East Midlands – Page 14

48 hours of action against E.ON and new coal – pre-advertised events this Friday & Saturday

The 48 hours of action against E.ON and new coal are nearly upon us, and final preparations are being made. Below is a selection of public actions that have been organised. You can also find information and resources, including a media Q&A, on the E.ON F.OFF website at http://www.eon-foff.com

Plus invite your friends to the Facebook event:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=32617789333

Plus post your reports from the day on www.indymedia.org.uk and here

Friday 28th November

COVENTRY
Join Warwick Uni students at E.ON’s headquarters in Coventry.
Meet at 12pm on the piazza. We’ll march from there to the Headquarters, arrive there about 12:30. Once there, there’ll be loads going on, including… .a ‘Catch the Carbon’ competition, drumming workshop, a mass die-in, visually showing the effects climate change are already having and more.
For more see: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=34220633837&ref=ts

LONDON
E.ON vs. Greenwash Guerillas
8am-10am. Meet up in Trafalgar Square at 8.00am to head down to E.ON’s London office at 100 Pall Mall and show E.ON their greenwash won’t wash. All inventive greenwash actions welcome!

LONDON
World Development Movement kids demo at E.ON
Meet at 10am in Trafalgar Square for the children to add their footprints to the banner, then take our footprints to a ‘No new coal’ protest outside E.ON’s London offices in Pall Mall. Come along with your children and participate

Saturday 29th November

LONDON
Stop Coal Sticker Rush
Keep the pressure up on E.ON by spreading the word and putting up some E.ON F.OFF & Stop Coal stickers – you can get them from the Coal Hole (91-92 Strand, WC2R 0DW) from 1pm-3pm on Saturday.

NORWICH
Spoof E.on Recruitment Stall
Location – Outside RBS, 5 Queen Street, Norwich.
Time – 12noon – 2pm, Saturday 29 November.

Targetting Royal Bank of Scotland the financier of New Coal and Eon

Bristol Rising Tide is targetting the Royal Bank of Scotland the financier or climate chaos

Come and join in a day of shenanigans targetted on RBS (now 60% owned by the British Taxpayer), the financier of new coal development in the UK. Be a bank robber or help the cooks with their recipe for disaster!

Meeting at the ruined church at 12.00 on Castle Green, then onto the RBS branch in Baldwin Street around 12.15, NatWest in Corn Street around 12.45 and then RBS insurance in Nelson St around 1.15.

Party and Protest in defiance of E-on (owners of Kingsnorth) and coal expansion with solar powered sound system and free cake 3.00 pm at the Hippodrome, St Augustines Parade

TopShop SwapShop (London), Buy Nothing Day action (+ Steal Something Day) + Leeds + Liverpool + Bristol

Ladies and Gentlemen we are proud to announce the restyling fashion mash-up event of the year!

TOPSHOP SWAPSHOP
2pm Sat 29th November – Topshop Oxford Street
Credit Crunch!

Ladies and Gentlemen we are proud to announce the restyling fashion mash-up event of the year!

TOPSHOP SWAPSHOP
2pm Sat 29th November – Topshop Oxford Street
Credit Crunch!

In the light of the current economic crisis and the outrage over the sweatshop conditions that most high street brands make their clothes in, the swapshop is your chance to re-vamp your wardrobe with a free conscience! Leaping away from the drudgery of big corporate fashion with it’s dodgy business practices and spend spend spend attitude, the Topshop swapshop takes fashion back to it’s roots.

Simply turn up at TOPSHOP on Oxford Street wearing an outfit you wish to upgrade, then on the stroke of 2, marvel as hundreds of fashion moguls offer to trade your clothes with you.

Fancy that girls jumper? Why not offer to swap your belt for it?
That boy’s hat is to die for, how about a trade for your jeans?
Nice skirt, fancy trading my t-shirt for it?

After a hectic re-working of your look you can then walk proudly back onto the streets of London town with a new wardrobe and not having spent a single penny.

You can buy lots of clothes but you can’t buy style.

Please spread far and wide…

DISCLAIMER:

The above event is in no way supported or condoned by TopShop. Any similarity to any brand living or dead is merely coincidental.

http://www.spacehijackers.org

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Steal Something Day, a shameless 24-hour stealing spree! a critique of BND and call to action, recycled from previous years for your entertainment

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Buy Nothing Day Leeds

In Briggate this Saturday (29th of Nov) there will be a Buy Nothing extravaganza. We will have Christmas carols telling people of the woes of shopping, there will be hot tea and coffee to help ex-shoppers readjust to there new found happiness, and ideas of presents that do not involve consumerism. From
11am – till dark we will be asking people to question consumerism and join us in buying nothing!

Last year was a major success and BND strikes again. Please bake cakes, bring food and anything you would like to give away. There will be a free shop, music and tables. Bring anything down to join in the party!
Leeds BND

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Liverpool

next to nowhere is proud to present an opportunity for all the liverpool activists to join together in a spirit of togetherness, openness & communication.

i guess we can all agree that over-consumption is a very bad thing & i reckon that most of us see capitalism as the root of the sickness that is infesting our society. yes?
anyone a racist? no? oh my, we seem to have something in common after all!

well, on saturday 29th november it’s time to put your mutual aid where your mouth is.

at 11am maybe meet & greet nick griffin (bnp) who could be pleasuring our city with his presence in his bid to become mep for the north west of england. he’s called for the party faithful to gather in protest at thearrest of several members last week. are we really going to let this happen?
meet at the top of church street at 10am.

afterwards, from 12pm, the social centre shall be transformed into an oasis of anti-capitalism.

we’ll have:
a fabulous free-shop full of quality free goodies,
free tea n’ coffee,
vegan cafe (donations only),
open mic, film, performance, spoken word…

now, i know that some people are a bit scared of actually getting involved in next to nowhere, prefering to discuss the shortcomings of the booking policy from a safe distance. just to be clear, and restate the bottom line of next to nowhere from its constitution – everyone is welcome to get involved at the social centre provided that they are willing to work in a non-hierarchical way through consensus.

‘actions speak louder than words’ – please can people work together in mutual support to help make this world a better place and take on the evils which are fucking up our world or say nothing and stop this on-going criticism from the sidelines, whilst doing nothing at nowhere.

who knows, the open-mic forum could even provide an opportunity for people to express their feelings about the social centre, in a non-hierarchical way of course!
or, we could just have a good old-fashioned knees up…

together, let’s start to dance on the graves of multi-national corporations!

feistyfingers[at]yahoo.co.uk
http://www.liverpoolsocialcentre.org

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Buy Nothing Day 2008 – Freeshop in Broadmead, Bristol

Free shop, live music, circus skills and face painting? UWE students from the People and Planet society are going to be taking part in a ‘buy nothing day’ and will be running a free shop on Saturday, brightening up the cold, grey, wintry streets of Bristol city centre.

