Rest of Europe – Earth First!

Tree houses need people in Hambacher forest

In the Rhineland in Germany, the company RWE is running 3 lignite mines where they extract around 100 Mio. t of lignite each year. They are extending the mines and the plan of the company is to completely clearcut the forest until 2018. help is needed now.

This year especially is an important time for the Defense of the Hambacher Forest as the new wave of deforestation is about to ensue during this winters cutting season. October 1st would have been the official start of this years cutting season which has just been postponed to October 25 as RWE is forced to appear in Administrative Court in Cologne on October 17 by a law suit initiated by Bund fur Natur as a response to the company’s lack of enviromental assesment studies, its lack of studies of costs of post extraction clean up and last but definitevely not least: two colonies of endangered bats being discovered in this year’s cutting zone.

Climate Justice Struggle in Hambacher Forest and in countless other locations around the world is a response to the Neo-Liberal Extractionist Agenda of Disaster Capitalism and a call to preserve every community every organism being paramount to protecting Planet as a whole.

Join US!!
FOR THE EARTH!!!!

http://hambachforest.blogsport.de/info/

Germany: Largest Lignite Mine in Europe Shut Down for 2 Days by Sabotage

Germany: Largest Lignite Mine in Europe Shut Down by Sabotage for 2 days.

In the early hours of Monday Morning April 25, in the dark of the night, power corridor with 10 power mains supplying current to the massive diggers, conveyor belts and all other facilities of the Largest Lignite Opencast Mine in Europe have been set ablaze resulting in the whole mine being shut down for 2 days and continuing to operate to this moment in limited capacity. This act of ecotage follows by a week damaging of a power pylon to neighbouring Indien mine. Both mines exploit lignite which with its high moisture and contaminant content and low energy coeficient is only used to supply power generating plants, a series of which surrounds the mines with one power plant exclusively powering the the Hambach mine.

This act of ecotage and destruction of equipment without the injury or loss of life has taken aim at the industry which according to still rather conservative 2015 study of World Health Organisation on the Effects of Airborne Fossil Fuel pollutants is responsible for seven million deaths around the world each year, making it the single greatest environmental health risk, contributing to one out of every eight global deaths. Even more drastic and irreversible effects on climate change(not included in the above mentioned study), to which coal is the leading contributing factor, estimated to reach a run-away effect at 2 degrees centigrade global change by IPCC committee with a new consensus forming placing that point at 1.5 degree annual temperature change on which brink we are presently. Having already caused global bleaching and die-off to the rainforests of the oceans – the coral reefs, the combined temperature change and the increased acidity from carbon absorbtion to worlds ocean is about to make this largest habitat on earth unlivable to the next most sensitive organisms: plankton. Plankton which constitutes the very foundation of the whole ocean eco-system causing in effect unprecedented global die-off and decimation of life, putting one of the largest human-caused planetary extinctions aready taking place into higher gear still.
As this March became the hottest month on record and as Greenland ice cover underwent unprecedented melting a month ahead of its usual time, and as empty non-binding promises are made at more and more policed, militarised world climate summits all of this as the world slides into the future of chaos and instability it is in this case at least that the future generations will be able to know that not all stood silent and complacent when faced with a global hegemony of extreme energy extraction and its not so silent partners of disinformation, apathy and repression. We are however still at a very high risk of these same future human descendants and ecosystems facing a dire reality in which so little has been done.

That is why Hambach Forest Earth-First salutes those responsible for reminding all that it is not a crime to commit a lesser “crime” in order to prevent a much larger one of global destruction, death and ecocide from taking place as it has for so long in full impunity and in broad daylight……

Hambacher Forest EarthFirst!

http://hambachforest.blogsport.de

[Ed: More info here & here]

French climate resistance to #StopMCEDD deepwater oil conference

The Oil and Gas companies are holding a conference on deepwater oil and gas and how to be more efficient to further exploit deep sea fossil fuels. About 500 climate activists have blockaded and disrupted the first day of the conference.

8th April 2016

The Oil and Gas companies are holding a conference on deepwater oil and gas and how to be more efficient to further exploit deep sea fossil fuels.

About 500 climate activists have blockaded and disrupted the first day of the conference.

The largest oil and gas companies around the world have decided to meet in Pau from April 5 to 7, less than 4 months after the COP21. There goal is to increase the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in the sea. “Forever further, ever deeper and in conditions more extreme is a crime against the Oceans”, denounced climate protection organizations. The coalistion of community, environmental and climate organisations announced they would block the holding of this strategic summit, using non-violent actions and mobilizations. The protests were preceded by a climate action camp, Camp Siren.

