South East England
The new free monthly newsletter featuring news and updates from the No Borders Network and beyond.
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The new free monthly newsletter featuring news and updates from the No Borders Network and beyond.
Download the .pdf
Join the mailing list
The re-naming and re-launching of the newsletter is part of an attempt to to create a more regular and broad based periodical, drawing in other groups, organisations and individuals that work for freedom of movement and equality for all.
Time to get organised and stop the new generation of nuclear power stations.
London
11am Saturday 21st until 4pm Sunday 22nd November 2009
The weekend will be a space for grassroots campaigners to network, share ideas and information and make plans to win.
Time to get organised and stop the new generation of nuclear power stations.
London
11am Saturday 21st until 4pm Sunday 22nd November 2009
The weekend will be a space for grassroots campaigners to network, share ideas and information and make plans to win.
Whatever your campaigning tools are, wherever you are from, if you are in a group or an individual, this weekend is for us all. The more of us who can make it the better plans we can make.
By developing skills and confidence in creating and implementing campaign and action plans we can identify when and where our interventions can be most successful.
Over the weekend we will:
Reflect on the successes of the anti nuclear movement.
A presentation from Ben Ayliffe, Greenpeace’s nuclear power campaigner.
A presentation from a representative of the French network “Sortir du nucléaire” on the ongoing calamities with EPR reactors (the types of nuclear reactors being proposed for the UK).
Discussion and making plans to stop a new generation of nuclear power.
Skills workshops such as: Strategic action planning and Dealing with the media.
Meet and build networks with a broad range of people opposed to new nuclear.
Get angry, get organised.
Seeds for Change is an activist training network that will facilitate the weekend and share skills for winning through campaign and action planning. Come along and take away ideas and tools for winning to share with your community and networks at home. http://seedsforchange.org.uk/free/winning
Cost: Costs will be kept as low as possible. You will be asked to contribute towards the venue and food, but don’t let being skint stop you from coming :).
To book your place, help organise or get more details contact: nonewnuclear@aktivix.org or ring 01524 383012 and leave a message.
http://www.nonewnuclear.wordpress.com/
http://www.gmdcnd.org.uk/
RESIST new coal! Stop climate chaos!
Sat 28th Nov – Tues 1st Dec
RESIST new coal! Stop climate chaos!
Sat 28th Nov – Tues 1st Dec
While politicians are set to add more air to the climate pressure cooker in Copenhagen, the UK government is pushing ahead with doubling the number of opencast coal mines in the country. In the past 18 months 14 companies have applied to dig nearly 60 million tonnes of coal from 58 new or enlarged opencast mines. With our climate under imminent threat, this is just insane and needs to be stopped. So what better place than Mainshill for kicking off a December of direct action against climate criminals at home and abroad?
The Mainshill camp is occupying the site of a new open cast coal mine in Lanarkshire with lots of local support and seriously delaying work with digger diving, drill rig occupations and sabotage actions.
Join us for our open weekend Sat 28 Nov – Tues 1st Dec. There’ll be direct action workshops, legal briefings and a guided tour of the site on Sat and Sun, plus whatever actions people are up for. Or come up any time!
There’s lots and lots to do – not only are contractors busy felling trees on site, there are also four opencast coal mines within spitting distance of Mainshill, as well as the Ravenstruther coal rail depot.
From jumping on machinery and building momentum and support in the community, to chopping wood and cleaning out the compost loos – there’s something for everyone!
A brochure of coal targets in Scotland plus Digger Diving for Beginners
can be found at http://coalactionscotland.noflag.org.uk/?page_id=10
WHAT TO BRING:
*warm clothes, boots and waterproofs, a tent, sleeping bag and mat *tools for building work and action materials if you can *Most importantly bring yourself and friends.
FOOD:
There’ll be communal vegan food for a donation, so come prepared to help with chopping veg.
GETTING THERE:
The camp is right next to junction 12 of the M74, which runs from Carlisle
to Glasgow. The nearest train stations are Lanark and Hamilton and there
are frequent direct busses to the site.
Email us if you need a lift from the train station.
Detailed travel directions:
http://coalactionscotland.noflag.org.uk/?page_id=415
MORE INFO AND CONTACT:
info@leaveitintheground.org.uk
http://coalactionscotland.noflag.org.uk/?page_id=827
Please note: People arrested at Mainshill are held overnight, then taken to the Sheriff’s Court in Lanarkshire on the next day before being released. If you are planning to take action, make sure you’ve got the next day off too.
Write to the Danish Ambassador or phone or email to protest at the planned repression of climate activists in Copenhagen.
