London – Page 15 – Earth First!

Oil execs gather – we besiege ( + video link)

As oil executives gathered at a London hotel for their annual strategising conference on Monday 21st June, up to 200 climate activists crossed the river from BP-sponsored Tate Modern to converge on the front entrance with a samba band and a giant p

Titled “Drum It Out”, the protest also put the industry on trial before a People’s Court which loudly found it guilty of crimes of pollution, war crimes, climate crime, and more.

The court heard live testimony by witnesses not only from the Gulf, but from Nigeria, Ghana, Colombia, Peru, from Iraq which has suffered the devastation of a war for oil, from Canada where indigenous people are resisting the Tar Sands oil project destroying a land as large as England, and from Kenya and China which are suffering droughts as a result of the changing climate. “The Gulf of Mexico is not the only disaster,” the protesters said – “in fact it’s not even the largest, and in some places this destruction of life has been going on for decades. The oil industry is not sustainable. They think they rule the world, but they are facing resistance everywhere. They cannot come to this hotel and think they will carry on business as usual”.

A dead fish award was presented to Bloody Oil in its various company guises, and a “fish” was delivered to the hotel to be passed on to Congress delegates.

Following the trial, the main and back entrance were besieged by the drumming crowd, with no injuries and no arrests. Two activists who had succeeded in penetrating the building were unceremoniously ejected. The Drum Out will be followed this Saturday by a Teach In, at the School of Oriental and African Studies, where campaigners will learn more about the ongoing resistance by workers and communities in oil regions, will link-up live with organisers in Ghana, and will discuss how to work together to bring the industry down. One protester commented, “If even half the money invested in subsidising oil, cleaning up its disasters and funding its wars were devoted to alternative forms of energy, people wouldn’t be suffering these outrages, and the planet would be safe.”

london[at]climatecamp.org.uk

Watch the Video http://www.youandifilms.com/2010/06/bloody-oil-drum-em-out/

Kew Bridge Eco Village was EVICTED this morning at 8am

27.05.2010
Hello!!

I am sorry to tell you all that the bailiffs came and evicted us from Kew Bridge Eco Village this morning at 8am! It was fairly peaceful and we managed to resist for a good 3 hours whilst Sev sat on top of one of the structures and refused to come down! Check youtube for videos soon!

27.05.2010
Hello!!

But don’t worry! We will have a few weeks break and then we shall open up a new, bigger and better site! In the meantime get down the Hounslow Communiy Garden and support Democracy Village on parliament square!

I’d just like to say a big thankyou to all of those who have supported us in this last year, to all the local community, the artists, photographers, and film makers who have seen us, those who have stayed over or just passed through – we would not have been as great without all of you!

We will continue to send you news about our movements, but check out growyourownvillage.blogspot.com for the latest info.

If you want to get involved in staring a new village then get in touch!

Peace and Love, See you soon

Your eco village family!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The new Action Update – full of of action news and analysis

In the new summer edition of the EF! Action Update, read about coal trains blockaded, peat bogs defended, and gas terminals shut down. Find out about the dangers of nanotech, current state of nuclear GM trials in the UK, Tesco uprisings, golf course trashing, tar sands action and much more.

Be inspired by our protest camp feature and the recent Titnore victory. And from across the seas, read about our brothers and sisters struggling against whaling ship sabotage, coal port pirates, riots in Zagreb, mining firm occupations in Bolivia, dam resistance in Brazil and much more.

“We are going to inherit the earth . There is not the slightest doubt about that. We Are not afraid of ruins. We carry a new world, here in our hearts. That world is growing this minute.” – Durruti

To download the latest EF!AU for printing, go to http://www.earthfirst.org.uk/efau/actionupdate_summer10print.pdf

To read the latest EF!AU online, go to http://www.earthfirst.org.uk/efau/actionupdate_summer10.pdf

Eviction Threat to Kew Bridge Eco Village

Kew Bridge Eco Village faces an eviction threat, starting from this Friday, 21st of May, 2010. It is likely that they will evict on the friday, or the monday after or at some other date that suits their purposes.