To recapture some of that lost Christmas Spirit (the giving that is, not the spending!) we’ll be giving away clothes, bric-a-brac and plenty more little gems for you to get your mitts on as well as bringing a little sunshine to the often not-so-happy shoppers of Bristol. If you have anything you want to get rid of, bring it along!

We’re looking for volunteers to help inform and entertain (musicians, circus entertainers, etc) so if your game bring your unicycle down and get involved! It kicks off at 11am and will be running till 4pm, so Pop down to our marquee in-between the Galleries and Cabot Circus (Just down from Ann Summers!).

For more info e-mail Lisa at lisatozer@hotmail.com

I’ll see you there!

A report from the No Borders network gathering

A report from No Borders gathering in Newcastle

On 9 & 10 November a gathering of No Borders activists was held in Newcastle with groups and individuals from Brighton, Bristol, South Wales, London, Oxford, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow taking part. Altogether, about 50-60 people attended.

A report from No Borders gathering in Newcastle

Saturday began with report backs from local groups, giving us an impression of the activity of the No Borders network. Opposition against ID cards and the IOM, and actions against deportation airlines and immigration snatch squads, are as much part of the No Borders agenda as is solidarity with detainees, deportees and migrant workers. It was obvious that the volume and variety of actions is one of the strengths of the network which has helped it to continue to develop and grow without losing momentum.

The international dimension of the network was stressed when people told of large-scale blockades of a detention centre in Belgium, of Hamburg airport to stop deportations, and of the attempt to dismantle a detention centre in Denmark. People felt it is increasingly important to continue developing info and action-sharing networks with people across Europe and elsewhere. UK No Borders activists are making connections with campaigners in Northern France to highlight the situation of hundreds of refugees trapped in Calais.

Discussions also developed around the idea of organizing a bigger No Borders event in the future that would include actions and info-sharing.

On Sunday, the need to develop No Borders politics was stressed in a discussion on ‘who are our allies’. At a local level, whilst working on some issues in coalition with groups and organisations that differ in character, No Borders has a firmly anti-capitalist and anti-authoritarian stance. Over all, the network reiterated its explicit anti-capitalist and anti-authoritarian position, and a group formed to work on publicity that offers an easily accessible guide to No Borders politics. This could take the form of written publications and media projects such as the development of a film.

All in all, sharing information and stories was an inspiring experience and by strengthening communications and network-wide tactics, people across the UK will continue to develop their ideas and inspire each other to take action against borders and to promote freedom of movement for all.

The next gathering is proposed for February/March 2009 in Bristol
www.noborders.org.uk

Remember remember, action security in November… [update: Observer article withdrawn]

Remember to think about security when planning actions & campaigns, every month – there’s been a helpful reminder in a Sunday newspaper that our aims and the aims of the state are somewhat different!

Though the article can be taken to be a police unit safeguarding their ongoing budgets and employment – as has happened in the past with similar scare articles (from the police & the security services) – it’s also a handy reminder of the security issues we should think about to ensure that our campaigning remains effective. Check out the background dirt on the journos below…

Also, try out this selection of links:

Security, Privacy, & Anonymity for Autonomy…
ELF Press Office’s security page
Top 100 Network Security Tools

The original newspaper article:

Police warn of growing threat from eco-terrorists

Fear of deadly attack by lone maverick as officers alert major firms to danger of green extremism

Mark Townsend and Nick Denning,
The Observer, Sunday November 9 2008

Police have warned of the growing threat of eco-terrorism after revealing they are investigating a group which has supporters who believe that reducing the Earth’s population by four-fifths will help to protect the planet.

Officers from a specialist unit dedicated to tackling domestic terrorism are monitoring an eco-movement called Earth First! which has advocates who state that cutting the Earth’s population by 80 per cent will ease pressure on other species. Officers are concerned a ‘lone maverick’ eco-extremist may attempt a terrorist attack aimed at killing large numbers of Britons.

The National Extremism Tactical Co-ordination Unit, which collates intelligence and advice to police forces, has revealed that eco-activists are researching a list of target companies which they believe are major polluters or are exacerbating the threat of climate change.

The unit is currently monitoring blogs and internet traffic connected to a network of UK climate camps and radical environmental movements under the umbrella of Earth First!, which has claimed responsibility for a series of criminal acts in recent months.

A senior source at the unit said it had growing evidence of a threat from eco-activists. ‘We have found statements that four-fifths of the human population has to die for other species in the world to survive.

‘There are a number of very dedicated individuals out there and they could be dangerous to other people.’

Earth First! says its mission is ‘about direct action to halt the destruction of the Earth’ and advocates ‘civil disobedience and monkeywrenching’, tactics that include sabotage and disruptive behaviour. The movement has links to US environmental extremists which have waged a campaign of violence in America, including the firebombing of a string of 4×4 car dealerships in California in 2003 and alleged arson attacks on other property.

The anti-extremist unit has already alerted a number of major companies which have been accused of being carbon polluters with advice on how they can withstand being targeted by eco-terrorists. Companies are thought to include airport operator BAA, an international mining conglomerate BHP Billiton and firms connected to UK coal-fired power stations.

‘They are doing research of possible targets, looking at shareholders and financiers. For example, they could research an airline and see how many of its aircraft are not environmentally friendly,’ said the NETCU source.

Although green extremists have yet to embark on an orchestrated campaign of violence in the UK, officers warn that they may be about to launch a campaign of intimidation and fear aimed at disrupting businesses. ‘For some people, if they can justify it in their minds, then it’s a noble cause even if it’s a criminal action. They haven’t started yet, but we believe they will come up with a strategy and tactics,’ said the source at the unit, who described the movement as well-funded and organised.

A spate of recent attacks, for which Earth First! supporters have claimed responsibility, has included vandalism of branches of seven German banks such as Deutsche Bank and Allianz AG. The actions were apparently because the banks hold shares in UK Coal, which plans to build new coal-fired power stations.

A statement on the Earth First! website explains the attacks by saying: ‘Exploitation of the environment and people by the state and industry go hand in hand. They cannot be separated and both must be attacked. Social war, not climate chaos.’

Another attack hit a quarry in Staffordshire which belongs to Bardon Aggregates, a company hat also owns a controversial quarry at Glensanda on the north-west coast of Scotland. The Scottish quarry is accused of spoiling the Highlands environment. The Earth First! website states: ‘We slashed tyres, stripped paint jobs, glued locks and trashed conveyor belts. All the earth movers were hit and many of the cement and aggregate trucks. This action cost us very little but should cost Bardon thousands.’