Activists say that choosing the climate is blocking the exploitation of new hydrocarbon deposits and protecting the ocean. They ask that the French government: suspend any type of financing of the fossil fuel sector – neither grants nor investment for coal, gas and oil; and to cancel ongoing hydrocarbon deposit boreholes and cancel all exploration and exploitation rights by fossil fuel companies. The money diverted from fossil fuels must go to the transition to fair and sustainable societies. It must also fund the conversion industries and transition of those presently working in fossil fuels.

Total’s executive Arnaud Breuillac articulated that due to the fall in oil prices since 2014 oil company profits have suffered and forcing companies to cut costs and find savings, but that oil and gas was still needed despite the growth in renewables.

“To ensure the right level of profitability, oil companies and services companies must work together to find innovative ways to bring cost down,” Breuillac told other oil industry executives and experts according to Reuters at the conference.
“We need to increase our collaboration, to find better ways to share risks and to collectively find a new balance,” Breuillac said. They are hoping to manage and ride the downturn, even though the climate imperative is that oil and gas development needs to stop.

On the first day protesters successfully disrupted and blockaded the conference venue, both from the inside and outside. Journalist Patrick Piro has put together this storify.

Background storify.
Multinational oil and gas companies are organising to drill ever further, ever deeper into the abyss of the ocean. A summit is planned for the French city of Pau on 5-7 April 2016, organised by the French oil multinational Total, less than 4 months after the Paris climate talks and Paris Agreement.

After 9 hours people are still blockading the entrance to the Palais Beaumont where the conference is being held. Pau is the headquarters of Total’s research and development division.

Yes, teargas was used indiscriminately against non-violent protesters.

Two activists infiltrated the conference and locked themselves to plenary chairs, before being cut free and excorted out by a large number of riot police.

On Day 2 there were climate emergency disturbances at the hotels of delegates. In the morning oil executives they discovered that activists had locked on to the hotel gates preventing them from leaving until the gendarmes had detached the activists.

In the late afternoon about 600 people formed a human chain around Palais Beamont, with music and street theatre. This was followed by a concert in Beaumont Park with light projections on the conference venue.
Meanwhile at Camp Sirene climate activists discuss strategy and prepare for the day to blockade Palais Beamonth where the MCE Deepwater conference is being held.
Climate activists lock on to Hotel gates, preventing police and oil executives leaving for the MCE Deepwater conference in Pau…

Police had to dismantle the grill with the activists locked on..

…and at last the oil executive delegates can get out of their hotel. Patrick Piro writes that it is a Provisional end of the disturbances. Over night there were 3 noisy interventions in the hotels of the delegates.
Waking up the conference attendees in the Hotel Navarre. It is a climate emergency after all….2 groups of @AnvCop21 activists entered in the Beaumont hotel at 2 and 4 o’clock to wake up #STOPMCEDD delegates. Anne Sophie Trujillo put it nicely: #STOPMCEDD is “I will go after your dreams” or I’m your nightmare.
Meanwhile activists lock on round delegate vehicles lie in the road, storm the venue site to blockade entrances including locking-down the car park, and handcuff themselves to delegates’ bags!

“Four months after the COP21, an international summit, named MCE Deepwater Development (MCEDD) will meet at Pau of 5 to 7 April multinational oil companies and offshore operators to “succeed a significant decrease in costs to the industry operating in deep sea to remain competitive.”France Nature Environnment is strongly opposed to the holding of the summit of the energies of polluting and destructive past that does not also pay their “true price” and denounces the industrial provocation months after the Paris agreement on climate.”

Sabotage at Hambach open-cast mine

On Monday night, we sabotaged some construction machinery at the open-cast mine Hambach, Germany.

29.10.15

On Monday night, we sabotaged some construction machinery at the open-cast mine Hambach, Germany. Five diggers, two bulldozers, one road roller and one other, expensive looking machine ahd their hydraulics and electronic cables cut. the fuel and oil tanks were filled with sand, some mechanic parts damaged and all the windows were smashed. Despite the massive security-measures RWE and the police put up against us, it was still really easy to do serious damage to these tools of destruction.

This action is targeted against the mine’s operator RWE and its accomplices, which are destroying the basis of life on this planet.

While the big mass of people in germany is sitting silently in front of their television screens, distracted from the daily destruction of our lives by smart entertainers and prophets of constant growth, hundrets of thousands of people are dying on the other side of the world through the effects of climate change.

While most people should be aware that we can’t go on like this, it is unfortunately only a small minority that is acting against this destruction, risking their health and freedom in the process.

Three of these eco-defenders are currently imprisoned in Aachen and Cologne, for their attempts to stop the clearcutting of the Hambach forest throughthe energy-giant RWE.