His excellency Birger Riis-Jørgensen
Embassy of Denmark
55 Sloane Street
London SW1X 9SR
Tel: 0044 (0)20 7333 0200
Fax: 0044 (0)20 7333 0270
E-mail: lonamb@um.dk
Write to the Danish Ambassador or phone or email to protest at the planned repression of climate activists in Copenhagen.
His excellency Birger Riis-Jørgensen
Embassy of Denmark
55 Sloane Street
London SW1X 9SR
Tel: 0044 (0)20 7333 0200
Fax: 0044 (0)20 7333 0270
E-mail: lonamb@um.dk
‘We write to express our concern about the proposed “hoodlum” law which is planned by your government. The bill that will be put before the Danish parliament, in a few weeks, has serious implications for anyone who is intending to demonstrate, or protest in any way, during the COP15 summit in Copenhagen this December.
It is clear from the timing, that your government intends this bill to become law by the time of the summit. We understand that the proposed bill will greatly increase the Police’s powers of arrest. Among its main provisions: the extension of the period of “preventative” arrest from six to twelve hours; an increase in maximum sentence for obstructing a police officer of up to fourty days, even for a first offence; as well as a host of measures which greatly increase the penalties for breaking the law regarding public protests. These measures,if approved, will effectively criminalise protests involving any degree of peaceful civil disobedience. At the same time, a climate of fear is being generated by certain elements of the Danish media about the prospect of thousands of climate activists descending on Copenhagen. We think this is no coincidence. It is therefore clear that the law is aimed at the many thousands of climate activists, from all over the globe, who will be coming to Copenhagen. It appears to us that the Danish government and media is hostile to both the protesters and their message. We therefore call upon the Danish government not to persue this legislation and to allow protesters to demonstrate and congregate without police harassment.’
Spread the word
Background here http://de.indymedia.org/2009/10/263838.shtml
Climate campaigners have this morning (26.10.09) shut down N-Power’s flagship coal plant at Didcot in Oxforshire.
Climate campaigners have this morning (26.10.09) shut down N-Power’s flagship coal plant at Didcot in Oxforshire.
The twenty peaceful protesters rode their push-bikes past security guards at 4.30am this morning before splitting into two groups. One team has shut down the giant coal conveyors which feed the boilers at the plant, while a second group of nine men and women has climbed the inside of the iconic 200m-high chimney and reached the top. They say they have enough food and water to stay in place for ‘weeks, not days’ – during which time the plant will be unable to operate. Already the activists in the chimney are securing the route behind them to ensure they can’t be reached by police and security guards.
**UPDATE, 4pm: people are occupying the chimney. Three of the units have turned to gas and the fourth is not operational. 5:15pm : Police have arrested eight eco campaigners who were part of a group staging a climate change demonstration at Didcot Power Station today. Eleven protesters had chained themselves to a coal conveyor at the plant, while nine others staged a sit in at the top of Didcot A tower. Police cut eight protesters from the coal conveyor one-by-one and arrested them on suspicion of aggravated trespass. A spokesman said officers expected to make a further three arrests in the next hour. Meanwhile, the nine protesters currently occupying the top of Didcot A tower will remain there overnight. Tuesday 27th: Climate change protesters who broke into Didcot power station are tonight preparing for a second night on top of the plant’s 200-metre-high emissions chimney. Police said they believed it was too dangerous to try to evict them — although site owners RWE npower earlier obtained a legal injunction to allow them to remove the protesters from their property. The company was considering whether to send security staff up the tower to evict the protesters, or to leave them to leave their perches peacefully. The nine activists occupying the tower claimed they had enough food and water to last them a week. Five other protesters remained in custody after being arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass on Monday afternoon. Six more were released on bail. The 11 protesters arrested were a second group of activists who chained themselves to a conveyor belt carrying coal into the power station’s furnaces. It took police officers five hours to cut them loose from the belt. Wednesday 28th: at 4:30 am after 48 hours of protest, the remaining 9 came down and were arrested. **
The huge coal plant in Oxfordshire is owned and operated by German utility company N-Power, which is building new coal plants across Europe and wants to build the first new coal-fired power stations in Britain in 30 years.
A small amount of coal was in the boilers as the invasion occurred. That will last for several hours, after which the protesters will scale the flues at the very top of the chimney (which would normally emit 1000 tonnes of CO2 an hour) and abseil into them, with some of the activists then living inside the chimney for the duration of their occupation. Activists will remain in the flues until their food and water runs out, preventing the station from re-opening.
“We’re a bunch of ordinary people who met at the Climate Camp this summer and were inspired to actually do something about climate change,” said Amy Johnson, 20, one of the protesters at the summit of the huge 200m chimney. “We rode our bikes into the power station this morning and now we’re on the top of the chimney. To be honest we’re quite surprised at how easy it all was. I didn’t quite expect to be here.”