The eco village is primarily a place for beings of different perspectives, experiences, ideals and aims to come together to create sustainable communities, wherever they might exist. The site is set to be turned into a monstrous development of expensive flats and more pubs and shops, in an area with two nearby shopping centers, and with 3 pubs in the immediate area, and copious amounts of disused properties standing empty as the numbers of homeless continue to rise. Kew Bridge Eco Village stands in the way of this rediculous development and against all unsustainable practices everywhere.

So if you want to protect the eco village, whether you consider yourself to be classwar, eco, feminist, hippy, hardcore, non-violent, survivalist, whatever: come on down and support the village! There are plenty of sleeping spaces, and you even have the option of setting up a tent.

See you at the barricades!!!!

See a map?

Note: clicking the map link will load data from Openstreetmap’s external server.

Nuclear Power Conferences in London Hit by Protests

Tuesday, 18 May 2010 – CAMPAIGNERS from London and SE England Stop Nuclear Power [1] protested outside the Financing Nuclear Power and Nuclear Interim Storage conferences in central London today. They invited delegates to invest in a green future instead of nuclear energy and demanded an end to nuclear waste production.

The first port of call for the three protesters, two of whom were dressed in white overalls, was the Financing Nuclear Power conference at the plush Crowne Plaza hotel near St James’s Park. They held up a banner that read “Green Solutions Not Nuclear Greenwash” and leafleted delegates and passing members of the public outside the main entrance to the hotel for over an hour and a half, closely watched by hotel security staff throughout.

Two of them then moved on to the Nuclear Interim Storage conference, which was taking place at Dexter House at Royal Mint Court, adjacent to Tower Bridge. Standing in the courtyard outside the entrance/exit to the building hosting the conference, they held up a larger banner that read “Green Our Future, No to Nuclear” and exchanged banter with delegates and other users of the building on their lunch break. Security guards were called and the protesters were told they were on private property and had to leave, but the protesters stood their ground. A Police Community Support Officer then appeared and also tried to get the protesters to leave, but they refused. Further back up was called, but the protesters left before it arrived, having been there for an hour.

The incoming Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government has said it will continue with the Labour government policy of allowing ten new nuclear power stations to be built in England and Wales. Ministers have said that no direct public subsidies will be offered for new nuclear build, although a carbon floor price is proposed. Nowhere in the world has a nuclear power station ever been built without public subsidy.

For five decades, the nuclear industry has failed to find a permanent solution for its radioactive waste, which remains dangerous for tens of thousands of years. [2] With current waste storage facilities at Sizewell B in Suffolk nearly full, plans are in place to build a new “temporary” store where waste from the reactor will be kept indefinitely in the absence of a permanent solution. This is before considering the waste from any new reactor(s), which would be more radioactive and remain too hot to transport for 160+ years.

Campaigner Daniel Viesnik, 35, from London, says: “Contrary to the nonsense that you hear from the nuclear spin doctors and their political mouthpieces, nuclear power is a dirty, dangerous and expensive technology that diverts essential investment from genuine green alternatives like energy efficiency and renewable and decentralised energy. It carries the risks of nuclear weapons proliferation, nuclear terrorism and a Chernobyl-type catastrophe [3,4]. Why waste money on nuclear white elephants and dump more nuclear waste on local communities when we could build a genuinely sustainable, nuclear-free, zero carbon future?”

All images may be reproduced free of charge for non-commercial use if credited to D. Viesnik. Please e-mail for high res versions.

Notes:

1. London and SE England Stop Nuclear Power is part of the Stop Nuclear Power Network, a UK-based non-hierarchical grassroots network of activists taking action against nuclear power and supporting sustainable alternatives.
http://stopnuclearpoweruk.net
network[at]stopnuclearpoweruk.net

2. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s Oxide Fuel Topic Strategy (2010) indicates that serious questions remain within the nuclear industry itself over whether any solution for permanent disposal of radioactive waste will ever be found.
http://www.nda.gov.uk/documents/upload/draft-oxide-fuel-topic-strategy-gate-0.pdf

3. EDF nuclear reactor carries ‘Chernobyl-size’ explosion risk – Guardian, 7 March 2010
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/mar/07/edf-nuclear-reactor-chernobyl-risk

4. Academics demand independent inquiry into new nuclear reactors – Guardian, 11 March 2010
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/mar/11/independent-inquiry-nuclear-power-stations

vd2012-imc [at] yahoo.co.uk
http://stopnuclearpoweruk.net

Hounslow squatted community land project

New land project occupied

Come and get stuck in at squatted Hounslow Community Land Project, on the Hanworth rd nxt to Gurdwara temple, ideas so far are allotments, sustainable living, creative workshops, recycled sculpture garden, spiritual space, sports pitches, adventure playground and nature trail! Come and be part of this! site phone kat on 07812 774110 or just turn up betwn 12 and dusk any day.