All three were heavily abused during their arrests, either by police or RWE’s private securities, with one person even getting their nose broken and several teeth smashed in. Therefore we want to dedicate our action to the imprisoned people of Hambach and send our solidarity to them.

Also we want to make it clear that we will not be scared into submission and hope that more people will be motivated by our action, to commit similar acts of resistance against the brown-coal-death-machine.

The Chaos Engineering Crew

French Monsanto Research Site Damaged in Suspected Arson Attack

A Monsanto research center in western France suffered heavy fire damage in a suspected arson attack early Wednesday morning, the official in charge of the site said.

October 28th, 2015

A Monsanto research center in western France suffered heavy fire damage in a suspected arson attack early Wednesday morning, the official in charge of the site said.

The official, Jakob Witten, said police investigators “strongly suspect it was a crime as no electrical or other sources were found.”

The fire was ignited from two different places at the site, where about 10 people work and which is specialized in corn research. The smell of gasoline lingered near the building, which had heavy damage in its reception hall and offices.

“No Monsanto sites in Europe have so far been the victim of fires of criminal origin, this is unprecedented violence,” Witten said.

However, forty tons of GM sugar beets were torched in Oregon, sparking an FBI investigation, so the sentiment behind this latest arson, if it indeed was an act of violence, is not unprecedented.

The Creve Coeur-based company is the frequent target of criticism in France over concerns about genetically modified crops it has developed.

The government said last month it would use a new European opt-out scheme to ensure a ban on the cultivation of GM crops in France remains in place.

Hambach Forest, Germany: Ecodefenders blockade several targets in Europe’s largest open-cast mine

The last weekend saw a series of blockades, that halted work in several parts of the Hambach open-cast-coal-mine.

8.10.15

The last weekend saw a series of blockades, that halted work in several parts of the Hambach open-cast-coal-mine.

On Saturday morning, at around 2:30, several people occupied on of the huge excavators and stopped it for several hours.

One day later, around the same time, four people stopped the two main conveyor-belts that are used to load the coal onto the trains, with one group climbing around on top of one, while the other two people locked-on to the structure of the other. After being hosed with water for several hours by angry mine workers, all people were evicted at around 11:00 and taken to the police station in Düren, where they were released about one hour later, without giving their identities.

On Monday morning, again at around half past two, another group of people occupied on of the giant excavators, again being evicted a couple hours later and realeased without ID-check.

This was followed by jet another conveyor-belt blockade, which was evicted more brutally this time. One of the persons is still in police custody.

It seems the police and the energy company RWE are getting more and more annoyed by activists constantly slipping through the holes in their security net.

For more information check out: hambachforest.blogsport.de

No Gold, No Masters: Press release of the 1st “Beyond Europe” Camp in Halkidiki #skouries

On Sunday, the August 2015, about 2000 people attended on a demonstration in the mountains of Skouries.

August 27th, 2015

On Sunday, the 23^rd August 2015, about 2000 people attended on a demonstration in the mountains of Skouries. During this heavy clashes between demonstrators and the police took place, with police making massive use of teargas and shock grenades. 78 persons were detained, of which four are still being held in custody.

The demonstration was organised by the anti-authoritarian platform against capitalism, Beyond Europe, together with activist committees of the local villages in the area of Skouries. This protest march was the practical culmination of the international Beyond Europe camp, which has been taking place at the beach of Ierissos close to the area of Skouries. At this camp, 400-500 anti-authoritarians from all over Europe came together in order to exchange ideas with each other and discuss political analyses and practices. The location was chosen very consciously in order to support the ongoing ecological-social struggles against the extraction of gold and other heavy metals in Skouries. and of course we are not only active on behalf of but alongside the local activists. For a long time now, Beyond Europe activists have been engaged in practical solidarity and support for this struggle. It has a strong impact for social movements in Greece and the whole of Europe as an important frontline in the struggle against the reconfiguration of European capitalism through the Troika on the back of the many.

For us, the camp and especially the demonstration is a political success, by being set in the right place at the right time. In January 2015 the left party Syriza took over power and evoked hope in many Leftists. Concerning the issue of Skouries, Syriza played the role of the party of the movement during opposition, but has acted very different since it has been in power. Shortly before the march the Alexis Tsipras’ government resigned, only two days after the start of the Beyond Europe camp and since Syriza had learned about our demonstration. Meanwhile the energy minister Panos Skourletis ordered to suspend the mining operations in Chalkidiki on 19^th August, claiming the company violated environmental contract terms. We attribute the announcement to close the mine as a result of us choosing to organise a camp here, but we did not rely on the government’s announcement as being the end of the struggle– which we have seen to be justified. One day after the announcement, during our walk from the camp to the mountain by the village Megali Panagia we could see that the works at the mines were continuing. This was just one more expression of the most basic but important lesson in the questions of relation between parties and the movements: although they may improve tiny things within their limited capacity, the possibility to create real progress and emancipation lies in our hands. Delegating desires for change towards parties will always be a dead end, since parties in power will always need to work to enact national interest. We agree with Syriza that the mines in Skouries need to be closed, but it is up to us to fulfill this task. Our action sent this message to any party which will take power in the Greek re-elections in September.

