Category: Unnecessary Developments

(Australia) Newcastle residents protest health effects of proposed 4th coal terminal

Newcastle residents and activists dressed in medical gowns protested the lack of consideration of health and climate change effects in the proposed building of a fourth coal terminal at the port of Newcastle, already the world's largest coal port. A peaceful protest and 'lockon' occurred outside The office of NSW Minister for Planning Brad Hazzard last Thursday who is due to consider the merits of the proposal.

Related: Newcastle’s T4 project puts short-term profit before health | Something in the air: time for independent testing in coal areas | Coal Terminal Action Group

Dressed as doctors and patients, about 20 protestors holding banners and placards occupied the front steps of Governor Macquarie Tower at 1 Farrer Place, Sydney.

Two campaigners were allowed in to meet with Minister Hazzard's staff. They spent 25 minutes discussing the 4th terminal and relaying the community's concerns over health and climate and requested a public meeting in Newcastle with the Minister.

On the steps of the building Spokesperson Alex McInnis said "We are here because there are plans to expand Newcastle coal port, which is going to hurt the health of the community because of the impact of coal dust. It's also going to damage our farmland and climate."

"So, we've come to Minister for Planning Brad Hazzard's office to urge him to reject the planned expansion of the coal port and listen to the communities concerns over health and put those concerns in front of the interests of the coal companies and reject the coal terminal." she said.

Another protestor dressed in a medical gown said: "We are here today because in the respiratory unit the asthma caused by coal dust in the Hunter region and Newcastle is a serious health hazard. We are asking Minister Hazzard not to allow the proposed 4th coal terminal in Newcastle to go ahead."

Police attended and asked the protestors to move. Some voluntarily left the steps. Two protestors in medical gowns refused and had their locks removed by the Police Rescue Squad and were taken away and arrested.

 

A steep drop in coal prices and reduced Demand for coal has caused many coal companies like Rio Tinto and Xstrata to shelve expansion plans in the Hunter Valley and cut jobs.

The fourth coal terminal at Newcastle proposed by Port Waratah Coal Services will expand coal export capacity from 210 to 330 million tonnes each year, yet the demand for coal appears to be falling. Mining and transport of this coal will double the coal dust pollution from coal trains, piles and coal loaders that people breath in towns throughout the Hunter Valley.

Medical academics have argued that Newcastle’s T4 project puts short-term profit before health. Public health and comprehensive health monitoring has taken second place in coal regions to the arguments in favour of economic development. The long term health costs are simply never factored into the economic costs.

The medical and health issues of coal are well known. Coal dust contributes to asthma, cancer, heart disease and stroke and it interferes with lung development and compromises intellectual capacity. In the US there has been health costing data gathered showing that if the cost of disease resulting from coal was paid for by the coal and power industries it would almost double the cost of electricity. Up to 50,000 deaths each year in the US are attributed to pollution from power plants. A 2009 report by Physicians for Social Responsibility (USA) outlined 'Coal's Assault on Human Health' and the need to phase out coal on health, energy and climate grounds.

In Australia we have a woeful record of pollution monitoring and assessing health costs from coal. A good start to addressing the imbalance between economic development and health would be establishing comprehensive pollution monitoring done regularly and independantly for all coal areas – mines, transport corridors, ports, coal fired power stations and nearby residential areas – at the expense of the coal industry and make the data publicly available. Read more at Something in the air: time for independent testing in coal areas.

The Coal Terminal Action Group is raising money to monitor coal dust in suburbs between the Hunter Valley coal mines and Newcastle’s port.

Doctors for the Environment in their submission and comment on the Environment Impact statement said :"From the data presented, Newcastle is a polluted town with likely existing health impacts and now we have a proposal that will undoubtedly increase pollution. It is not that Australia needs to make this sacrifice for energy security, as alternatives to burning coal for energy currently exist. Furthermore the morbidity and mortality conferred on the world’s people by the export of this coal would not be insignificant."

Sources:

is a citizen journalist from Melbourne Australia who has been writing on climate change, science and protests since 2004. This article was originally published at Australia Indymedia

(USA) From the Woods: Tar Sands blockade update

I’m currently part of a team of awesome friends roving through the woods of east Texas as part of the Tar Sands Blockade (TSB).

I’m currently part of a team of awesome friends roving through the woods of east Texas as part of the Tar Sands Blockade (TSB). This is an epic fight to defend Texans’ homes and land against the clearcutting and pollution caused by the building of the massive Keystone XL pipeline.

