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!
Top Shop Swap Shop buy nothing day flier
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
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
Buy Nothing Day (Liverpool) flier
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

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.

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

Heathrow Decision Day Flashmob

12 noon (on the dot), Heathrow Terminal 5 Departures (‘Security North’ section)
on the first Saturday after the Government makes its decision on Heathrow expansion
(unless all forms of expansion are ruled out – see below).

Reveal your t-shirt and then pelt Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon with red sponges.

THE STORY SO FAR …

12 noon (on the dot), Heathrow Terminal 5 Departures (‘Security North’ section)
on the first Saturday after the Government makes its decision on Heathrow expansion
(unless all forms of expansion are ruled out – see below).

Reveal your t-shirt and then pelt Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon with red sponges.

THE STORY SO FAR …

Before the end of 2008, the Government will announce whether or not to give the green light to expand Heathrow, by allowing a third runway and / or a big increase in planes on the existing runways. The decision is expected in December.

Either option will cause misery for tens of thousands of local residents, and help make devastating climate change inevitable.

The Government is under real pressure on the third runway and may decide to drop it. Their way out may be to allow flight numbers on the existing runways to rise by nearly 50%, to 650,000 a year!

Unless ALL the proposals are dropped the Decision Day Flash Mob will go ahead. Together we can win!

www.stopairportexpansion.org
stopairportexpansion@gmail.com

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…

It Came From the Black Swampy - Eco-Terror!!CCTV camera 1Remember 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…

See the Activist Security website for a full downloadable booklet.

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.

——

Schnews article & quotes from the journo

——

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.

CLIMATE ACTION NEWS SHEET 84, OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008

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UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIONS:
————————-
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

————————-
UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIONS:
————————-
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
7) National Climate March, 06.12.08
8) Earth First! Winter Moot, 6-8.02.09
9) Fossil Fools Day 2009, 01.04.09

—————-
RECENT HAPPENINGS:
—————-
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:
————————-

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

—————-
RECENT HAPPENINGS:
—————-

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.

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Rampart – police break down door

28 October 2008
A small number of police broke down the front door and entered the Rampart today. They searched people for drugs and photographed them as well as the barricades and the building itself. They explained their actions saying that it is because the area is a high-risk drugs area. This is unfortunately true of the street but we are concerned that this may be related to our eviction as well. They entered the Rampart without a warrant and then left after they had photographed. This was NOT an eviction attempt.

28 October 2008
A small number of police broke down the front door and entered the Rampart today. They searched people for drugs and photographed them as well as the barricades and the building itself. They explained their actions saying that it is because the area is a high-risk drugs area. This is unfortunately true of the street but we are concerned that this may be related to our eviction as well. They entered the Rampart without a warrant and then left after they had photographed. This was NOT an eviction attempt.

Difficult right now to say what it means in relation to an eviction, but on the side of caution, we are asking people to come to the Rampart tonight (Tues 28th) to stay over to defend the building and help with barricades for what might be an early morning eviction. We will also need people to assist outside if the time comes so send us your mobile number to be informed. There will be a hearty breakfast for the brave.

28th october 2008, london, whitechapel, lunchtime:

the police unexpectedly intruded the rampART social centre in their lunchtime. they must have been starving, because they felt like breaking the doors. we wonder if it was appetite, that made them force their way in, or curiosity, to see the progress of our efforts to barricade the rampART. still, we art not amused of officers on the scrounge…

… although we are generally open for people to come by to wine and dine with us, but we’d like to invite people to knock on the doors, rather than knocking them down. and we don’t support gluttony of greedy developpers, groping houses to convert them to luxury flats, because they want to bite more than they can chew…

… as you might know, the rampART is under threat of immanent eviction, so these three coppers might have been the vanguard of the 80 riot cops that are expected to come by with the high court bailiffs to evict the space. so we are thinking how many people we will have to cater for breakfast. needless to say, we’d prefer to pamper our friends and supporters. so feel welcome to join the feast & fight the beast and defend your favourite social centre…

please contact us via email: rampart@mutualaid.org or phone: 07852657501

UK free-spaces news – Rampart & Worcester possible evictions

New social centre under threat of illegal & possibly violent eviction tomorrow
21.10.2008
This is to inform everyone as well as a call-out for support – newly occupied community and arts centre in Worcester threatened with illegal and possibly violent eviction tomorrow.

New social centre under threat of illegal & possibly violent eviction tomorrow
21.10.2008
This is to inform everyone as well as a call-out for support – newly occupied community and arts centre in Worcester threatened with illegal and possibly violent eviction tomorrow.

