first hand how everybody has the right and responsibility to take action on climate change.”

Many of the people who took part in the actions were first time protesters who took part in Direct Action training at the Camp for Climate Action. [4]

Tracy Singh commented: “It’s the first time I’ve taken to the streets like this. Climate Camp has given me the skills and the confidence to get involved. I’ve gotten so tired of waiting for governments and businesses to do something – it’s about time we took matters into our own hands.”

Notes for Editors

1. RBS is 70% owned by the UK government, but is nonetheless continuing to invest in carbon-intensive industries, including millions in E.ON since being nationalised.
2. Edelman PR have been handling E.ON’s account since 2008. E.ON own both Kingsnorth power station in Kent, and the Ratcliffe-on-Soar plant in Nottinghamshire, the 3rd biggest coal station in the UK.
3. Shell are heavily committed to the mining of Tar Sands in Canada, which is causing the death and disruption of Alberta’s indigenous communities. BP have taken a significant stake in the operations since 2007. The National Portrait Gallery is sponsored by BP.
4. The Camp for Climate Action has targeted Drax (2006), Heathrow (2007), Kingsnorth (2008) and was held in London this year August 28th – September 2nd.

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Congratulating eOn for winning the Great Climate Swoop vote – videos 1 | 2

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September 1, 2009
An affinity group of anarchists who had been participating in Climate Camp and had been concerned about the tone and low impact of some of the mainstream camp actions decided to visit the Daily Mail head office in the hope of having a few words. The immediate trigger for this was the poor write up the Camp had received in that week’s paper which stereotyped those at camp as ‘young, posh idiots’, although all the activists involved had many other motivations for this action. Most of all, as working-class people with a sense of basic human solidarity, all those present detested the Mail for its sexist and racist overtones and long record of consistently scapegoating and demonising marginalised social groups such as immigrants, queers, transpeople, the unemployed, youth stigmatised as “chavs”, as well as specific instances like the incredibly inaccurate hack job of an article about anarchists in the run-up to the G20.

The group located the Mail’s head office on Derry Street in leafy Kensington, masked up and attempted to enter the building, flying a red and black flag and shouting anti-capitalist and anti-Daily Mail chants. The group approached a door clearly marked ‘Visitors’, but were made to feel rather unwelcome by the reaction of several security guards – both uniformed and plain clothed – who immediately locked the revolving door and attacked and threatened the ‘visitors’. Public reaction was warm, with some passers-by photographing and filming the action and shouting their opposition both to the Mail and the severity of the reaction.

There was a disproportionate over-reaction by armed police, culminating in a very visible get-together on the scenic banks of the lake in Hyde Park – several police vehicles, several anarchists, and several swans were in attendance. Although the group didn’t get to have the little chat they’d intended with the Mail journalists, those involved spoke of feeling invigorated and empowered by the action and its reception – intimidating heavily armed men just by singing and asking questions, for instance, was a new experience for many of them. And we bet the hacks shit themselves a little bit too.

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Autonomous Anarchists for Earth Liberation
1.9.2009
Last night Autonomous Anarchists took action against some of London’s biggest climate criminals.

last nights targets were..

*E.ON – Chains around their door handles and expanding foam in their locks.
*World Coal Institute – Is now bearing a new and more appropriate slogan ‘Stop Climate Change Now’.
*D1 Oils PLC – Expanding foam in the locks and also now reads ‘Stop Climate Change Now’.

A handful of Starbucks also got the expanding foam treatment, just for good measure. (no capitalist coffee for the bankers while they’re waiting for their locks to be replaced!)

The actions were in solidarity with the Climate Camp activists taking direct action on climate criminals around London today, we hope you enjoy your ‘rambling raffle of resistance’!

…..

1st September 2009

direct action against climate criminals

Last night between midnight and 2am a group of autonomous anarchists targetted 4 buildings across central London for their continued involvement with crimes against a planet meant to be shared by all of us, not auctioned off for profit.

The world coal institute had its door handles chained together and expanding foam piped into its locks, the activists then went on to target E.ON (the company behind climate camp target Kingsnorth power station) with more expanding foam and graffiti reading “stop climate change now A”, an identical attack was then aimed at D1 Oils PLC and one more at a Starbucks coffee outlet (recently slated in the media for keeping their taps running 24 hours a day)

Whilst their has been speculation about this being misinformation I assure you these attacks DID happen, whilst the graffiti may well have been scrubbed off this morning the activists did their best to make sure that no one would be able to enter the buildings and cause even more atrocities today.