The media team for TSB are doing an awesome job of updating our website as TransCanada (TC) and their hired goons advance toward our blockade with heavy equipment and repeatedly endanger our people in some scary ways. A friend and I thought that allies of the TSB might appreciate an on-the-ground perspective, and so before I go back to defending our blockade I thought I’d update y’all.
     The forest of east Texas is totally beautiful. Water oak, sweet gum and slash pine trees define the canopy, and green briar, muscadine grapes and beautyberry bushes cover the ground. This forest is home to great blue herons, turkey vultures, whippoorwills, lots of deer, rattlers and other snakes, armadillos, and even occasional black bears. All of these are our natural allies and have been incredibly disturbed by the clear cutting of their home.   
     At the beginning of this week the bad guys were operating a feller buncher and clear cutting a vast swath of forest aimed directly at our blockade. On Tuesday morning we temporarily stopped them by placing ourselves directly in the path of their machines. As a backhoe was placing timbers over a gully so that other more destructive stuff like feller-bunchers could advance toward our blockade, two of our team locked down to the backhoe and stopped it in its tracks while the rest of us provided cover. The lockdowners were then tortured by local police with TC supervisors watching and laughing. After they were extracted from the backhoe, the timber bridge got built and the feller buncher started rapidly destroying trees advancing toward our blockade.
     Then we ran out in front of it and one of my friends sat down directly in its path. All of us were way too close to the backhoe for it to operate safely. Instead of backing away slowly to a safe distance per OSHA regulations, the operator of the machine (which might’ve been the same guy operating the backhoe) decided to fell another tree and drop it right on my friend’s head. This demonstrates antisocial and potentially murderous behavior and this guy clearly should be getting mental help, not operating heavy machinery. TC supervisors were watching this happen the whole time, and nodding with approval. This is criminal and they should be prosecuted for reckless endangerment and attempted manslaughter, both of which are illegal in the state of Texas. It’s lucky that I caught the whole thing on film and even luckier that my friend jumped out of the way in time and is now relatively safe.
Our friends in trees and on the Wall are incredibly brave to be maintaining their positions despite the mechanized onslaught advancing toward them and the possibility of brutality by TC’s hired goons, and we are here to support them no matter what. The bad guys have now advanced all the way up to the wall, leaving a scarred and devastated landscape in their wake. There are workers, bosses and goons below (as I write this) making all kinds of scary and empty threats. Our people are jovial and defiant in the face of danger. We’re inviting all our friends and allies out to visit our blockade and provide supplies, encouragement and reinforcements. We who are living in the forest are committed to maintaining our positions no matted how intimidating this multibillion-dollar corporation and their enablers in local law enforcement try to be. Running circles around confused TC bosses and their goons in the beautiful Texas forest is totally fun, and everyone should come out and participate.You can help by coming down to join us, by doing solidarity actions against TC and their enablers in your local town, by sending us funds and/or gear, reaching out to your media contacts, and telling all your friends about this and asking them to spread the word.
    We need: walkie-talkies, AAA batteries, camo gear, rain gear, climbing gear of all kinds, tools, satellite internet, solar panels, deep-cell batteries, woods food, water filters, and video cameras.
     We make our stand here in the hope of inspiring others to make a stand against Keystone XL in a broad diversity of ways. Corporations should not be allowed to just roll over us the way they’ve repeatedly done for decades. Resistance is coming. Everyone affected by this pipeline must realize that risks must be taken in defense of what we love. Laying down in front of things, or any variation on that, is good for publicity but is nowhere near enough. People must rise up and defend their homes.
Love and Rage,
Anonymous Blockader # 57

(USA) When Big Oil Attacks

Tuesday afternoon in East Texas, after police brutally tortured two protesters locked to a backhoe and workers resumed destruction of the forest, members of the Tar Sands Blockade, determined not to be deterred by violence, moved in to try and stop work again. One activist sat down in front of a feller buncher, a hideous machine used to rapidly cut down smaller trees, and, after making eye contact with the worker, almost had a tree dropped on him. The video shows it all, and you can read the activist’s own telling of the incident here.

There’s really not much else to say. Big Oil is attacking our bodies, our homes, and the planet, and now that the cards are on the table, it’s time to fight back. Word on the street is that we’ve got a lovely crew of Earth First!ers ready for action joining us tonight or tomorrow morning, but there’s plenty of room for you to get involved too. Go here or email noneshallpass@riseup.net, and we’ll see you on the ground.

– Tar Sands Blockader

A259 Link Road one hour from London help us now

The Combe Haven valley is a unique habitat which was once the port of Hastings (pre 1066). Evidence is now being obtained from a small group of entusiasts which proves this unique valley, which is in the Parish of Crowhurst Sussex, was the site of the Norman Invasion and also the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

The Combe Haven valley is a unique habitat which was once the port of Hastings (pre 1066). Evidence is now being obtained from a small group of entusiasts which proves this unique valley, which is in the Parish of Crowhurst Sussex, was the site of the Norman Invasion and also the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Our group is fighting a battle with East Sussex County Council to stop the A259 Link Road cutting through one of the most important heritage sites in the land and also an invaluable enviromental reserve.