This is a call-out for support – if you can get here before midnight tonight and want to stay here, and eat with us and have a merry night then please do. After midnight, the last door will be fully barricaded. Anyone wishing to show support for this illegal eviction after this point please turn up at 13-17 Carden Street (off City Walls Road), Worcester WR1 around 11.30 tomorrow (WEDNESDAY), bring banners, cameras and camera-phones and provide positive public relations, because if they are forcing their way into our home IT IS ILLEGAL and we will not be scared by this bullshit.

So what happened…?
At about 15:30 today a bailiff arrived at the door with a letter on behalf of Keather Properties Ltd. THE LETTER IS TRANSCRIBED AT THE BOTTOM FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO READ THE BOLLOCKS NOTICE

We’ve been on the phone to the Advisory Service for Squatters, and they have confirmed that this is a totally illegal eviction. They have dealt with matters like this on a day to day basis for 30 years and understand the law a lot better than most commercial lawyers. They assure us any attempt to evict tomorrow will be criminal and we should defend ourselves with numbers and physical barricades. The ‘exercising their rights’ part applies to land, and not buildings. And seeing as a tent can apply as a building, an 8000 square ft commercial building certainly counts!

This would be a different story if we only lived here.. but for two solid weeks we have been putting all our love and energy into this place. We have had dreams become reality in creating a space where anyone is welcome and can come and create anything, anytime they want.

Communal cooking, circuit bending and sewing workshops, music practice, painting, and much much more was on the agenda – our gallery covered with work from many different local artists, and now we have been discovered we are being presented with illegal and violent threats.

This whole thing is new to us.. but the barricades are being strengthened and people are getting ready for a potentially long day of defending the Wet Paint building.

This is a call-out for support – if you can get here before midnight tonight and want to stay here, and eat with us and have a merry night then please do. After midnight, the last door will be fully barricaded. Anyone wishing to show support for this illegal eviction after this point please turn up at 13-17 Carden Street (off City Walls Road), Worcester WR1 around 11.30 tomorrow (WEDNESDAY), bring banners, cameras and camera-phones and provide positive public relations because if they are forcing their way into our home IT IS A CRIMINAL OFFENCE and we will not be scared by this bullshit.

call us on 07965710354

Your friends at WET PAINT 🙂

………….blah blah blah

TAKE NOTICE

KEATHER PROPERTIES LTD (LANDOWNER) are the owners of the land on which you are trespassing and require you to leave. You are here without consent and are therefore trespassing and have no right to remain. You should therefore leave together with all your vehicles and goods by 1200 hours on the 22 day of October 2008.

If you fail to do so, KEATHER PROPERTIES LTD (LANDOWNER) will exercise its rights to self-help to remove you from the land and have instructed Bailiffs from Swift Credit Services Limited to do so on its behalf. This right, under Common Law, is set out on Halsburys law of England. The police will attend if necessary to ensure that there is no breach of the peace.

Should this enforcement action by necessary , you will be held responsible for all costs of your removal and transportation and KEATHER PROPERTIES LTD (LANDOWNER) may take proceedings against you for the recovery of these costs.

KEATHER PROPERTIES LTD (LANDOWNER) will be entitled to take such action because you failed to respond to a request to leave the land on which you are currently trespassing.

DATED THIS 21 DAY OF OCTOBER 2008
SIGNED
LANDOWNER KEATHER PROPERTIES LTD
ADDRESS C/O ROBERT DAVIES PARTNERSHIP LTD.

wetpaint@riseup.net

SAVE the RampART

21 October 2008
RampART London’s longest lasting liberated space is facing eviction.

yesterday a member of the RampART collective talked to a guy outside RampART, who introduced himself as Stuart who was also present at court on the 20th of December. he said that the council building control department had been hassling them and he’d narrowly avoided them slapping a court order on them last week in relation to dangerous parts of the building such as slates hanging off etc.

they have been trying to get us evicted since March and got therefore a warrant from the high court, which means they are using the high court bailiffs, the police say they need 80 officers and demanded £25,000 for the costs. so the owner took the police to court and the police backed down. the hold up is still the police who have not given a date yet…

so….

basically the RampART could be evicted any time and it’s just the police being the ones that has held it up. we will not get notice of the date of the
eviction and we will find it difficult to hold off 80 cops and bailiffs on a surprise 5am eviction. we do need to pro-actively find another building as a backup. we won’t give in without resisting the eviction to make a statement against gentrification and the eviction of free spaces in east London.