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Messages left at Blue NG Bath HQ
Friday 4th September 2009
It seems that people have taken it upon themselves to remind Biofuels company Blue NG that Biofuels are causing major ecological and social catastrophe throughout the globe.

On my way to work this morning, I noticed that the offices of Biofuels company Blue NG had been redecorated with chalk messages highlighting the social and environmental effects of Biofuel. The messages also showed support for the decision of Southall councillors and residents to reject the building of a Blue NG biofuels refinery on their doorstep.

Messages included –
* Planet – 10, Blue NG – 0 (a reference to the number of councillors who voted against the plant)
* Greenwash won’t biofool us

and loads more

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Climate Camp Strike Twice

Monday 31st August 2009

Climate Campers are heading out into London after several days of learning about climate change and taking action at the Blackheath Camp. Activists are launching a ‘clean up operation’ of the Treasury at 11am today, and a flash mob at London City Airport at 12 noon.

Armed with boiler suits and cleaning equipment, the protesters will expose the Treasury’s continued dirty practice of using taxpayers’ money to fund fossil fuel extraction(1) in spite of the Government’s claim to be a global leader in the fight against climate change. The protesters will announce their presence on this ‘anti-bank holiday’ by dropping a banner proclaiming ‘Climate Change Doesn’t Take Holidays’.
[Cleaning the Treasury video]

Protester Nimsha Doshi says “We’ve had enough of false solutions and false promises. We’re here to expose the Government’s role as a climate criminal, and the political system’s failure to fight against climate change”.

At London City Airport, the campers are protesting against the recently approved 50% expansion of the airport. Local residents were outraged this July as Newham Council, supported by Mayor Boris Johnson, agreed to allow an extra 50,000 plane journeys from the airport, bringing City’s annual flight total to 120,000.(2)
[Flashmob report]

Climate Camper Anna Markova said: ‘We will be there to protest against corporations driving the climate change agenda. They have pushed through the expansion of London City Airport against the wishes of the local community. This December the same big businesses will be flying from here to promote false solutions, like carbon trading, at the UN Climate Conference at Copenhagen. We can’t afford to let businesses drive us into climate crisis.’

‘London City Airport and Newham Council have cooperated to misinform and deceive the residents of South East London. The expansion means improving transport for the rich at the cost of further worsening air quality and noise pollution in the area, and eroding the health and wellbeing of local communities.’

Climate Camper Tara Williams said, ‘After a few days of workshops and training at the Camp, I’m getting ready to take direct action. Many of us who have never taken part in direct action before are now poring over maps and planning the next protests. With European Climate Exchange and Barclays targeted earlier in the week, it’s now 4 down, 18 to go…’ (3)

Ends

For comment or images, please phone 0793 209 6677, 07040900905 or 07772861099.#
Notes to Editors

1. The Government now has a majority stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland, who fund carbon-intensive industries such as tar sands extraction in Canada.
2. The aviation industry is the fastest growing CO2 emissions source in the UK. Nearly 30 airport expansion projects are planned in the UK at the moment. The Government plans to offset these emissions through the EU Carbon Trading scheme, which will put the burden on developing countries instead of actually lowering emissions.
3. Climate Camp released a target list of 22 ‘climate criminals’ earlier in the week, containing the head offices of some of the country’s most polluting corporations, and departments responsible for failing climate policies.

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Climate protesters scale Carbon Exchange – 27th August 2009

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Logging protests spread in Borneo as nomads block roads

24 August 2009
Protests by the Penan tribe in Borneo have escalated, with twelve villages coming together to mount new road blockades against the logging and plantation companies that are destroying their rainforest.

Journalists covering at the blockades were intercepted by police with machineguns and taken away for questioning.

Hundreds of Penan have blocked roads at three new locations in the interior of Sarawak, in the Malaysian part of the island of Borneo. The protestors are demanding an end to logging and plantations on their land without their consent, and recognition of their land ownership rights.