Bulldozers are already on the site digging trenches. An initial road protest is organised this weekend. Please familiarise yourself with the heritage story because this is important. 5000 Englishmen gave their blood in this valley and it should be preserved and not desecrated with a road that goes through open countryside – see the videos on our web site – see why we are fighting to save this place one hours drive from central London

http://secretsofthenormaninvasion.wordpress.com/2012/09/24/stop-the-road-camp-this-saturday-29th-september-2012/

 

(USA) Texas Tar Sands Blockade Continues Despite Police Torture

Despite summer being over, things continue to heat up in Texas for the Tar Sands Blockade as we enter day 3 of the tree-sit.  On Monday, 8 people took to the trees to defend the land from clear-cutting that would allow for continued construction of the pipeline.  And yesterday, two ground-dwelling allies locked themselves to a piece of construction machinery that was being used to build a road to the tree village, effectively halting TransCanada’s work for most of the day.

The police response to this action was predictable but nevertheless shocking.  Under the encouragement of TransCanada supervisors, police used sustained chokeholds, violent arm-twisting, pepper spray, and multiple shocks from a Taser, all while the two blockaders were in handcuffs. Despite the torture, the two blockaders held strong for hours, and their perseverance has only further inspired blockaders to continue the protests. This morning, in response to the brutality inflicted on our comrades yesterday, another activist has ascended into the tree village to join the aerial blockade, bringing its total population to 9.

Benjamin Franklin, one of the tortured protesters, had this to say after being released from jail: “As someone who has a religious dedication to nonviolence, I have a duty to assist nonviolent tactics. This is a path to change that works. Despite everything that happened at the direction of TransCanada, I don’t regret my involvement at all. I encourage everybody to persevere in the face of this type of sheer brutality. To follow one’s moral compass in spite of extreme challenges is the way we move forward towards a more humane, tar sands-free planet.”

TransCanada has shown blatant disregard for the safety of peaceful people, local families, and our planet. Despite their claims to be concerned for safety, whether of protestors, landowners, or the planet, time and time again this has been shown to be patently false. From encouraging torture to defrauding and coercing people out of their land to cutting corners with safety measures for detecting and preventing spills, TransCanada’s only concern is abundantly clear – profit.

They can be stopped. Every day of delay costs them money and brings us a tiny bit closer to the goal of stopping the pipeline. The odds are low, but this is a winnable fight.

If you read the call to action or saw this awesome video, you know how devastating extracting and burning tar sands oil will be to the climate and how critical stopping this pipeline is. This action has the potential to be a huge turning point for the resistance movement against fossil fuels, but it needs your help to survive and succeed. If you can spare anything, make a donation here. If you want to do more, visit this page or email noneshallpass@riseup.net to get involved.

For the wild!

– Tar Sands Blockader

Campaigners mobilising to fight ‘hundreds of new roads’

Campaigners are hoping to kick-start opposition to 'hundreds of new roads' with actions in Twyford Down and Hastings this weekend.

Campaigners are hoping to kick-start opposition to 'hundreds of new roads' with actions in Twyford Down and Hastings this weekend.

Government and local councils are planning to spend billions of pounds on dozens of new roads over the next few years, and new 'growth' funds and devolved spending powers for local councils threaten to add hundreds more disastrous projects to this list.

In the 1990s, what was in effect a popular uprising [ 1 | 2 | 3 ] brought Tory plans for ‘the greatest road-building programme since the Romans’ to a screeching halt.

Could this weekend's actions be the beginning of a new upsurge of anti-roads protests?

 

Twenty years ago, in 1992, protests at Twyford Down helped light the fuse of the modern environmental direct action protest movement, and hundreds of campaigners – old and new – will be gathering there this Saturday (29 September) to protest against the new schemes.

At the same time, activists in East Sussex will also be staging a two-day Camp and Rally this weekend in the Combe Haven Valley outside Hastings, threatened by a £100m road, work on which is planned to start in the new year. The Camp will include direct action training and renowned transport campaigner John Stewart will lead a workshop on 'How to stop a road'.

Of the 45 transport schemes approved in the budget by the Department of Transport, the Bexhill-Hastings Link Road (BHLR) is the worst in terms of carbon emissions.

Abby Nicol, a spokesperson for the Combe Haven Defenders, who are organising the Camp near Hastings, said:

Run-away climate change is one of the greatest threats we face. Yet the government are sponsoring a new wave of road-building across the country, using money that would be much better spent on improving public transport. We urge people to join us this weekend to see the amazing area that will be destroyed unless we take action to stop it, and to learn about practical ways in which we can all peacefully and effectively resist the construction of this road.

A major conference of local anti-road groups is due to take place in Birmingham in November.