Among the network of groups under the Earth First! umbrella are various climate camps. Last August police found a stash of knives and weapons beside one such camp in Kent. Protesters, however, said they had nothing to do with the weapons and accused police of launching a ‘smear campaign’.

A spokesman for Derby Earth First! said the movement was strictly non-violent, if not always law-abiding. He said: ‘If someone does ecological damage we would perhaps break the law and protect the ecology, but the ecology also includes humans.

‘We’re all about communities. Capitalism is the problem and we want to return to a more sustainable time. But we are not about reducing the population, that is just scaremongering by the police.’

The rise of eco-extremism coincides with the fall of the animal rights activist movement. Police said the animal rights movement was in ‘disarray’ and that its ringleaders had either been prosecuted or were awaiting prosecution, adding that its ‘critical mass’ of hardcore extremists was sufficiently depleted to have halted its effectiveness. Last Thursday a prominent animal rights activist accused of planting petrol bombs at Oxford University was cleared of possessing an explosive substance with intent.

Reports on the Earth First! Journal website, which tells users how to send encrypted emails, reveals connections to the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) which has been linked to a series of violent attacks in the US. ELF was classified as the top domestic terrorism threat in the US by the FBI in March 2001.

The ELF was founded in 1992 in Brighton by members of the Earth First! movement who wanted to form a breakaway group that would use more extreme tactics.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/09/eco-terrorism-earth-first-elf

Dirt dug on article writers:

From: http://ianbone.wordpress.com/2008/11/10/the-guardian-eco-terrorism-and-the-armyexclusive/

THE GUARDIAN ECO-TERRORIST JOURNO IS ARMY INTELLIGENCE OFFICER……..EXCLUSIVE!

Curioser and Curiouser……I’m checking for Nick Denning – co-author with Mark Townsend of yesterday’s hilarous Observer piece on eco -terrorism. He doesn’t appear to have any previous as a journalist. But what’s this?? A piece written by Townsend in Afghanistan in August 2007 where he’s embedded with the Royal Anglian Regiment in Sangin………and sharing a helicopter ride with NICK DENNING – COMMANDER OF 1 PLATOON A COMPANY in the Royal Anglian regiment!!! And less than a year later this Denning is providing intelligence to his mate on The Guardian on eco – terorism!!! Some explanations from The Guardian reqired on this one methinks! Watch this space…………

Also see http://ianbone.wordpress.com/2008/11/09/guardian-journalists-police-patsies-yet-again/
And http://ianbone.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/god-bone-youre-a-cunt-the-observer-replies/

Funny & informative.

—OR—

This ‘Nick Denning’ is clearly not the cricketer and Ian Bone’s suggestion that he is an army officer is unlikely. It is more likely to be the ND who worked at the BBC as a researcher and a bit of work on Google pulls up a number of requests that he has made for information.

For instance:

http://www.stewartbyfc.co.uk/fusionnews/archive.php?show=month&month=July&year=2004

The most likely explanation is that this is the person – that he is a researcher who wants to break into national journalism.

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Schnews article & quotes from the journo

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The Observer/Guardian blog on the subject if you want to post something there is http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2008/nov/10/activists-kingsnorth

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Update:
The readers’ editor on … anonymous sources and claims of eco-terrorism

The Observer, Sunday November 23 2008

You might think The Observer’s concern for the environment arose only in the past 20 years as global warming became apparent, but it has actually been reading the signs since 1925. Waldorf Astor, then the paper’s forward-thinking owner, took a keen interest in all things environmental and urged his editor, JL Garvin, to appoint a correspondent to cover ecology and agriculture. Step forward Sir William Beach Thomas, who became, in effect, the first environment correspondent.

Much later, The Observer was to investigate and reveal the ‘greenhouse effect’ and to warn of its possible consequences. Thousands of words have been devoted to the subject ever since, winning a loyal audience, particularly among those who are active in the environment movement. So there was understandable dismay at a recent story which told of a ‘growing threat from eco-terrorists’.

Police were said to be investigating the eco-movement Earth First! which, they claimed, had supporters who believed that reducing the Earth’s population by four-fifths would help protect the planet. The National Extremism Tactical Co-ordination Unit was concerned that a lone maverick might attempt a terrorist attack. It had also warned several companies they were being targeted as major polluters by the group and had offered them advice on how to withstand attack.

It’s perfectly legitimate to report police security concerns, but none of the statements were substantiated. No website links were offered, no names were mentioned, no companies identified and no police source would go on the record.

The article linked Earth First! to climate camps established last summer, including one at Kingsnorth power station, Kent, and at Heathrow.

While the paper had no intention of suggesting that every activist was a potential terrorist, several climate campers wrote to protest. ‘If a journalist is told by a single anonymous source that a movement of people has among it individuals who would take the lives of men, women and children in a terror attack, what standard of evidence does that journalist require? In this case: no evidence whatsoever. The claim itself was the story.’

We’ve been here before. Other newspapers reported on a predicted ‘summer of hate’ at climate camps that never materialised and the Press Complaints Commission found against the Evening Standard at climate campers were planning attacks at Heathrow.

Environmentalist Keith Metcalf explained that Earth First! supported direct action against property, but not against people. He believed that the debate around sustainable population size had been twisted to imply that environmentalists wished to kill people.

He also repeated the belief of several others that Nectu was briefing in this manner in order to make prosecutions easier and to boost its funding, which is at risk owing to the decline in animal rights campaigns. I can’t verify that or the fears about mass murder because, despite repeated requests, Nectu won’t respond. Accordingly, The Observer has decided to withdraw the story.

More careers fair antics – Cambridge, Birmingham, Oxford – update: RBS & e.on no-shows

Update: RBS didn’t turn up to a Cambridge careers fair and e.on have given a few a miss now – keep on going folks, there’ll be lots of other murderous companies coming your way…

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Careering Downwards, courtesy of Cambridge University!

Update: RBS didn’t turn up to a Cambridge careers fair and e.on have given a few a miss now – keep on going folks, there’ll be lots of other murderous companies coming your way…

—

Careering Downwards, courtesy of Cambridge University!
5th November 2008
Today and tomorrow, Cambridge University are hosting a Careers Fair, which seems to comprise a motley collection of arms manufacturers, planet wreckers and Vivisectionists.

To highlight just how dubious many of the exhibitors at this event are, some activists decided to go along today.

Despite the extremely fluffy actions undertaken by activists, which were handing out flyers to visitors (for a while inside the venue as well as on the road outside), and displaying banners, there was a high presence not only of the expected Proctors, but also many police, including a FIT team who made a point of photographing everyone while they were there, but seemed to be strangely camera shy themselves.

Apparently earlier in the day there were at least two van loads of police in attendance, although by the time activists arrived in numbers they had gone, with ‘just’ several cars having a visible presence there all of the afternoon, including (I witnessed) the searching of someone’s Guitar case at the door!