She continued:
“Since E-ON shelved their plans to build a new coal plant at Kingsnorth this month, we realised N-Power is the new frontline. They haven’t dropped their plans to build the dirtiest new power stations in Britain for thirty years, and they’re constructing new coal plants right across Europe. We’re going to stay here until they say they’ll stop building new coal plants. We know that might take a while but we’re patient and we’ve got plenty of supplies to stay up here. We’re talking weeks, not days.”
Amy Johnson added:
“We decided the most powerful place we could set up a Climate Camp would be at the top of N-Power’s most iconic chimney, and that’s what we’ve done. I’d be a liar if said I wasn’t scared climbing up this smokestack, but climate change scares me a lot more. We’ve got people locked on to the coal conveyors and people are going over the top and inside the actual chimney. There’s no way we can be reached, we’re in control of this power plant and we’re not moving any time soon.”
The protesters researched today’s action carefully, putting the safety of N-Power staff and the activists first. The climbers preparing to abseil into the chimney are fully trained and highly experienced. The activists only shut down Didcot after confirming that their actions would not cause power cuts – there is always slack in the National Grid to cope with generating outages, forced or otherwise. If there is a displacement of emissions from coal to gas (or no generation) it will reduce net CO2 emissions in the course of the occupation by tens of thousands of tonnes.
Speaking from the chimney, Joanna Bates, 21, from Leeds, told the Oxford Mail: “A group of us cycled past the security guard at about 5am and he couldn’t stop us — we were too quick for him.
“We then used an angle grinder to cut down the gates to get to the chimney.
Amy Johnson said:
“In every country CO2 emissions are linked to economic growth, so in countries like the UK our insatiable hunger for more and more products and consumer goods is driving climate change. The world’s finite resources need to be shared more fairly, and the richest countries which got us into this mess need to take the lead in reducing emissions. We’re on this chimney to demand climate justice as the world prepares to meet in Copenhagen. We’re defending human life and people’s property around the world that’s in immediate need of protection from the ravages of rising temperatures.”
While N-Power claims that new coal is necessary to ‘keep the lights on’, in reality its push for new coal plants at Tilbury and Hunterston is motivated by profit, with coal-burning being cheaper than other fuels despite its enormous climate impact. Consultants at Poyry – Europe’s leading independent energy experts – found that Britain could easily meet its energy demands without resorting to new coal as long as the country hits its renewable and energy efficiency targets.
Why coal, why Didcot?
* The single greatest threat to the climate comes from burning coal. Coal-fired generation is historically responsible for most of the fossil-fuel CO2 in the air today, about half of all fossil-fuel carbon dioxide emissions globally.
* Coal-fired power generation is the most environmentally damaging means of generating electricity yet devised. In fact, in carbon terms, coal is the dirtiest fuel known to man.
* Ed Miliband recently announced plans to allow the construction of four new coal plants that would emit about 80% of their emissions into the atmosphere. That would make them the most carbon-polluting new coal plants built in Britain for 30 years. N-Power is behind 2 possible plants, at Tilbury and Hunterston
* As we close old coal-fired and nuclear power stations in the next decade we will lose capacity currently providing around a quarter of our electricity output. But Gordon Brown recently committed to targets which will require us to generate about 35-40% of our electricity from renewables alone by 2020, and the UK also has fairly ambitious energy efficiency targets. According to Europe’s leading independent energy experts, Poyry, if the UK was to hit these existing renewables and efficiency targets, there will be no ‘energy gap.’ We can keep the lights on and cut emissions, and in the long run bring down fuel bills too – all without new coal-fired plants like Kingsnorth.
* The world’s most respected climate scientist, Dr. Jim Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, is so concerned about plans for new coal plants in Britain that he took the unprecedented step of writing to the Prime Minister to say that with the decision over whether or not to allow Kingsnorth, Brown has the potential to influence “the future of the planet”
* Coal-fired power generation really is an outdated technology for a 21st century, climate changing world. Even today, Britain’s centralised, inefficient coal-fired power stations waste over two-thirds of the energy they generate. The proposed new coal plant at Kingsnorth, although more efficient than the old one, would still use old-style conventional technology that would waste (as heat) over half of all the energy the power station creates. Compare that with the state-of-the-art power plants they use in Scandinavia which run at up to 94% efficiency.
* Burning coal in the UK has already halted the decline in emissions seen in the 1990s following the ‘dash for gas’ and has undermined progress from other sectors in cutting emissions. Since Labour came to power, carbon dioxide emissions have actually increased and this can be attributed in large part due to ‘the roll to coal’ as well as increased aviation emissions.