we invite you to come and get creative in its defence. this Thursday we are launching an ongoing time of action.

we’ll start building and cooking @ 3 pm, then Danish activists will share experiences from the youth house @ 6 pm, dinner around 7.30 and building and direct action skill-sharing after that. we need tools for making the barricades efficient and beautiful, so if you have access to tools or materials please bring them along.

when we fight for Rampart we are not just fighting to defend the space. we are part of a world wide struggle against the capitalist world order.

we are fighting for everyone’s rights to learn and educate, share, live and love without authorities.

we are fighting for our dreams.

now is the time to show London and the rest of the world that the struggle continues…

rampart@mutualaid.org
http://www.rampart.co.nr

EDF Exposed – LRT action

20 October 2008
London Rising Tide’s Greenwash Guerillas Brigade, Detection Platoon #1, moved into action this morning at 08:00 hours – targeting dirty great energy corporation Électricité de France (EDF) at the central London headquarters (HQ) of their UK subsidiary EDF Energy.

EDF greenwash guerillas20 October 2008
London Rising Tide’s Greenwash Guerillas Brigade, Detection Platoon #1, moved into action this morning at 08:00 hours – targeting dirty great energy corporation Électricité de France (EDF) at the central London headquarters (HQ) of their UK subsidiary EDF Energy.

London Rising Tide used to meet fortnightly, but the wild success of the massive Climate Camp 08 outside the Kingsnorth coal-fired power station [1] has boosted the veteran climate change campaign to even higher levels of participation and direct action. I attended a ‘Film Night for Newcomers’ on Thu 18 Sep 08, as did a whole bunch of folks new to Rising Tide, and such was the upswing of enthusiasm, energy and creativity, we’ve been meeting weekly ever since.

Inspired by our sisters and brothers 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. Testing the mettle of seasoned campaigners, we newbies chose 08:00-09:00 on a Monday morning to kick up a stink about the dangers to the biosphere, humanity, and REAL renewable energy solutions posed by the nuclear fission industry rearing its ugly head.

And inspired by the response of our Argentinean sisters and brothers to having their life savings stolen by the banks, we made ours a Noize Demo [2] – pots and pans, whistles and samba bells echoed off the blank face of the bland corporate architecture at No.40 Grosvenor Place, drawing the attention of EDF bosses inside and thousands of pedestrians, cyclists, bus+coach passengers, van+truck drivers, and motorists outside to the greenwash bullshit leaking out of their stone-n-glass bastion. And in return, scores of vehicle horns saluted our protest, sounding a general public approval for protest against Nuclear Capital’s dirty machinations for new nukes.

If you feel inspired to take action for a future free from the threat of catastrophic climate chaos, you’ll be welcomed with open arms and a cup of something hot and refreshing at London Rising Tide’s next meeting: Thu 23 Oct 08, 19:30 to 21:00, at the London Action Resource Centre (LARC), 62 Fieldgate Street, Whitechapel, London E1 1ES – and down t’pub after (optional ;-).

—-

For immediate release
Climate activists to target EDF

Photo opportunity: 20 October 2008 8.30am, 40 Grosvenor Place, London

On Monday 20 October climate activists calling themselves the Greenwash Guerrillas will be on hand to detect “dangerous levels of radioactivegreen hypocrisy”[1] eminating from the london offices of pro-nuclear lobbiests EDF.

Equipped with greenwash detectors and kitted out in toxic-waste suits, activists will be testing office workers for pro-nuclear PR contamination, and highlighting the unsustainability of the governments current energy policy.

The activists are outraged that given the recently announced target of an 80% reduction in Carbon dioxide emissions, Gordon Brown, and of course his brother Andrew (head of corporate communications for EDF), are arguing that new nuclear power should be central to our energy security.

Nuclear power is far from carbon neutral[2]

Nuclear power is unsafe[3]

Nuclear power is hugely expensive[4]

Real sustainable solutions exist[5]

The real solutions to the energy gap and climate change are available now!

1 – The Greenwash Guerrillas reveal PR tactics employed by corporations to deflect attention from their poor environmental standards for the greenwash it truly is.
www.greenwashguerrillas.org <http://www.opendemocracy.net/globalization-climate_change_debate/2587.jsp#one

3 – Over 100 staff at the EDF operated Tricastin plant were irradiated on 24 Jul 2008, the fourth such scare in a fortnight.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/26/britishenergygroupbusiness.utilities

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/2454654/French-nuclear-leak-prompts-urgent-security-review.html

France’s independent radiation watchdog sounded the alarm Thursday after a nuclear leak – the fourth such scare in a fortnight.