TATE MODERN 10TH BIRTHDAY SEES ACTION AGAINST SLICK BP SPONSORSHIP

DEAD FISH AND OIL-DRENCHED BIRDS HANG FROM TURBINE HALL

Tate Modern was forced to close down parts of its No Soul For Sale tenth anniversary exhibition on Saturday (15 May) while it struggled to remove dozens of dead fish and oil-soaked birds (1) hanging from huge black balloons let loose in the Turbine Hall.

DEAD FISH AND OIL-DRENCHED BIRDS HANG FROM TURBINE HALL

Art activists from LIBERATE TATE, a growing network dedicated to ensuring the museum drop its sponsorship deal with BP, infiltrated Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall and released dozens of helium-filled black balloons with dead animals attached. Crowds of tourists and art lovers gathered to watch the balloons rise up in the air until they filled the ceiling of the Turbine Hall.

Josephine Buoys, who took part in the art action, said: “We took this action whilst Tate sponsor BP is creating the largest oil painting in the world. Across the Gulf of Mexico ecosystems and livelihoods are being devastated by their oil spill. Every day Tate scrubs clean BP’s public image with the detergent of cool progressive art. Yet there is nothing
cool about a corporation that cares more about its profits than life or the future of our fragile world.”

By late afternoon Tate staff had burst some the oil bubble-like black balloons by climbing onto a high gantry, but many remained out of reach and the rotting fish and seabirds hovered above the evening’s celebrations headlined by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth. Rumours circulated that Tate would commission a marksman to shoot the remaining balloons down from the top of the former power station.

LIBERATE TATE said: “Every time we step inside the museum Tate makes us complicit with acts that are harming people and creating environmental destruction and climate change, acts that will one day seem as archaic as the slave trade. We call on Tate to become a responsible, ethical and truly sustainable organisation for the 21st century and drop its
sponsorship by oil companies. As a public institution the Tate’s Trustees, chaired as they are by an ex-CEO of BP, must abandon its association with BP. All visitors to the Tate must be able to enjoy great art with a clear conscience about the impact of the museum on society and the environment.”

LIBERATE TATE distributed a communiqué (online here http://bit.ly/9RFfxJ) throughout the Tate Modern 10th anniversary promising further actions to ‘free art from oil’ by artists and activists across Britain until Tate ends its association with BP.

LIBERATE TATE have issued an open invitation for artists, activists, art lovers and other concerned members of the public to act to ensure that Tate ends its oil sponsorship by the end of 2011 ahead of Tate Modern’s expansion into its cleaned-out underground oil tanks.

LIBERATE TATE contact details:
web: www.twitter.com/liberatetate email: liberatetate@gmail.com

(1) – the ‘seabirds’ were made by members of Liberate Tate

Coal Action Network website relaunched!

Check out http://coalaction.org.uk/ for the updated and re-vamped Coal Action Network website and detailed coal maps of the UK. It is hoped that this website will be a useful resource to anyone taking action – or thinking of taking action – to protect communities, environments and the climate system from coal projects.

The CAN website will be kept up-to-date with recent news from campaigns and the industry. Have a look at The Coal Maps – mapping coal across the UK, contacts page for campaigns and groups active on coal, useful resources for campaign groups, arguments against new coal, upcoming events and links to information and other issues. You can get in touch to contribute updates and information and sign up to the CAN email list.