* Dr. Jim Hansen, one of the first climate scientists to warn of global warming, says: “The only practical way to prevent CO2 levels from going far into the dangerous range, with disastrous effects for humanity and other inhabitants of the planet, is to phase out use of coal except at power plants where the CO2 is captured and sequestered.”
* Equally, Sir Martin Rees, President of the prestigious Royal Society, wrote to the Government saying, “Allowing any new coal-fired power station, such as Kingsnorth, to go ahead without a clear strategy and incentives for the development and deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology would send the wrong message about the UK’s commitment to address climate change, both globally and to the energy sector.”
“I therefore suggest that the government only gives consent to any new coal- fired power station, such as Kingsnorth, on condition that the operating permits are withdrawn if the plant fails to capture 90% of its carbon dioxide emissions by 2020. This would send a clear policy signal to industry of the need to develop and deploy CCS as quickly as possible.”
* Lord Adair Turner’s inaugural report from the Committee on Climate Change sets out that achieving an 80% domestic reduction in emissions by 2050 means the decarbonisation of the UK power sector must start now and continue through the 2020s, so that we can secure the “almost total decarbonisation of electricity generation by 2030”.
Spirit of Freedom
(October 2009)
Produced by
EARTH LIBERATION PRISONERS SUPPORT NETWORK
“The whole experience has been tough, but all the kind and strengthening words and wise thoughts from strangers made it much easier!” (Former Swedish Animal Rights Prisoner)
Spirit of Freedom
(October 2009)
Produced by
EARTH LIBERATION PRISONERS SUPPORT NETWORK
“The whole experience has been tough, but all the kind and strengthening words and wise thoughts from strangers made it much easier!” (Former Swedish Animal Rights Prisoner)
Welcome to the October 2009 edition of Spirit of Freedom. Unfortunately we have to start this newsletter with some bad news. Literally in the last few days ELP has learnt of the jailing of two new eco-prisoners, one is Sweden, one in America.
Last month Swedish eco-activist, Jonatan Strandberg was informed that his appeal against the length of his prison sentence was unsuccessful and he was
informed he would be returning to prison. We were informed that Jonatan would be returning to prison at the start of this week and today we received the depressing news that Jonatan is now in prison.
ELP has been proud to know Jonatan for a few months now (ever since his first arrest) and we have always admired the way he has remained true to his beliefs and taken a very accepting view of the fact he might have to return to prison. However despite his own difficulties Jonatan has also worked hard for prisoner support, writing to new prisoners and encouraging those who found themselves behind bars to stay focussed on the positive.
In the same way Jonatan has helped the prisoners whilst he was on the outside it is now our turn to help Jonatan and we very much hope people will send him letters of support.
Besides Jonatan’s imprisonment, ELP has also learnt of the jailing of an American environmentalist, Stephen Murphy, who is accused of involvement in an attempted arson on a town house construction site in 2006. The day after the attempted arson construction workers discovered that at least one of their construction vehicles had been vandalised and ELF slogans written on it. Stephen is currently held in Texas but is expected to be transferred to Los Angeles in the next few weeks where the alleged attempted arson occurred.
Also, with regards to new prisoners, British animal rights activist, Dean Cain, has been returned to prison following the breaching of his parole conditions. Dean was on parole for his involvement in activities at a rabbit farm which breeds rabbits for vivisection.
ELP has also learnt that American animal rights activist, Jordan Halliday, who recently served time in prison for refusing to testify before a Grand Jury, has been indicted on contempt charges and therefore may soon return to prison again. His trial is due to start in November 2009.
Also, as a number of ELP supporters will be aware, earlier this month the long-term American environmental prisoner, Jeff ‘Free’ Leurs was released from prison. This took everyone by surprise, not least Free. However his release proved to be an administration error and he was quickly returned to prison. ELP is disgusted that Free has been returned to prison, especially as he is due for release in a couple of months anyway, and we feel that his treatment is nothing but psychological torture.
Other prisoner news, the British animal rights prisoner John Smith has asked to have his name removed from all prisoner support lists.
But happily ELP does have some positive news amongst all the negative news. British animal rights activist, Sean Kirtley, who was jailed for running a LEGAL campaign group which protested against vivisection, has been released from prison. This is fantastic news and ELP wishes Sean all the best for the future.
And on that note, we shall end this editorial news update. But before we go we shall repeat what we always say – All of the prisoners listed below welcome letters of support. Regardless of what languages you speak, regardless of where you live in the world, your letters of support really do make the world of difference to the prisoners. So please support the eco-prisoners and no compromise in defence of Mother Earth!