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Students Dying to Ditch Dirty Development

Last Friday (31st October) students from Keele, BCU, Birmingham, Warwick and Aston People and Planet groups staged a die-in at Royal Bank of Scotland’s stall in the Graduate Recruitment Fair at the NEC in Birmingham. It was the latest in a series of actions as part of People and Planet’s Ditch Dirty Development Campaign targeting RBS at careers’ fairs and presentations at universities around the country.

Students gritted their teeth through the security checks into the careers’ fair arena, as well as resisting the temptation to target other companies in a who’s who of unethical companies (including defence contractors such as BAE Systems, and the Arcadia Group owners of notorious sweatshop high street brand Topshop) before congregating at the RBS stall. At an agreed time the students performed a mass die-in in and around the stall, dying on oil slicks to make the point about oil extraction and climate change already killing those in developing countries.

Security arrived promptly to remove protesters from the scene, protesters singing “Oil and Gas RBS” as they were removed from the fair. Some students were then questioned by security and the police, while others were taken outside and told to protest in a specially prepared pen outside the main entrance. Those being questioned were then removed from the premise, one was even threatened with arrest by police officers in order for them to obtain their name and address, and were informed that should they return they would be arrested, on rather legally dubious grounds.

Those in the “protest pen” outside were subjected to sniffer dog checks of bags for explosives, and also of persons for drugs in an attempt to try and pin more on the protesting students. Once this ordeal had been endured, with no shortage of cynical humour and gritted teeth, the remaining students continued to protest outside, and, despite a security presence, attempts to stop students using a megaphone, not being allowed to leave the pen without an escort, managed to engage members of the passing public in the campaign. Spirits were kept high with chants and songs before students decided to end the protest and were escorted out of the area by security.

While those who took part were satisfied with the day’s protesting, police officers questioning and threatening participants with arrest as well as the use of sniffer dogs represents was a worrying development, especially in response to what was essentially a very fluffy direct action protest. However, protests against RBS at careers events will continue no matter how much they hide behind security and police. The campaign continues….

Some of the exhibitors include…

Proctor & Gamble (vivisection funders)

Eon (Pro Nuclear and Coal power)

Rolls Royce (Arms Manufacturers, sponsors of University Engineering Department)

Shell (archetypal oil greenwashers)

…And many more besides.

It would seem that despite previous years’ Careers Fairs also having activists in attendance, due to the moral bankruptcy of the companies being booked for said event, the University still hasn’t figured out that it’s actually better for their wider reputation to display some ethics in their booking choices for such an event.

You could always come along and see it for yourself, as it’s open again Thursday afternoon (November 6th), by The Mill Pond at The Graduate Centre, although if you’re not a Cambridge University Student, you may get ID’ed.

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E.ON Recruiters Targeted AGAIN – in Oxford

6.11.2008
Climate-trashing energy monsters E.ON continued their national recruitment tour with a stall at the Oxford Careers Fair today. They seemed miserable but not surprised when a group of local activists turned up too…

This afternoon, Oxford Town Hall played host to a thrilling smorgasbord of unethical corporate recruiters, at the “Science, Engineering and IT Careers Fair”. BAe, AWE, npower, BP, Proctor & Gamble, and the Army were all in attendance, but it was coal-burning climate renegades E.ON who were in the spotlight today.

Over the last few weeks they’ve been targeted by activists at careers fairs across the land, and today was no exception. A group of campaigners from Thames Valley Climate Action were in attendance, making sure that everyone at the fair had an anti-brainwashing leaflet detailing what E.ON were really up to (with more general information on the other side about evil corporate recruiters, so the rest of them didn’t feel neglected). The recruiters wasted plenty of time talking to undercover activists, and every genuine student who visited the stall got a friendly chat from a campaigner as well.

Eventually, though, the shiny corporate displays all got too much to bear, and some more action was required. E.ON were (loudly) presented with a fantastic prize for the most egregious piece of greenwash on display (despite some stiff competition): their display read “Tackling climate change isn’t something that’s tacked onto our agenda. It’s at the heart of our business” (oh, for a bit of paint to remove the word “tackling”). Their prize? A fantastic bag of (char)coal, scattered all over their stall, and the sight of the protesters being firmly escorted from the building, still loudly detailing E.ON’s activities, much to the entertainment of the watching crowd.

The activists then spent some time dishing out the rest of their leaflets outside the fair – we’ll post the leaflet here in case anyone else wants to use it (we cribbed bits of it from the Nottingham careers fair leaflet, so let’s keep sharing it all around!).

Thames Valley Climate Action
oxford@climatecamp.org.uk
http://tvca.atspace.com

CLIMATE ACTION NEWS SHEET 84, OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008

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UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIONS:
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1) RBS, E.ON and Shell university recruitment tours, Oct/Nov 08
2) Climate Camp National Gathering, Bradford, 8/9.11.08
3) Remembering Ken Saro-Wiwa, 10.11.08
4) Shared Planet Conference, Birmingham, 21-23.11.08
5) 48 hours of action against E.On and new coal, 28/29.11.08
6) Buy Nothing Day, 29.11.08

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RECENT HAPPENINGS:
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1) Towards Copenhagen 2009 – the first global gathering, 13/14.09.08
2) Coal power station blockaded in Virginia, USA, 15.09.08
3) Rossport – Solitaire leaves Irish waters with no pipeline laid! 20.09.08
4) Flashmob against airport expansion a success! 23.09.08
5) Climate Camp policing condemned, 30.09.08 & 28.10.08
6) Boston (US) Rising Tide pay Citibank a visit, 7/10/08
7) Day of Action Against PacifiCorp dam, 10.10.08
8) Parliament rushed by climate activists, 13.10.08
9) Oxford students just say no to BP jobs, 14.10.08
10) Art Not Oil visit the NT and hoax boss Hytner, 15.10.08
11) Protesters disrupt European biofuels summit, 16.10.08
12) Scottish climate activists target Scottish First Minister, 16.10.08
13) Greenwash Guerrillas EDF Action, 22.10.08
14) Manchester students flashmob RBS and E.On recruitment stalls, 23.10.08
15) Barclays’ coal investments targeted in Leamington Spa, 25.10.08
16) Protestors stop work at Shipley open-cast; Shipley Bodge court case
collapses, 27.10.08
17) The Rainbow Warrior goes to Kingsnorth, 29.10.08
18) Bristol University Death Fair
19) Conveyer belt lock-on stops Australian coal power station, 1.11.08

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UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIONS:
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1) RBS, E.ON and Shell university recruitment tours, OCT/NOV 08
Climate criminals are recruiting now, in a University near you. Find out when and where, as they have kindly posted their itineraries online.
www.makeitrbs.com/events/

www.shell.com/home/content/gbr/aboutshell/careers/students_and_graduates/calendar_of_events/calendar_of_events_30052008.html

www.eon-uk.com/Careers/Graduates/807.aspx

Stuck for a direct action idea? Check out Rising Tide’s “15 ways to topple
the Fossil Fuel Empire” on our website.