BBC TV presenter Bruce Parry visited the Penan for his hit series, ‘Tribe’. One Penan told him, ‘It’s not true that we Penan do not want progress. Not the ‘progress’ where logging companies move on to the land. What we want is real progress. What we need is land rights first of all.’

The new protests come only weeks after blockades by two nearby Penan villages. The destruction of their forest robs the hunter-gatherer Penan of the animals and plants they eat and pollutes the rivers they fish in. Without the forest, many Penan have difficulty feeding their families.

The Penan have been struggling for more than twenty years against the logging companies that operate on their land with full government backing. In areas where the valuable trees have been cut down, the companies are clearing the forest completely to make way for oil palm plantations.

The blockades are aimed at forcing the Malaysian timber companies Samling, Interhill, Rimbunan Hijau and KTS to end their activities on the Penan’s land without the tribe’s consent. One of the earlier blockades, mounted in June at the settlement of Ba Marong, resulted in the withdrawal of a KTS subsidiary from the area – but the Penan fear that the loggers may return.

In another Penan area, the notorious company Samling is advancing on an area of the tribe’s forest that has never been logged before. Observers say that the road built by the company is likely to reach the remote Ba Jawi area within weeks.

Survival’s director Stephen Corry said today, ‘The logging and plantation companies are preventing the Penan from being able to feed their children. It’s no wonder they’re taking to the barricades. Penan in some areas are currently receiving food aid – before the loggers arrived, they would never have needed such hand-outs. The Malaysian government must recognize that this land is theirs and stops sanctioning its destruction.’

National and Global Calls for Tasmania’s Forests, World Heritage not Woodchips

MEDIA RELEASE 01.09.09
NATIONAL AND GLOBAL CALLS FOR TASMANIA’S FORESTS, WORLD HERITAGE NOT WOODCHIPS.

Conservationists around the nation and globe are protesting today against the continuing logging and the wood chipping of world heritage valued old growth forests of Tasmania.

MEDIA RELEASE 01.09.09
NATIONAL AND GLOBAL CALLS FOR TASMANIA’S FORESTS, WORLD HERITAGE NOT WOODCHIPS.

Conservationists around the nation and globe are protesting today against the continuing logging and the wood chipping of world heritage valued old growth forests of Tasmania.

Banners reading “TASMANIA’S ANCIENT FORESTS, WORLD HERITAGE NOT WOODCHIPS” and “THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING” are being displayed across the country.

In Hobart 4 activists are displaying this message hanging from ropes off the roof of Parliament house.

In Melbourne the message has been painted onto silos on Lanridge St. in Collingwood.

In Canberra, the message is being displayed on banners unfurled from the roof of Federal Parliament house.

In Adelaide a banner displaying the message is hanging from buildings in the CBD.

In Newcastle conservationists have constructed an 84 metre tree. Only trees greater than 84 metres qualify for protection as “giants”. Ancient trees that do not reach the 84 metre marked are felled and wood chipped.

Actions across the nation today are supported by international actions in Scotland, Ireland, Switzerland, Italy and other solidarity actions are expected to roll on throughout the day.

“The Federal and Tasmanian State Governments are continuing well into the 21st century to decimate the very last unprotected areas of world heritage bordered old growth forest. These last stands of old growth have been deliberately left out of the World Heritage Area to facilitate their destruction.” Said spokesperson Ed Hill.

“Despite a unanimous IUCN (International Union for Conservation and Nature) decision of 21 countries to extend existing world heritage borders to include ancient forests located in the Upper Florentine, Styx, Lower Weld Valley and Middle Huon, These forests are currently subject to industrial scale clear felling.” Said spokesperson Ed Hill.

“The nation wants an end to the environmental madness that is taking place in Tasmania’s forests. The outright vandalism of old growth forests is a climate disaster that is happening right now.” Said Mr Hill.

“ A recent report* by Professor Brendan Mackey and Australian ANU scientists states Tasmania’s temperate old growth forests store far more carbon then was previously thought. The study found that temperate forests store more carbon than tropical forests and that Tasmania’s ancient forests are some of the most carbon rich forests in the world.”

“The protection of Tasmania’s ancient forests is a simple and effective strategy to help reduce the effects of catastrophic climate change and needs to be seriously considered by State and Federal Governments. The science on forests and climate change is loud and clear yet the Federal Government continues to twiddle their thumbs in the face of dangerous climate change as old growth forests are cleared daily.” Said Mr Hill.