If anyone notices any of ELP’s prisoner details is out of date or we do not list a prisoner who we should list, please let ELP know as soon as possible.
ELP is run by a small group of volunteers and although we try to ensure our lists are accurate, we admit we do make mistakes. So help us help keep the lists accurate by letting us know of any changes we need to make.
ECO-DEFENCE PRISONERS
Grant Barnes #137563, San Carlos Correctional Facility, PO Box 3, Pueblo, CO 81002, USA. Serving 12 years for setting fire to a number of SUV vehicles. The letters ELF were spray painted onto all of the vehicles. (Grant is a vegan).
Nathan Block, #36359-086, FCI Lompoc, Federal Correctional Institution, 3600 Guard Road, Lompoc, CA 93436, USA. Serving 7 years & 8 months for an ELF arson against a Poplar Tree Farm and an ELF arson against an SUV dealership. Also admitted his role in an ELF/ALF conspiracy. (Diet unknown).
Marco Camenisch, Postfach 3143, CH-8105 Regensdorf, Switzerland. Serving 18 years. 1) Ten years for using explosives to destroy electricity pylons leading from nuclear power stations. 2) Eight years for the murder of a Swiss Border Guard whilst on the run. In ’02 Marco completed a 12-year sentence in Italy for destroying electricity pylons in Italy. (Marco is a meat eater who encourages organic living).
Daniele Casalini, Via Casale 50/a, 15040 San Michele (AL), Italy. Il Silvestre activist awaiting trial accused of robbery to fund a subversive organisation. (Daniele is a vegan).
Francesco Gioia, Via Casale 50/a, 15040 San Michele (AL), Italy. Il Silvestre activist awaiting trial accused of robbery to fund a subversive organisation. (Francesco is a vegetarian and Straight Edge).
Niall Harnett, Castlerea Prison, Harristown, Castlerea, Co. Roscommon, Republic of Ireland. Severing 4 months for non-payment of a fine. The fine was issued following Maura’s involvement in an anti-Shell petrol company protest. (Diet unknown).
Maura Harringon, Dochas Centre, Mountjoy Gaol, North Circular Road, Dublin 7, Republic of Ireland. Serving 8 months for non-payment of a fine. The fine was issued following Maura’s involvement in an anti-Shell petrol company protest. (Diet unknown).
Jeffrey Luers, # 13797671, CRCI, 9111 NE Sunderland Ave, Portland, OR 97211-1708, USA. Serving 10 years for arson on a SUV dealership & the attempted arson of an oil truck. The original sentence was 22 years & 8 months, but was reduced on appeal. (Diet unknown).
Marie Jeanette Mason, #04672-061, FCI Waseca, Federal Correctional Institution, PO Box 1731, Waseca, MN 56093, USA. Serving 21 years and 10 months for her involvement in an ELF arson against a University building carrying out Genetically Modified crop tests. Marie also pleaded guilty to conspiring to carry out ELF actions and admitted involvement in 12 other ELF actions. (Marie is a vegan).
Eric McDavid, 16209-097, FCI Victorville, Medium II, Federal Correctional Institution, PO Box 5300, Adelanto, CA 92301, USA. Serving 19 years & 7 months for planning to destroy the property of the U.S. Forestry Service, mobile phone masts and power plants. At the point of his arrest no criminal damage has actually occurred. (Eric is a vegan).
Daniel McGowan, 63794-053, USP Marion, US Penitentiary, PO Box 1000, Marion, IL 62959, USA. Serving 7 years for an ELF arson against a Poplar Tree Farm and an ELF arson against an old growth logging corporation. Also admitted his role in an ELF/ALF conspiracy. (Daniel is a vegetarian).
Steve Murphy #39013177 FCI Fort Worth, Federal Correctional Institution, P.O. Box 15330, Fort Worth, TX 76119, USA. On remand accused of attempted arson and criminal damage at a town house construction site in 2006. The FBI claim the action was done under the banner of the ELF. (Diet unknown).
Jonathan Paul – See details in Animal Liberation Prisoners List.
Justin Solondz (Address Unknown). American Green Scare defendant accused of direct action activity in America. Arrested in China. Exact location currently unknown. (Diet unknown).
Jonatan Strandberg, Box 248, 59323, Västervik, Sweden. Serving 15 months imprisonment after admitting damaging a communication tower used by the Department of Defence, cutting the cables on a crane used in creating urban sprawl, and damaging a vehicle used in the logging industry. (Jonatan is a diabetic and follows a paleo diet, demanding locally sourced food).