2) Climate Camp National Gathering, Bradford, 8/9.11.08
The next Climate Camp gathering will be in Bradford on the 8th and 9th November. Come along and get involved.This month we will be in the fair city of Bradford, based up at the student union. Food will be provided by the delicious Treehouse Cafe and crash space will be nearby.

Large Group Facilitation Training
Seeds for Change are running a Large Group Facilitation Training for Climate Campers on Friday November 7th in Leeds (just down the road from the gathering in Bradford), 11AM to 5.30 PM. Please email process at climatecamp.org.uk asap if you are interested.

3) Remembering Ken Saro-Wiwa, 10.11.08
Film screening and fundraiser at 7PM at LARC in London, 62 Fieldgate St, E1 1ES. On the 13th anniversary of the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the rest of the Ogoni 9 by the Nigerian state in 1995, with Shell in close cahoots, we will be remembering what they fought for and what they died for. We’ll also be hearing about the inspirational resistance of people around the world to Shell’s unfortunately far from unique brand of destruction, duplicity and overall mayhem in the chase for ever-greater profits. There will be film screenings of ‘Those Who Dance’ and ‘Shadows and Light: Oil, Power, and the Niger Delta’, inspirational art on the walls and food and drink. Funds raised will go towards Art Not Oil’s new campaign against the Shell-sponsored Oedipus production currently running at the National Theatre.

4) Shared Planet Conference, Birmingham, 21-23.11.08
The University of Birmingham – Shared Planet is the UK’s largest student conference on world poverty, human rights and the environment. It brings hundreds of students together for a weekend packed with big-name speakers, skills and issue based workshops, debates, discussions, film and a massive party! http://peopleandplanet.org/events/sharedplanet

5) 48 hours of action against E.On and new coal, 28/29.11.08

The UK Government is calling for an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, we are calling for 48 hours of action against E.ON and new coal NOW. Join us in saying ‘No to New Coal’: get your friends together and plan an action for your area. Go stickering, blockading, serving direct action warning notices at supply chain premises, organise an awareness raising talk, hang a banner, get creative on the streets, the options are endless. Get together, get creative, and plan an action! For more information visit – www.e-onf-off.org – where a list of potential targets, action ideas and plenty of resources will follow shortly.

6) Buy Nothing Day, 29.11.08
Saturday November 29h 2008 is Buy Nothing Day. It’s a day where you challenge yourself to switch off from shopping and tune into life. The rules are simple, for 24 hours you will detox from consumerism and live without shopping. Anyone can take part provided they spend a day without spending – better yet, get together with some friends and challenge consumer culture directly!
www.buynothingday.co.uk

7) National Climate March, 06.12.08
March on Parliament to demand that the government acts on climate now! The march this year goes to Parliament Square to demand that the government act now on climate. The march will start at Speakers Corner, Hyde Park – assemble 12 noon. The march will be preceeded by a climate protest bike ride starting from Lincoln’s Inn Fields at 10.30 am: see more here. There will be an After-Party in the Synergy Centre from 5.00 pm till late.!
www.campaigncc.org/index.shtml

8) Earth First! Winter Moot, 6-8.02.09
The Earth First! Winter Moot is a weekend to reflect on where we are as a radical ecologist movement and on where we are going. The moot will be about discussing strategy, strengthening the EF! network, security and communications and action planning. A session is also reserved for discussing a UK mobilisation for the UN climate conference in Copenhagen late 2009. The moot will be held in Brighton (t.b.c.). Please check this website nearer to the time for further details and email any items you would like to add an item to the agenda to moot2009 at earthfirst.org.uk.
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/21557

9) Fossil Fools Day 2009, 01.04.09
Just in case you missed the news last month – Fossil Fools Day is back! Whether you’ve been looking for a chance to dip a toe into the growing climate action movement, or have had your kick-ass action planned since last year, now is the time to do it – whatever it is. On April 1st, join the global day of resistance and pull a prank that packs a punch. Call-out now available on the website, so get spreading the word. Info and resources will be posted on the website soon, and look out for leaflets to distribute in December.
www.risingtide.org.uk/fossilfoolsday2009

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RECENT HAPPENINGS:
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1) Towards Copenhagen 2009 – the first global gathering, 13/14.09.08
The first social movements’ meeting was from 13-14 September 2008, in a free school in Norrberg, hosted by the Danish movement ClimaX (klimax2009.org). There were about 100 people present from 21 countries around the world, and mobilisatations towards December 2009 were well and truly launched. For the call to action, translations, and a personal perspective on the meeting, see http://risingtide.org.uk/copenhagen. To get involved, send an email to climate09-int-subscribe at list.riseup.net.

2) Coal power station blockaded in Virginia, USA, 15.09.08
At 6:00am on September 15 around 40 people blockaded the construction site of Dominion Virginia’s Wise County coal-fired power station. Eleven protesters were arrested after four hours. Protesters locked their bodies to eight large steel drums, two of which had operational solar panels illuminating a banner that read “renewable jobs to renew Appalachia.” In addition, protesters held a 10’x30′ banner, which said: “we demand a clean energy future.”

3) Rossport – Solitaire leaves Irish waters with no pipeline laid! 20.09.08
On Friday the 20th September, the pipe laying ship, the Solitaire, finally left Irish waters. During the ship’s time in Ireland, Shell failed to lay any part of the offshore pipe line. The departure of the Solitaire is a massive victory for the Shell to Sea campaign. Resistance in the past six weeks has taken many different forms: fishermen preventing the ship’s access to the bay by refusing to move from her path, site invasions by local people and the Rossport Solidarity Camp, numerous waterborne actions to prevent work by supporters from other parts of Ireland and further afield, national and international solidarity actions and finally, an 11 day hunger strike by local campaigner Maura Harrington, that continued until the ship left Irish waters. The events of the last 6 weeks have inspired not only those involved, but also many who witnessed them from afar, new links and friendships have been forged and many lessons learned. In the aftermath, the Shell to Sea campaign can clearly be seen to have been revitalized, both locally and nationally. It is unclear when the ship will attempt to return to Broadhaven Bay. It is possible it could still be this year if repairs are quick and a suitable weather window appears, or it may not be until next spring. However, while it may be uncertain exactly when the ship will return, what is certain, is that it will meet even greater opposition upon its next arrival. Come and be part of it! The Rossport community is calling on people everywhere to put pressure on Shell, Allseas (the company that owns the Solitaire) and Irish embassies to demand that the Solitaire leaves Irish waters immediately.