Algonquins set for peaceful, indefinite blockade

The Algonquins of Barriere lake have announced plans to set up an indefinite roadblock on their land—beginning today, September 1, 2009.

In a press statement (below), the northern Quebec First Nation says the roadblock, aimed at preventing logging on their traditional lands, will continue “until Quebec implements agreements covering forestry on Barriere Lake’s lands, and the Quebec and Canadian government’s recognize the First Nation’s legitimate leadership.”

For more information, contact Chief Jean Maurice Matchewan at 819-435- 2136 – or, if the line is busy, 514-398-7432

Algonquins peacefully block logging until agreements and leadership respected?

For Immediate Release
September 1, 2009

Algonquins place bodies in front of logging machines: prevent logging until Quebec and Canada respect agreements and leadership

Kitiganik/Rapid Lake, Algonquin Territory /- This afternoon members of the Algonquins of Barriere Lake will peacefully block the machines of Abitibi-Bowater forestry workers, preventing logging in their territory until Quebec implements agreements covering forestry on Barriere Lake’s lands, and the Quebec and Canadian government’s recognize the First Nation’s legitimate leadership.

“Our community has decided there will be no forestry activities or any new developments in our Trilateral Agreement Territory until the status of our leadership and the agreements we signed are resolved to our community’s satisfaction,” says Jean Maurice Matchewan, Customary Chief of Barriere Lake. “The Quebec government has acted in bad faith, giving companies the go-ahead to log while they ignore their legal obligations, leaving us with no choice but to stop forestry operations until Quebec complies with the agreement. We have waited more than 3 years for Quebec to implement it.”

Matchewan received no response to a letter he sent to Manager Paul Grondin of Abitibi-Bowater’s Maniwaki mill on August 25, requesting that the company suspend logging operations until the governments follow through on their obligations.

“Our plan is to peacefully put our bodies in front of their machines until we get some results. We expect they may use the police, because we are used to such tactics. This is our territory and they can’t push us off our lands,” says Matchewan.

Canada and Quebec have refused to acknowledge the results of a June 24, 2009 leadership selection process that reselected Jean Maurice Matchewan as the legitimate Customary Chief of Barriere Lake. National Chief Shawn Atleo of the Assembly of First Nations, however, met with Chief Matchewan on August 19, to discuss the Trilateral agreement and other community concerns. The
Algonquin Nation Secretariat, a Tribal Council representing three Algonquin communities including Barriere Lake, also recently reiterated their support for Chief Matchewan.

“Instead of acting honourably and cooperating with our Customary Council to implement these signed agreements, the federal and provincial governments have been working in unison to try and install a minority faction whom they can use to sign off on the cutting of our forest,” says Matchewan.

Barriere Lake wants Canada and Quebec to uphold signed agreements dating back to the 1991 Trilateral Agreement, a landmark sustainable development and resource co-management agreement praised by the United Nations and the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Canada has been in breach of the agreement since 2001. Quebec signed a complementary Bilateral Agreement in
1998, but has stalled despite the 2006 recommendations of two former Quebec Cabinet Ministers, Quebec special representative John Ciaccia and Barriere Lake special representative Clifford Lincoln, that the agreement be implemented. The agreement is intended to allow logging to continue while protecting the Algonquin’s’ traditional way of life and giving them a $1.5 million share of the $100 million in resource revenue that comes out of their territory every year.

Mainshill Solidarity Camp Update: two and a half months on & 1st newsletter

Over two and a half months ago the Mainshill Solidarity Camp was set up on the site of a new open cast coal mine at Mainshill Wood, in support of the local communities efforts to oppose the project and Scottish Coal’s plans, and in defiance of planning approval granted by South Lanarkshire Council

A lot has happened during the past few months: Scottish Coal and Strathclyde Police busted through barricades with a JCB and removed machinery, the Camp for Climate Action in Scotland set up in the field next to the camp, actions have happened, and finally an issue has been made of coal expansion in Scotland. Amazing work and research has been done into the health impacts of open cast coal mining for surrounding communities (see http://coalhealthstudy.org/) – an issue that Scottish Coal, Lord Home (the land owner) and South Lanarkshire Council can no longer silence.