Michael Sykes 696693, Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility, 1728 Bluewater Highway, Ionia, MI 48846, USA. Serving four to ten years for anti-sprawl arsons, criminal damage to a utility pole, spray-painting political graffiti and burning the American flag. (Diet unknown)
Briana Waters 36432-086, FCI Danbury, Federal Correctional Institution, Route 37, Danbury, CT 06811, USA. Serving six years for involvement in an ELF arson on a University. (Diet unknown).
Joyanna Zacher, #36360-086, FCI Dublin, 5700 8th St.- Camp Parks- Unit F, Dublin, CA 94568, USA. Serving 7 years & 8 months for an ELF arson against a Poplar Tree Farm and an ELF arson against an SUV dealership. Also admitted her role in an ELF/ALF conspiracy. (Diet unknown).
ANIMAL LIBERATION PRISONERS
(All Animal Liberation Prisoners follow a minimum vegetarian diet and most are vegan).
Jonny Ablewhite TB4885, H.M. Prison, Hewell Lane, Redditch, Worcs B97 6QS, England. Serving 12 years for attempting to blackmail a farmer who supplied guinea pigs for vivisection. (Jon is a vegan).
Dan Amos VN7818, HMP Guys Marsh, Shaftesbury, Dorset, SP7 0AH, England.
Serving 4 years for conspiracy to blackmail Huntingdon Life Sciences. (Dan is a vegan)
Gregg Avery TA7450, HMP Coldingley, Shaftesbury Road, Bisley, Woking, Surrey GU24 9EX, England. Serving 9 years for conspiracy to blackmail Huntingdon Life Sciences. (Gregg is a vegan).
Natasha Avery NR8987, HMP Send, Ripley Road, Woking, Surrey, GU23 7LJ, England. Serving 9 years for conspiracy to blackmail Huntingdon Life Sciences. (Nat is a vegan).
Mel Broughton TN9138, HMP Frankland, Brasside, Durham, County Durham DH1 5YD, England. Serving 10 years for “conspiracy to commit arson” against Oxford University vivisection department. (Mel is a vegan).
Dean Cain WJ 4309, HMP Preston, 2 Ribbleton Lane, Lancashire, PR1 5AB, England. Jailed for breaching his parole conditions, whilst on parole for his involvement in a raid on a rabbit farm which breeds rabbits for vivisection. (Dean is a vegan).
Jacob Conroy #93501-011, FCI Terminal Island, Federal Correctional Institution, P.O. Box 3007, San Pedro, CA 90731, USA. Serving 48 months imprisonment for helping organise the SHAC-USA campaign. (Jake is a vegan).
Lauren Gazzola #93497-011, FCI Danbury, Federal Correctional Institution, Route #37Danbury, CT 06811, USA. Serving 54 months imprisonment for helping organise the SHAC-USA campaign. (Lauren is a vegan).
Alex Hall, Inmate #2009-06304, Davis County Jail, 800 West State St., Farmington, UT 84025, USA. On Remand accused of raiding a mink farm. Also accused of breaching bail conditions whilst on bail. (William is a vegan).
Kevin Kjonaas #93502-011, FCI Sandstone, PO Box 1000, Sandstone, MN 55072 USA. Serving 72 months imprisonment for helping organise the SHAC-USA campaign. (Kevin is a vegan).
Daniel McGowan – See details in Eco Defence Prisoners List.
Gavin Medd-Hall WV9475, HMP Coldingley, Shaftesbury Road, Bisley, Woking, Surrey GU24 9EX, England. Serving 8 years for conspiracy to blackmail Huntingdon Life Sciences. (Gavin is a vegan).
Heather Nicholson VM5859, HMP Foston Hall, Foston, Derby, Derbyshire, DE65 5DN, England. Serving 11 years for conspiracy to blackmail Huntingdon Life Sciences. (Heather is a vegan).
Kevin Olliff, #1300931, TTCF 161 D-Pod, 450 Bauchet St., Los Angeles, CA 90012, USA. On remand accused of stalking. Exact details of the indictment have not yet been revealed but the charges appear to relate to a person employed by an educational facility so may be linked to vivisection. (Kevin is a vegan).
Jonathan Paul, #07167-085, FCI Phoenix, Federal Correctional Institution, 37910 N 45th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85086, USA. Sentenced to 51 months for an ALF arson on a horse meat plant. Also admitted his role in an ELF/ALF conspiracy. (Jonathan is a vegan).
William James Viehl, Inmate #2009-05735, Davis County Jail, 800 West State St., Farmington, UT 84025, USA. Awaiting sentencing having pleaded guilty to raiding a mink farm. He is due to be sentenced in November. (William is a vegan).