4) Flashmob against airport expansion a success! 23.09.08
Over 100 campaigners staged a colourful flashmob against airport expansion at midday today outside Manchester Town Hall. The group included London campaigners opposed to the expansion of Heathrow. The flashmob was timed to coincide with the Labour Party Conference. At 12.45 precisely the campaigners stripped off to reveal red t-shirts with the words ‘Stop Airport Expansion’ emblazoned across them. They then lay down to form the words ‘TAKE TRAINS’ with their bodies. The protest marked the public launch of the recently formed ‘Stop Expansion at Manchester Airport’.

5) Climate Camp policing condemned, 30.09.08 & 28.10.08
A spokesman for Medway Trades Union Council said “We have decided to hold an inquiry into the Policing of the Climate Camp because of our concern over the level of policing and various incidents such as a policeman in riot gear assaulting a protester with a riot shield, as shown on TV, and other allegations including local campaigners being subjected to pepper spray and a local councillor being pushed to the ground”

Also, in the House of Commons, MPs accused police of unnecessary aggression towards climate campers. Home Office ministers were told that officers “provoked violence against peaceful protesters” and even arrested someone for “aggressively picking up litter”.
www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/09/409732.htm

6)Boston (US) Rising Tide pay Citibank a visit, 7/10/08
Four activists chained themselves to the front entrance of the Citibank branch in Harvard Square, Cambridge. The action started as a protest in front of the Bank of America branch a block away before marching down the street to Citibank, where the four activists had already chained themselves to the front door, closing the bank for a period of time. Over 150 people attended the protest, while many more onlookers gathered in Harvard Square. The action, using the tag-line “Not With Our Money”, was intended to raise awareness of the connections between the current financial crisis and the impending climate crisis. Both Bank of America and Citi Bank are responsible for funding dirty coal power that harms the environment, and engaging in predatory lending practices that are fuelling the foreclosure crisis and have left families in Boston homeless. Several groups were involved with the protest including Rising Tide Boston and Rainforest Action Network, both environmental justice groups, and City Life/Vida Urbana, a tenants’ rights organization.

7) Day of Action Against PacifiCorp dam, 10.10.08
A coalition of Klamath River Indian tribes, fishermen, conservationists and local supporters (including Cascadia Rising Tide) ramped up their campaign to remove four fish-killing dams on the river today when they held a spirited protest in front of PacifiCorp’s headquarters in Portland. The “Day of Action Against PacifiCorp” started off at 8:30 a.m. on September 18th when local activists hung a banner proclaiming “Warren Buffett Kills Salmon, Jobs and Communities” over Interstate-84 in solidarity with the Tribes. Around 200 people converged in front of PacifiCorp for a press conference. After the conference, 70 people occupied the area in front of the headquarters, effectively shutting down the front entrance to PacifiCorp as company staff locked the doors.

8) Parliament rushed by climate activists, 13.10.08
Demanding deeds not words from the government, 500 Climate Rushers gathered in Parliament Square to celebrate 100 years to the day since the Suffragettes rushed parliament demanding votes for women. After sharing tea and cake on the lawn of Parliament Square, men and women dressed in Edwardian garb became a little less civilised, and the doors of to Parliament were locked as climate activists rushed the main entrance. Although no one got in, the sounds of protesters striking the doors were clearly audible from the inside.
www.climaterush.co.uk

9) Oxford students just say no to BP jobs, 14.10.08
Activists infiltrated an attempt by BP to woo Oxford graduates at a top-notch hotel on October 14th. One interrupted the cheesy BP PR man’s presentation as he claimed that he ‘loved the countryside’ – while putting the gloss on oil and gas exploration, extraction and financing – to ask, why then, has BP spent more on its green sunflower rebranding than on its annual renewable energy budget? Activists then gave their own presentation of BP’s activities around the world, why major oil companies are counter-productive to climate change solutions, and why any tempted graduates should reconsider their career options. A member of Colombia Solidarity Campaign gave a first hand account of BP’s complicity in environmental destruction, subverting peaceful social movements and funding death squads. A moment of stunned silence was followed by applause as the re-educated audience abandoned the shindig.

10)Art Not Oil visit the NT and hoax boss Hytner, 15.10.08
After a visit to the theatre (Darling!), arty climate activists cooked up a letter claiming to be from NT boss Nicholas Hytner questioning the use of oil sponsorship in the arts. The NT were none too pleased about this and the ensuing row reached the letters pages of luvvie-weekly “The Stage”(a first for the direct action movement?). Art not Oil ask: “We’re asking people if they’re up for making an artwork of some kind as a response This could be an image, song, film or poem to appear on our website, or to be printed on a postcard or something similar. We’re open to ideas. (Unfortunately, we aren’t able to pay for your work, but we have no wish to possess it!) If this is of interest, we’d love to see it as soon as possible, as ‘Oedipus’ runs until January 2009 only.”
www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/10/411200.html and
http://www.thestage.co.uk/features/feature.php/22157/chit-chat-hytner-miss-or-maybe-an-attack-

11) Protesters disrupt European biofuels summit, 16.10.08
On World Food Day, 16th October, activists from Action Against Agrofuels disrupted the Biofuels Expo in Newark, one of the largest biofuel industry conferences in Europe. Four banners were dropped, as protesters climbed on the roof outside the main entrance and on a ledge inside the main exhibition hall, where they remained for over three hours. Rape alarms were set off across the exhibition centre. Banners read “Agrofuels for cars and power plants worsen climate change”, “Land-grabbing for agrofuels causes hunger”, “Agrofuels – a climate crime” and “Greenwashing hunger and deforestation”. Separately, Leeds University students held a banner and leafletting protest outside the conference.

12) Scottish climate activists target Scottish First Minister, 16.10.08
At 4am, residents from Clydebank, Paisley, Kirkliston and Cramond peacefully set up a stereo and blasted aeroplane noise through the entrance of the First Minister’s private residency in Edinburgh. The action stands as a protest ‘dawn chorus’ to highlight the experience of living life in the shadow of a growing airport. Ironically, the stereo caused 110 decibels of noise – the equivalent of a jumbo jet taking off. For half an hour about ten residents surrounded the building dressed in bright pajamas, night caps, clutching teddybears, with ear defenders to display the dangerous levels of noise pollution endured by their families and communities. Their placards stated “It’s time to wake up to the impacts of aviation” and “have a taste of your own medicine”. The residents took these steps to state loud and clear to the First Minister, who holds ultimate say over the fate of the expansion plans, that he cannot ignore any of the effects of airport expansion. These impacts include dangerous noise levels, rising air pollution, climate change and increasing economic uncertainty during the current credit crunch.