Sunday’s demonstration put the important and vital struggle of Skouries back on the table. Its impact was felt deeply all over Greece and beyond. We see this as a political success as now, since the first time after the huge general strike of 2012, a new political dynamic from below is being created in Greece. After a drought of social movements since that year, Syriza’s seizure of power seemed to have paralyzed large parts of it due to a position of granting the Tsipras’ government time. Our camp and demonstration was an effort to put an end to this drought and rely on our strongest weapon – self-organisation and social struggles.

As always when social struggles are effective, the state’s repression also continued yesterday. In the several years in the ongoing issue of Skouries, police and secret services have been heavily trying to oppress the local movement by harassment, arrests and juridical prosecution. Yesterday again, the police violently dispersed the demonstration, arrested 78 people and injured several. One person suffered a broken leg while being arrested by the cops. Our wishes for a quick recovery are with her and with everyone else suffering beating or gas injuries. And of course we are in solidarity with the four still detained, as well as all the other activists being prosecuted in the last years. This might only have been a small step towards an anti-authoritarian organisation beyond borders and against the sadness of real existing capitalism, but it was a step nonetheless. And there is more to come.

from beyondeurope.net

Into the Heart of the Beast: Occupying Germany’s Open Cast Coal Nightmare

Last weekend I along with around one thousand other people took part in mass direct action against one of the largest open cast lignite mines in Europe, owned by RWE, which along with surrounding mines and coal powers stations is the largest source of greenhouse gases in Europe.

I took part because fossil fuel capitalism is destroying our Earth. Waiting for companies and governments to do the right things is not working and is not going to work so people must stand up and force them to.

Earlier this year, the German government caved in to the lobbying might of RWE, backtracking on plans to put a levy on the most polluting power plants, which would have led to a phase out of lignite. Last weekend, people stood up in protest to say ‘Ende Gelände’, here and no further.

This is my experience of the day. It was a long, exhausting and confused day, and what I experienced will not be the same thing that others in different parts of the action experienced. But I hope this can help anyone reading understand what happened.

The assault

“Guten Morgen, Ende Gelände!” Those were the words I woke up to at 5:45 am in my tent. An early start for a momentous day, I rushed to scramble my stuff together, go to the loo and then hastily join up with my affinity group.

We were in the ‘Green Finger’ one of the four groups with approximately 250 people in them, that would be laying siege to the mine.

When the whole finger was formed up with everyone in their agreed place, my affinity group was in the middle. The first kilometre or so passed calmly enough. I could even hear someone play ‘The Diggers Song’ on a pipe, as we searched for a way across the motorway between us and the mine.

In the end, we came upon a tunnel with only about four lines of cops blocking it. It was at this point that many people there had their first experience of police violence, in some ways I was lucky I knew what to expect from previous actions.

So they resorted to filling the air with a mist of pepper spray and beating everyone they could reach with their clubs, in the hope of separating them from the group. Everyone around me bunched up like rugby players in a scrum so the police couldn’t drag any of us away.

After this came a mad dash across the fields going through two more police lines. Even when they weren’t in front of us, the police followed behind us on foot and in vans trying to beat and pick off any stragglers. One person in my affinity group got pepper spray in their face, so we had to guide him by hand as we ran through a break in the police line.

I’m humbled by the trust he showed in us to make sure he wasn’t beaten to a pulp. The way everyone rallied to help those around them who had been beaten or pepper sprayed was one the most beautiful displays of practical solidarity I had ever seen.

Into the mine

After we successfully got across the fields, we walked along a dirt track by the edge of the mine that was in line with some water sprinklers used to stop dust escaping. Before this point I hadn’t really grasped the scale of the place. It looked large enough to fit at least two good sized towns in. It went from sand coloured at the top down to pitch black at the bottom.

We descended down the mine on a sandy ramp wide enough to drive a van down. At a bend near the bottom there was an attempt to block the path, but we evaded the police by travelling out the bank and bypassing them instead.