Nicole Vosper VM9385, HMP Bronzefield, Woodhthorpe Road, Ashford, Middx, TW15 3JZ, England. On remand accused of blackmailing Huntingdon Life Sciences. (Nicole is a vegan).
Dan Wadham, A5705AA, HMP Camp Hill, Newport, Isle of Wight, PO30 5PB, England. Serving 5 years for conspiracy to blackmail Huntingdon Life Sciences. (Dan is a vegan).
Kerry Whitburn TB4886, HMP Lowdham Grange, Lowdham, Nottingham, NG14 7DA, England. Serving 12 years for attempting to blackmail a farmer who supplied guinea pigs for vivisection. (Kerry is a vegan).
Sarah Whitehead, VM7684, HMP Bronzefield, Woodthorpe Road, Ashford, Middx, TW15 3JZ, England. Serving two years for: 1) rescuing a puppy from horrific conditions. 2) rescuing over 100 animals from a pet breeder who was later prosecuted for animal abuse. Also awaiting trial for SHAC activity. (Sarah is a vegan)
PLOUGHSHARES PRISONERS
Helen Woodson, 03231-045, FMC Carswell – Admin. Max. Unit, POB 27137, Ft. Worth, TX 76127, USA. Serving 8 years 10 months for actions that focused on the interrelationship of war & the destruction of the natural world. The actions included pouring red paint over the security desk of a federal court and making threatening communications. Previously Helen had served 20½ years for: 1) Using a hammer to disarm a nuclear missile silo. 2) Burning $25,000 on the floor of a bank whilst denouncing war, environmental destruction & economic injustice. 3) Mailing warning letters with bullets attached to Government & corporate officials. (Diet unknown).
OTHER ANTI-WAR PRISONERS
Elija Smith VP 7551 HMP Lewes, 1 Brighton Rd, Lewes, Sussex, BN7 1EA, England. On remand accused of disarming a weapons factory, which, amongst other things, makes Hellfire Missiles. The action was in protest at Israel military action against Gaza. (Diet unknown).
THE LECCE DEFENDANTS
The Lecce Defendants have been charged with “subversive association” accused of damaging Esso petrol pumps to oppose the War on Iraq; sabotaging the cash machines of a bank which funds an immigration centre; and targeting the multinational company Benetton in support of Mapuche land rights activists in Chile. All of the defendants are currently either under house arrest or released on bail.
ANTIFA PRISONERS
Aleksey Bychin, SIZO 47/2, ul. Akademika Lebedeva, dom. 39, 195005 St. Peterburg, Russia. Serving 5 years for defending himself against neo-nazis.
(Diet unknown).
Andrei Mergenov, FGU IZ 64/1 OKB 2 komn. 73, Up. Kutyakova 107, 410601 Saratov, Russia. Serving 3 years for fighting with neo-nazis. (Diet unknown)
Christian Sümmermann, Bnr: 441/08/5, JVA Plötzensee, Lehrterstr. 61, 10557 Berlin, Germany. Serving 40 months for breaching the peace whilst serving a suspended sentence issued for anti-fascist activities. (Diet unknown).
Tomasz Wiloszewski, Zaklad Karny, Orzechowa 5, 98-200 Sieradz, Poland.
Serving 15 years for accidentally killing a neo-nazi whilst defending himself. (Tomasz is a vegetarian).
OTHER PRISONERS
Pavel Delidon, ul. Timiryazeva-1, FGU IK-7, 309990 Valuyki Russia.
Anarchist/Animal Rights activist jailed for attempting to obtain wages owed to him, but which had not been paid to him by his employer. IMPORTANT: Pavel can only receive letters written in Russian. He is punished by the prison if he receives a letter not written in Russian so please, only send letters written in Russian. (Diet unknown).
Richard Sills (Address Unknown, USA). Serving 15 months for bomb hoaxing a University saying they would be targeted by the ALF if they didn’t stop their animal experiments. (Diet unknown).
Fran Thompson, #1090915, CCC, 3151 Litton Drive, Chillicuthe, MO 64601, USA. Serving Life for killing, in self-defence, a stalker who had broken into her home. Before her imprisonment Fran was an eco, animal & anti-nuke campaigner. (Fran is a vegan).
MOVE
MOVE is an eco-revolutionary group who carried out protests in defence of all life. All move prisoners describe themselves as vegetarians. There are currently eight MOVE activists in prison each serving 100 years after been framed for the murder of a cop in 1979. 9th defendant, Merle Africa, died in prison in 1998.
Debbie Simms Africa (006307), Janet Holloway Africa (006308) and Janine Philips Africa (006309) all at: SCI Cambridge Springs, 451 Fullerton Ave, Cambridge Springs, PA 16403-1238, USA.