13) Greenwash Guerrillas EDF Action, 22.10.08
London Rising Tide’s Greenwash Guerillas Brigade, Detection Platoon #1, moved into action on Monday morning, 22 October, at 08:00 hours – targeting energy corporation Électricité de France (EDF) at the central London headquarters of their UK subsidiary EDF Energy. EDF has recently bought out British Energy and have announced that they plan to build 4 new nuclear power stations in the UK in the coming years. Inspired by our counterparts in France demonstrating against new nuclear power, we chose to target EDF’s attempts to muscle in their FALSE nuclear solution to the looming disaster of catastrophic climate chaos. Our action (consisting of 12 Greenwash Guerillas) highlighted the dangers of nuclear power to the biosphere, humanity, and REAL renewable energy solutions.

14) Manchester students flashmob RBS and E.On Recruitment Stalls, 23.10.08
A busy careers fair at Manchester’s GMex was interrupted yesterday by several long whistle blasts. 30 or so protestors suddenly revealed their yellow ‘Leave it in the Ground’ t-shirts and surrounded the Royal Bank of Scotland stall, holding banners and chanting ‘leave it in the ground!’. A protestor then read some extracts from the excellent report “Cashing in on Coal”, which shows that RBS is a climate criminal, pouring money into new fossil fuel extraction projects. The security guards eventually began dragging protestors out so they didn’t get a chance to visit the E.ON stall. However the protest continued outside where people handed out leaflets explaining how E.ON (with a fat loan from RBS) plans to build the first new coal power station in the UK in 30 years, while security guards repeatedly threatened to have them arrested for trespassing.

15) Barclays’ coal investments targeted in Leamington Spa, 25.10.08
Leamington Rising Tide took aim at a town centre Barclays on Saturday 25 October 2008 in protest at the bank’s heavy investment in dirty coal. Banners, leaflets and balloons let people know that ‘Barclays are fuelling global warming’. One of the banners used an image of scales to demolish the myth that Barclays cares about climate change: they invest a whopping 3,300 million invested in coal against 15 million in renewable tech on the other. Over the last two years, Barclays has been involved in 17 separate loans to the coal industry, and together with RBS and HSBC, has loaned $70 billion to E.ON alone.

16) Protestors stop work at Shipley open-cast; Shipley Bodge court case collapses, 27.10.08
Protestors from Earth First! stopped work at an open-cast coal site for over two hours – they ran onto the site and clambered on diggers & dumpers and held out banners stopping the work safely. Some of the digger drivers were very friendly and were glad to have a break as they work very long shifts, from 7am-6:30 with only lunch & half hour breaks at 10 & 3. Today work had not been able to start till 10 as nature was fighting its own corner, with rain drowning the site, and it was stopped again at 1 for 3 hours due to the protest.

Meanwhile, the first court case arising from the eviction of Bodge House, Shipley, where protesters occupied the site of the proposed open cast coal mine from June until August, collapsed today after the prosecution admitted that it didn’t have the evidence to support its case. The crown prosecutor asked for an adjournment, the defence objected, the district
judge agreed with the defence and dismissed the case. Let’s hope the others go the same way.

17) The Rainbow Warrior goes to Kingsnorth, 29.10.08
The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior led a peaceful armada of boats down the Medway to Kingsnorth, and thirty campaigners, each carrying flags from 30 nations, disembarked onto Kingsnorth’s jetty. E.on’s proposed new plant would emit as much carbon dioxide as the world’s 30 least polluting countries combined (hence the flags), dashing our chances of beating climate change and spelling disaster for millions of families around the world. Meanwhile, another group of volunteers – including two of the Kingsnorth Six (recently cleared of criminal damage to Kingsnorth’s smokestack using the defence of climate change) – occupied a small, concrete, E.ON-owned island just next to the jetty until they were forced to leave by a high court injunction.
http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/climate/vigil-ends-20081030

18) Bristohl Uni Death Fair, 29.10.08
This time it was the 4 horseman of the apocalypse (well, 2 of them) who highlighted the reality behind the shiny facades of companies like E.On and BAE Systems.
http://westsideclimateaction.wordpress.com

19) Conveyer belt lock-on stops Australian coal power station, 1.11.08
29 people from Rising Tide Australia have been arrested after a climate change protest at Bayswater power station today. Four people attached themselves to machinery, stopping the conveyor belts that carry coal to Bayswater’s furnaces for six hours while 25 others occupied the coal piles.
http://www.risingtide.org.au/node/802

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Compiled and sent out by Rising Tide UK.

To receive this News Sheet monthly, send an email to news-subscribe at risingtide.org.uk with the subject line ‘subscribe’ (without the quotes and replace at with @).

Local residents protest at Lodge Farm open cast site

At noon on Saturday 1st November, around 40 people braved rain and cold winds to protest outside the new open cast mining site at Lodge Farm, in Smalley Derbyshire.

At noon on Saturday 1st November, around 40 people braved rain and cold winds to protest outside the new open cast mining site at Lodge Farm, in Smalley Derbyshire.

UK Coal, which owns the site, plans to extract one million tonnes of coal from the 300 acre site over the next four years.

From the outset, UK Coal’s plans were opposed by local residents, several MPs and Amber Valley district council, and Derbyshire County Council refused planning permission for the open cast site. However UK Coal appealed the decision and following an appeal hearing, communities secretary Ruth Kelly overrode ordinary people’s concerns in favour of UK Coal’s interests and agreed that the scheme could go ahead.

Saturday’s protest was organised by Erewash and Amber Valley Environment Network, EAVON, and was just the latest in a long series of protests and direct actions by people concerned at the local and global effects of coal.

Speaking to the Ilkeston Advertiser, prior to the protest, Neil Padget, from The Smalley Action Group, said: “Opencast mining at Lodge House is bad enough, and the national precedent that has been set by the government, in allowing this, is appalling.

Many locals also fear, and with good reason, that UK Coal will be given permission to extend the site, and that mining in the local area may go on for decades.”

While there are justifiable fears for the impact on the local community, many of Saturday’s placards demonstrated that protesters were equally concerned with the wider effects on climate chaos of coal burning.

Protestors stop work at Shipley open-cast

27th October 2008: today protestors from Earth First! stopped work at an open-cast coal site for over two hours – they ran onto the site and clambered on diggers & dumpers and held out banners stopping the work safely. Some of the digger drivers were very friendly and were glad to have a break as they work very long shifts, from 7am-6:30 with only lunch & half hour breaks at 10 & 3. Today work had not been able to start till 10 as nature was fighting it’s own corner, with rain drowning the site, and it was stopped again at 1 for 3 hours due to the protest.