Through this website we aim to help link community struggles and arm ourselves with the information we need to resist new open cast coal mines and coal-fired power stations.

party at the pumps

15 May 2010
The shell garage on upper street in islington was closed for several hours this afternoon by more than a hundred protestors.

at lunchtime around 50 people gathered at oxford circus, watched by quite a large police presence with several van-loads on stand-by. the station was briefly closed ‘due to sheer weight of numbers’ but re-opened after ten minutes, and they set off for highbury and islington.

meanwhile, around 40 cyclists met at marble arch and, followed by a couple of police vans, they took a circuitous route through hyde park, down past buck house, and then for a triumphal lap round parliament square, shouting out support over the mobile sound system to the democracy village and to the decade-long protest by brian haw.

the mass then carried on up to angel, and then along upper street to the shell garage, which had already been well and truly closed down by the foot-soldiers and by the rhythms of resistance samba band (mostly deputised by soas members).

the shell garage looked great! several people held a huge “danger – keep out” banner across one access. a simple “closed” banner was strung across the other. above, another banner declared “stop shell’s tar sands hell”, and some activists found a route up to the roof to drop another “stop tar sands” banner from there.

a head-count numbered 125 at one point. an excellent turn-out on a day with when there were several other protests in town, and most encouraging, there were many new faces, keeping the fit team and police photographer, neil, busy.

police-wise, there were about a dozen officers around making notes, and one FIT team. down the road were another serial waiting in a van, and another van of TSG further out of sight.

activists handed out hundreds of fliers, and public response was overwhelmingly positive.

More photos

Robin Wood Protest at Unilever’s General Assembly

12 May 2010

Following protests in Rotterdam and Hamburg yesterday, ROBIN WOOD activists protested today during Unilever‘s general assembly in London against tropical rainforest destruction for palm oil. A banner with the message “Unscrupulous Destruction of Rainforest and Community for Palm Oil” was unfurled in front of the entrance to the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre. The activists additionally distributed information to the shareholders and demanded that they not absolve the board of directors of their ethical responsibilities concerning company purchases.

12 May 2010

The Dutch-British company Unilever is the largest purchaser of palm oil worldwide, most coming from plantations in Indonesia. This cheap fat is an ingredient in products from Unilever brands such as Rama, Langnese and Knorr. Approximately 9.4 million hectares of land have already been transformed into palm oil plantations in Indonesia and this area is increased every year by approximately 600,000 hectares. The palm oil boom has drastic consequences due to the destruction of tropical rainforests which are irreplaceable for biodiversity and the worldwide climate.

Additionally, landgrab for giant monocultural plantations threatens the livelihoods of millions of people. “We want to put a stop to the palm oil boom. Unilever is the largest purchaser of palm oil worldwide and therefore a key player” said Peter Gerhardt, ROBIN WOOD’s rainforest campaigner. “For this reason in an open letter to CEO Paul Polman we demanded that Unilever require its suppliers to immediately cease expansion of their palm oil plantations. Otherwise the company will remain complicit in environmental destruction, climate change, and human rights violations.”

One of Unilever’s largest suppliers of palm oil is Wilmar Intl. Wilmar Intl. owns huge palm oil plantations in Indonesia, plans to expand further, and doesn’t shy away from the use of violence in order to succeed in their expansion plans. “During our research trip to the Indonesian province of Jambi in 2009, local villagers told us of instances where Wilmar’s henchmen threatened them with weapons in order to get them to give up their land for new palm oil plantations,” reports Gerhardt. These are not isolated instances. The World Bank discontinued funding of palm oil plantations in part due to massive land conflicts between local villagers and Wilmar Intl. “We demand a ban on the establishment of new palm oil plantations,” said Nordin, an Indonesian environmental activist working together with ROBIN WOOD. “We are dependent on the forest for protection against flooding, ecosystem stability, and for our own livelihoods and food.”

Unilever attempts to appease its critics and customers with a promise to buy more RSPO-certified palm oil. Palm oil would be certified by the RSPO (Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil) when it is allegedly produced in a sustainable manner. However, the standards required to receive RSPO certification are unconvincingly lenient. For example, logging of rainforest for the establishment of new plantations is even allowed. Most palm oil companies which are involved with the RSPO follow an aggressive course of expansion to the detriment of unique natural ecosystems.

(The open letter to Unilever’s CEO and ROBIN WOOD’s report from the research trip to Indonesia can be found at http://www.robinwood.de/tropenwald)

Contact email: presse@robinwood.de