(USA) People Lock Themselves to Keystone XL Machinery to Defend Tree Village

Defending the blockades from “the machine”

Defending the blockades from “the machine”

DATELINE WINNSBORO, TX — This morning two Texas-born Tar Sands Blockaders have locked themselves to a critical piece of equipment for TransCanada’s Keystone XL construction in order to protect a massive tree village in the direct path of the toxic tar sands pipeline.

The village, where eight tree sitters remain in vigil, is on property that TransCanada now claims ownership of through court action. Keystone XL construction crews have advanced just over 300 yards away from the northern boundary of Tar Sands Blockade’s tree vigil.

Stay updated at the Tar Sands Blockade website

 

Local residents camp & rally against Bexhill-Hastings link road

Local residents have released further details of the two-day programme of events- including a camp and rally – in Combe Haven Valley this weekend, 29/30 September, to protest against controversial plans to build a £100m link road between Hastings and Bexhill. The group Combe Haven Defenders have gathered experts and entertainers from across Sussex and beyond to join their 'Stop the Road' event.

 

Following a lunch and rally around 1pm, renowned transport campaigner John Stewart will lead a workshop on 'How to stop a road', drawing lessons from the successful '90s anti-roads movement [1]. Local people will also be able to attend an'Introduction to Direct Action with national group Seeds for Change, as they plan the next steps of the campaign.

Families will also be catered for with a workshop and play from environmental youth group The Otesha Project UK, shadow puppetry and story-telling. Local botany expert Judy Clark will be on hand and in the evening participants will be able to stargaze with a professional astronomer.

Local musicians have also rallied to support the campaign, with evening performances promised from Tim Hoyte, Eleanor Lynn, Anita Jardine, Las Pasionaras, Will Davis and Krysia Mansfield. The group have stated that there will be no amplified music and the event will be alcohol-free.

Guided walks to the Camp site will depart on Saturday 29 September from Bexhill Station and Bulverhythe (Sheep Wash bridge) at 11am, and from Crowhurst Station at 12 noon. Details of the Camp's location will also be available on the Combe Haven Defenders' web-site on Saturday morning: www.combehavendefenders.org.uk.

Spokesperson Abby Nicol said: 'We urge people to join us this weekend to see the amazing area that will be destroyed unless we take action to stop it, and to learn about practical ways in which we can all peacefully and effectively resist the construction of this road. The appalling traffic problems along the Bexhill Road need to be alleviated, but the building of a new road – which according to the County Council’s own figures will increase overall traffic by 14 per cent – is not a sustainable or financially viable solution. We have to look to more creative and sustainable solutions to traffic problems: the link road is not the answer. '

NOTES
[1] John Stewart was named "Britain’s most effective radical green activist" in the first comprehensive list of the country’s most effective greens, compiled by The Independent on Sunday – in part for his role in "co-ordinat[ing] protests that brought Tory plans for ‘the greatest road-building programme since the Romans’ to a screeching halt in the 1990s." For more info see www.airportwatch.org.uk/?p=2244 Combe Haven Defenders

(Brazil) Fishermen Paralyze Construction of the Belo Monte Dam

Fishermen form a line to block

Fishermen form a line to block access to the construction site of a coffer dam on the Xingu River, Sep. 2012

From International Rivers:

On Wednesday [Sep. 19], a group of about 50 fishermen prevented a ferry from transporting machines and workers to a coffer dam being built for the Belo Monte Dam Complex, setting up a protest camp on one of the main islands of the Xingu River near the construction site.

After assembling, the protesters decided to remain indefinitely in place, and called on Norte Energia and IBAMA to immediately negotiate compensation for the loss of ecologically sensitive fish species that the fishermen have suffered as a result of the coffer dam’s construction.

"The fishermen have seen a 50% reduction in fisheries production. The river is drying up. Several species failed to spawn over the last year due to Norte Energia's intervention in the river.  A lot of fish are dying, and in some locations the company wants to impede the fishermen from accessing the river," explained Ana Barbosa Laide of the Movimento Xingu Vivo, who has accompanied the mobilization.

On Wednesday night, a group of fishermen who depend on ornamental fish from the river joined the group, demanding that environmental agency IBAMA guarantee the survival of species that are endemic to the area where the dam is being built, saying that otherwise, the species will go extinct. "They argue that if these species die off, IBAMA should release its population of collected ornamental fish in order to save the economic livelihoods of the fishermen," explained Laide.

According to the movement leaders, the occupation protests the decision of IBAMA to allow Norte Energia to permanently close the river. During this process, the fishermen were not consulted nor informed about how they could continue their economic activities, or how they could continue to transport their boats on the river past the dam. "The river is ours and we came to fish. You can't just prohibit fishing, we have to work, "says Lucio Vale, President of the Fishermen's Colony of Altamira.

On the evening of the 19th, civil police officers, accompanied by members of Norte Energia, were at the demonstration site. According to agents, they were assured that the protest was non-violent.