After about an hour, a few police turned up (the whole of the local police station, bless) though they didn’t have the vehicles to get over the mud to the protestors! After hitching a lift from UK Coal workers across the mud, they tried various ruses to get the EF!ers’ names (PACE s.25 even though they hadn’t yet figured out what substantive offence had been committed), and back-up arriving, the police were set to start arrests for aggravated trespass.

Eventually, people decided to leave, though they were forced to give their details and photos for later cross-referencing. The cops quoted section 68 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act meaning that if those same protestors return within 3 months they risk arrest.

A dead easy fun day out, just armed with a press release, banners and a desire to see a just sustainable world in the future.

See you down in the woods at Lodge House, Derbyshire…

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Press release:

Work stopped at open cast coal mine site

Today activists from Earth First! (1) halted the continuing destruction of countryside at Shipley in Derbyshire by UK Coal. The action is part of an ongoing campaign against UK Coal’s plans to open mine 1 million tonnes of coal from the site, over the next five years. They plan to release 3.5 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere over this period.

The protesters entered the site around 1pm this afternoon and brought work to an end whilst they peacefully occupied machinery. They intend to stay for as long as possible.

Climate change is the biggest threat facing us, and burning coal is the biggest historical cause of climate change. Every day more coal is burned, yet industry and government seem intent on burning even more.

Jim Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and eminent climate scientist, wrote in a letter (2) to Gordon Brown “The single greatest threat to the climate comes from burning coal. Coal-fired generation is historically responsible for most of the CO2 in the air today – responsible for about half of all carbon dioxide emissions globally”

Dave Porter, a protester at the site said ‘All over the country groups are emerging as part of a growing, international movement defending communities and the climate from new coal. We’re faced with a system that’s not listening to the people – a system that disregards the science in the face of the single biggest threat to our planet. If the government won’t save the country then it’s down to all of us to take action!”

Today’s action follows a mass trespass at the site on Saturday 25th October, when people from around the country gathered at the site in Derbyshire to show the strength of opposition to plans for developments in the coal industry.

In August activists squatted a derelict house (3) on the site of the proposed open cast mine, the eviction lasted for nine days and raised the profile of UK Coal’s activities in Derbyshire as well as their project costs.

People across the country are pledging to continue resistance to all developments of the UK coal industry.

Press phone 07722 727 064
Phone on Site 07900 028 306

Notes to the editor

(1)The principles behind Earth First! are non-hierarchical organisation and the use of direct action to confront, stop and eventually reverse the forces that are responsible for the destruction of the Earth and its inhabitants. EF! is not a cohesive group or campaign, but a banner for people who share similar philosophies to work under.

(2) Jim Hansen is the director of NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and an increasingly renowned climate scientist. He wrote an open letter to Gordon Brown on the 19th December 2007 calling on him to lead the way with renewable technologies and not renew coal. More recently he has given evidence to the
crown court in defence of 6 Greenpeace activist charged with criminal damage at Kingsnorth Power station in Kent.

(3)In June 2008,activists squat an abandoned farm at the Lodge House planned opencast site near Shipley in Derbyshire. The farm was about to be demolished, work was held up. The eviction cost the local police force £58,000 and UK coal will be billed for some of the expenses. The full cost of the eviction to UK coal who hired bailiffs and equipment, is expected to be much higher.

Other past actions on site: trespass, 2 at UK Coal, digger diving, squat.
Future action: 1 november – Residents’ demo at Lodge House, Derbyshire.
Meet at the entrance to the site on Heanor Road, the A6O8, by Smalley village. See http://www.multimap.com/s/xHBDydN0
eaven.umbrella@yahoo.co.uk
www.eavengreen.wordpress.com

Picnic in the Park – Photos Shipley Open Cast Site, Derbyshire & Shipley Bodge court case collapses

25 October 2008
Protesters went to have their picnic.

This was rudely interrupted as a person from the high court tried to get them to move, and seized the Veggies catering trolley and escorted some protesters off.

The police looked on in a hungry manner at the protests organisation to have a picnic with good healthy food.

After they went up to the entrance of what used to be Prospect farm aka Bodge House, now demolished.

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27 October 2008
The first court case arising from the eviction of Bodge House, Shipley, where protesters occupied the site of the proposed open cast coal mine from June until August, collapsed today. Case dismissed.

One of those evicted in August was in Derby Youth Court today facing a charge of aggravated trespass:

“at Smalley in the county of Derbyshire, having trespassed on land, namely Lodge House, Smalley, and in relation to a lawful activity, namely open cast mining, did an act, namely suspend yourself in netting between a building and a tree, which you intended to have the effect of obstructing or disrupting that activity…”

The police witnesses all turned up to do their bit, but the trial collapsed after the prosecution admitted that it didn’t have the evidence to support its case. The crown prosecutor asked for an adjournment, the defence objected, the district judge agreed with the defence and dismissed the case.

Let’s hope the others go the same way.

Shipley Bodge was evicted in August, an extremely lengthy and costly exercise for UK Coal who, three months on, are still facing determined opposition to their mining plans.

Dongria Kohnd mass protest – Middlesbrough and Wolverhampton Councils Revealed as Vedanta Investors

Tribe dances in mass protest against British mining company
21 October 2008

Hundreds of members of the Dongria Kondh tribe danced and sang through the capital of the Indian state of Orissa on Monday, armed with traditional weapons, to mark their opposition to British company Vedanta’s plans to mine their sacred mountain.

Tribe dances in mass protest against British mining company
21 October 2008

A huge procession of the tribe and their supporters snaked through the Orissan capital, Bhubaneswar.

The FTSE 100 British company Vedanta, majority owned by London-based billionaire Anil Agarwal, has received the go-ahead from India’s Supreme Court to mine aluminium ore on the Dongria’s land. The mine would destroy the forests and streams the Dongria depend on, and would turn their sacred mountain into an industrial wasteland.

Dongria man Jitu Jakesika said at the demonstration, ‘We will carry on our struggle to save Niyamgiri at any cost.’

Survival’s director Stephen Corry said today, ‘If further proof were needed that the Dongria Kondh are determined to stop Vedanta, this would be it. The Dongria know that the mine would destroy them. Vedanta must heed their voices and pull out of this project.’

Last week Survival submitted a report to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Issues, saying, ‘Mining will devastate what the Dongria Kondh hold sacred and the natural resources from which they draw their specific identity as a people.’

Many British banks and pension funds invest in Vedanta, including the Universities pension fund (USS), F&C, Standard Life, Barclays Bank, Abbey National and HSBC, as well as Middlesbrough and Wolverhampton Councils. Survival is campaigning for investors to pull out of Vedanta.

For more information please contact Miriam Ross at Survival International (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (+44) (0)7504 543 367 or email mr@survival-international.org