We then moved as fast as we could along the top tier of the mine, shadowed by a group of riot cops on the cliff top. When we reached one of the corners of the top tier, where conveyor belts over a kilometre long ended, we met a small group of security, which most of us were able to get past without much trouble. As we moved along the side of the conveyor belt towards one of the massive Baggers the police raced after us in borrowed 4x4s.

The police tried to form a line to block us off, but there were too few of them to do anything, so we were able to bust through the line with ease. My legs were burning from running in the sand with a heavy bag full of water. My right arm felt like it was on fire from the pepper spray.

After this we formed a line in order to stop any more police being able to join those in front of us. They tried again to block our path, but we held our line together by linking arms. We successfully stood our ground and they were forced to retreat. Seeing the police retreat was a wonderful sight.

Eventually we came to a point that was too wide for us to fully block and even more police managed to get past us. They had a much stronger line in front of us, which was thickest next to the conveyor belt where I was walking. On the very far side from me people managed to break through their line next to some smaller diggers.

The members of the affinity group I was with tried to run over to flow through the police, but by the time we got there they had closed it. I saw one police officer grab someone by their front and beat them across their back, while others lashed wildly in every direction, and others pepper-sprayed around them hoping to burn someone.

Detention

After two hours, roughly seven kilometres, and numerous police lines, we were kettled at 9 am. Even then we were still winning, as just by being there we stopped the mine from running and the police guarding us couldn’t work to keep others out.

We could see the Baggers lying still while in the distance wind turbines moved. A couple of hours in, they started to pull us out one by one, taking our photos and trying to get our names. Almost no one told them.

After this, they tied our hands with zip ties behind our backs. Through all this we supported each other, and worked to keep our spirits up by playing games and chatting (small talk when you can’t say your name, or say too much about yourself is strange).

After five to seven hours we were moved onto buses and taken to a police station. We sat for several more hours chatting, singing and sharing food (our hands had been freed by then). Eventually, they gave up on trying to process several hundred people that refused to give their names and resisted having their fingerprints taken.

Around 11 pm we were dumped outside a railway station and made our way back to camp, tired but triumphant. For the train ride back, some of us brought a couple of crates of beer, we celebrated the day and talked about what we’d been through on the train back. By around 1 am I was back in my tent exhausted, sore, emotionally drained, but also felt great about what we’d done together and achieved.

We had stopped the diggers for a day but it was also about more than just that. In economic terms it will have also damaged RWE’s position on the market (their share price just hit a new low) and made them seem less trustworthy to investors.

In addition to this many there had never taken part in direct action before but now know that by working together and taking matters into our own hands we can achieve more than waiting for salvation from those above us in society could ever do.

Many people both there and watching the events from afar will also have seen the role of the police, not as keeping of the peace but as guard dogs of social and economic order which is killing us and our planet. Last weekend, we fought and we won.

by Toni Belly / The Ecologist

Flood the System Organising Booklet is Now Available to Print or Download

Click here to download the Flood the System organising booklet! This 35 page booklet has everything you need to know about organising an event to #FloodTheSystem.

Click here for the same booklet as above, but set up so when you print it front/back, you can fold it into a booklet.

We envision Flood the System as a step towards building the DNA of a robust movement that has the collective power to challenge global capitalism, racism, patriarchy, and oppression.

This booklet is designed to give you a sense of why we need to escalate, what Flood the System might look like, and what structures we will all use to organize.

The authors drew inspiration for this booklet from the 1986 Pledge of Resistance Handbook, the 1999 WTO Direct Action Packet and the 2014 Ferguson Action Council Booklet.

Protesters Storm Open-Pit Coal Mine in Western Germany

Protestors look at a huge bucket-wheel excavator as they arrive for a demonstration at the open-pit coal mine near Garzweiler

Protestors look at a huge bucket-wheel excavator as they arrive for a demonstration at the open-pit coal mine near Garzweiler, western Germany Saturday Aug. 15, 2015. Several hundred environmental activists have stormed a lignite mine in western Germany to protest against the use of coal for electricity production. dpa via AP Marius Becker

August 15th, 2015

Environmental activists have stormed a lignite mine in western Germany to protest the use of coal, a major source of greenhouse gases.

The German news agency dpa reports that several hundred people from a group calling itself Ende Gelande — which loosely translates as “it’s finished now” — broke through a police line in Garzweiler, west of Cologne.

Police spokesman Anton Hamacher says officers used pepper spray to stop the crowd and are removing protesters from the site.

A spokesman for German energy company RWE says several huge bucket-wheel excavators used at the open-pit mine had to be shut down for safety reasons. Spokesman Lothar Lambertz says RWE has canceled plans to bring employees onto the site to rally in favor of coal mining.

from Associated Press