French nuclear operator EDF comes in for a pasting, for saying that the latest nuclear blunders had no impact on “peoples health” or “the environment” because the doses emitted fell short of the maximum limits set by international standards.

Electricité de France workers were exposed to radioactive particles on Wednesday 23rd July, that escaped from a pipe at a nuclear reactor at the Tricastin complex. Experts said that the latest incident involved the highest number of workers to be collectively contaminated in French nuclear history.

4 – Nuclear power stations require huge initial investments, ongoing maintenance and the decommissioning costs*
* (at least £63 billion).

www.nda.gov.uk/documents/upload/news_release_national.pdf

Last week it emerged the cost estimate for cleaning up nuclear waste in the UK had risen by £10bn in one year. That increase is the same as the current cost of the 2012 Olympics – the finances of which have generated so much political heat.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/26/britishenergygroupbusiness.utilities

5 – New nuclear power stations are a distraction from the real solutions to climate change: decentralised energy as seen in Scandinavia, renewable technologies and energy efficiency.

Renewables would come online more quickly, require no fuel and won’t have the danger or cost of the nuclear power. The generating cost of onshore wind power is already cheaper than nuclear power, with nowhere near the level of investment and no emissions.

London Rising Tide,
c/o 62 Fieldgate Street, London E1 1ES; Tel: 07708 794665
www.londonrisingtide.org.uk
www.artnotoil.org.uk – (send us your art!)
Shell’s now sponsoring ‘Oedipus’ at the National Theatre. Look out for the
gallery of images made in response, which we’ll add to the ‘Shell’s Wild
Lie’ counter-exhibition: www.artnotoil.org.uk/gallery/v/Shell
See also the Camp for Climate Action site: climatecamp.org.uk
as well as Climate Indymedia: climateimc.org

The latest EF! Action Update is out, bringing you reports of eco-resistance for the darkening days…

Bringing light & inspiration to the darker evenings are the action stories in the latest Earth First! Action Update.

Blockades of nuclear power, roads & rivers around the world were joined “with this Shell-blockading D-lock I thee wed”.

Adjustable spanner photoBringing light & inspiration to the darker evenings are the action stories in the latest Earth First! Action Update.

Blockades of nuclear power, roads & rivers around the world were joined “with this Shell-blockading D-lock I thee wed”.

And if anti-fascist action, quarry sabotage, squats, tree platforms, wrekin’ opencasts, scaling luxury hotels & the latest protest camp news wasn’t enough for you, chuck in some glue, arm tubes, a pool of oil, stink bombs, airborne rape alarms and a Lego-sized occupation, then there’s full reports from this summer’s antics at the Camp for Climate Action, Rossport solidarity camp, EF! summer gathering and Saving Iceland camp, plus a crop of global climate camps & news of protest & resistance from all 5 continents.

“No nukes, no coal, no kidding” – with people dying (both literally & symbolically) from the activities of the Earth-destroyers, people have been shouting to just “Leave it in the Ground”, dragon boats have clashed with navy gunboats in Ireland, an oil war was declared in Nigeria, and ‘moles’ spent a week underground digging further and further away from the forces of darkness at an open-cast coal site.

Details of the new Coal Action Network, upcoming dates & a full contact list should help launch (or boost) you into the orbit of eco-resistance.

Subscribe and get it sent direct to a letterbox near you – you’d also be supporting the EF!AU to get printed and sent out to prisoners & protest camps. If you want some to distribute, contact us at: actionupdate (AT) earthfirst.org.uk

Download the latest issue or past issues here.

The EF!AU is there to inspire people to take ecological direct action, to provide info to help you just get out and do it. Don’t feel shy, put your best foot forward.

The EF!AU is the quarterly newsletter of people taking ecological direct action – send us news of your action or campaigns, and come along to the Winter Moot if you want to get involved in any of the campaigns you’ve read about.

What is Earth First!?

Art Not Oil / LRT visits Shell sponsored Oedipus

On Wednesday 15th October Art Not Oil made it’s first visit to the National Theatre to highlight Shell’s sponsorship of the autumn production of Oedipus.

Oedipus demoOedipus publicityOn Wednesday 15th October Art Not Oil made it’s first visit to the National Theatre to highlight Shell’s sponsorship of the autumn production of Oedipus.

Shell is sponsoring the National Theatre’s new production of ‘Oedipus’, and, unsurprisingly, Art Not Oil is preparing a response on various fronts. 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.

london@risingtide.org.uk
http://www.londonrisingtide.org.uk