So why have a group of people decided to live on the site of a relatively small open cast coal mine, that is mostly plantation forest and surrounded by only a few small communities, and why is this so important? Because it is places such as Douglas that direct action, rooted in community struggle, can be at its most effective. At Mainshill, the fight is against feudal land ownership and a fat-cat Lord, a corrupt Council that has removed local democratic processes, a multi-million pound mining company that stops at nothing for profit and government policy that prioritises cheap coal over community health and the environment.

Now the campaign is firmly established and is winning a lot of ground, pressure and momentum must be kept up and the struggle must be brought to other communities facing similar injustices as Douglas.
The camp will defend this liberated space and stand in solidarity with communities until the Wood is saved!

How you can help:
– Visit and stay at the camp! Even if its just for a day we’d love to have you
– Donations – both financial and anything from our wishlist here are much appreciated
– Spread the word – help distribute flyers, send emails and tell people about the struggle
– Take action – central Scotland is littered with coal infrastructure, corporate HQs, open cast mines and power stations

http://mainshill.noflag.org.uk/
http://coalactionscotland.noflag.org.uk/

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Mainshill Solidarity Camp Newsletter no. 1 out now!

The story so far, uncovered health impacts from open casting, the Camp for Climate Action, assaulted by a councilor, and other coal struggles at Hunterston and Cousland – the Mainshill Solidarity Camp & Coal Action Newsletter is now out!

Download the pdf here: http://coalactionscotland.noflag.org.uk/?p=669

Please copy and distribute far and wide. We hope to make this a regular publication and welcome submissions – please email * mainshill@riseup.net * with any articles, stories or photos.

German anti-nuclear protests heat up ahead of 21 September election

About one thousand Castor caskets full of nuclear waste are produced by just one atomic power station during its operative life without there being a final repository for it anywhere.

That’s a point the German anti-nuclear activist group Campact is making with demonstrations in 12 cities of the country, which goes to the polls on 27 September.

About one thousand Castor caskets full of nuclear waste are produced by just one atomic power station during its operative life without there being a final repository for it anywhere.

That’s a point the German anti-nuclear activist group Campact is making with demonstrations in 12 cities of the country, which goes to the polls on 27 September.

The conservatives of Chancellor Angela Merkel, keen backers of nuclear power, are tipped to win by a large margin.

Last Friday Compact put on its spectacular show in Berlin, the capital, on Saturday they were in Hamburg, the second-largest city.

Part of the action is a huge lifelike mock-up of a Castor casket, the kind of receptacle in which waste is transported and stored.

Meanwhile 30 farm tractors from the Gorleben waste dump area are rolling towards Berlin, to be joined by 100 more later, for a demo on 5 September expected to draw tens of thousands of protesters. More than 1,000 people and 120 tractors sent them on their journey of hundreds of kilometres. At this writing they had passed through Lueneburg, Uelzen and Braunschweig.

A leftwing newspaper, “taz”, reports that nuclear power companies are giving their apprentices time off work to attend a pro-nuclear demonstration at the Biblis power station, one of whose two blocks is to be shut down by the end of this year. It is situated in a heavily industrialised and populated central German area encompassing Frankfurt/Main, Darmstadt and Mannheim. The power companies deny that they’re pressuring the trainees, but one source in the RWE company said there’s a clear order to take part. If all do, that would make 10,000 pro-nuclear demonstrators.

Meanwhile the Federal Radiation protection agency reports that a lump of 20,000 tonnes is likely to drop 40 to 45 metres out of the ceiling of a former salt mine in Morsleben which is one of several dodgy nuclear waste dumps in Germany.

The agency says there’s even a possibility that the entire ceiling could collapse. People in the area would be able to feel it, glasses would wobble. Brine is running in the mine and has even formed stalagtites.

Morsleben used to be the nuclear dump of the former communist East Germany and Ms Merkel, then environment minister, allowed dumping to continue there despite warnings by scientists that it was unsafe. It was finally stopped by a court order, initiated by Greenpeace.

Land and Forest Occpation started in Lapland (Finland)

On the 26th of August an international occupationcamp has been started in Finnish Lapland, due to the planning of uranium mining and the planning of a new nuclear plant. Locals and participants from the climate camp finland, decided to combine powers and try to preserve the lappish nature and way of life.