Michael Davis Africa (AM4973) and Charles Simms Africa (AM4975) both at SCI Graterford, PO Box 244, Graterford, PA 19426-0244, USA.
Edward Goodman Africa (AM4974), SCI Mahanoy, 301 Morea Rd, Frackville, PA 17932, USA.
William Philips Africa (AM4984) and Delbert Orr Africa (AM4985) both at SCI Dallas Drawer K, Dallas, PA 18612, USA.
Mumia Abu Jamal, (AM8335), SCI Greene, 175 Progress Drive, Waynesburg PA 15370, USA. In 1981 Mumia, former Black Panther and vocal supporter of MOVE, was framed for the murder of a cop. He was originally sentenced to death but is currently awaiting re-sentencing following a court hearing in 2001.
STATEMENT ON VIOLENCE
Some people listed in this newsletter have carried out violent actions including assault and murder. ‘Spirit of Freedom’ does not condone violence. But we are also against censorship & believe people can decide for themselves who they wish to support.
ABOUT E.L.P. SUPPORT NETWORK
ELP is an international eco-prisoner support network founded, in Britain, in 1993 to support jailed eco-activists. We support the prisoners by producing various regular prisoner lists:
Spirit of Freedom is ELP’s international monthly prisoner listing which is circulated by e-mail.
EARTH FIRST! WINTER MOOT
6pm Fri 5th – Sun 7th Feb 2010
North-east England
“A weekend of networking, reflection, strategic discussions & campaign planning for anyone involved in ecological direct action who believes in non-hierarchical organisation and directly confronting the forces responsible for the destruction of the Earth and its inhabitants”
EARTH FIRST! WINTER MOOT
6pm Fri 5th – Sun 7th Feb 2010
North-east England
“A weekend of networking, reflection, strategic discussions & campaign planning for anyone involved in ecological direct action who believes in non-hierarchical organisation and directly confronting the forces responsible for the destruction of the Earth and its inhabitants”
Venue:
The Winter Moot will be taking place at the Dipton Community Centre, Front Street (A692), Dipton, Stanley, County Durham, DH9 9DR. Further information on getting there can be found via the How to get there link (now including cycling directions).
New poster to download
New flyer to download
Details of EF! Winter Moot announced:
The Earth First! Winter moot is an opportunity for people who feel affiliation with the ideas behind Earth First! to network, discuss and reflect on the UK ecological direct action movement and to plan for the future. Earth First! is about direct action to halt the destruction of the Earth. We believe we can make a real difference by doing it ourselves rather than relying on leaders, governments or industry.
This years Earth First! Winter Moot will be taking place in Co. Durham on the weekend of 6/7th February. As well as evaluations and updates from a number of ecological campaigns from around the country, this year we will have a themed event – The Crisis: evaluation, analysis and possible responses. We will be exploring the interactions between the various ecological, financial and resource crises, examining our own conceptions and experiences of crisis, then tying it altogether to find a way forward using non-hierarchical approaches.
We will also be hosting a discussion on how Earth First and the Camp for Climate Action intersect, to deal with quite a number of issues that emerged at the EF! Summer Gathering, including issues of generational understanding, anarchism vs. liberalism, are we seperate networks, and how can we go forward together in the future. This debate will be taking from 6.15-7.30pm on the Saturday evening of the Moot, and is open to all.
Everyone welcome
If your campaign (local or national) is interested in participating in the feedback please get in touch.
The venue will be accessible, and parent-friendly. Vegan food provided. Suggested donation for the weekend is £20. The venue will be announced one week beforehand so keep an eye on the website for details; however, for those who want to purchase advance tickets, the nearest station will be Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
For more information visit http://earthfirst.org.uk/ & http://www.earthfirstgathering.org.uk/2010moot/front.html
Tel: 0777 114 2131
1. It is in doors with communal sleeping areas (no camping – we’re not that mad 🙂 )
2. The actual venue will be announced a week before hand, so please check the website then, or email us.
For enquiries, offers of facilitation & help, ideas for workshops and TO LET US KNOW YOU ARE COMING! email : wintermoot@earthfirst.org.uk
More about the Moot
The EF! Winter Moot is an opportunity for people who feel affiliation with the ideas behind Earth First! to network, discuss and reflect on the UK ecological direct action movement and to plan for the future.
Following a popular discussion at 2009’s EF! Summer Gathering 2010’s Moot also aims to hold discussions on the theme of “readying ourselves for unpredictability and instability in the UK and globally”. The current & impending crises of economics, ecology, energy & society fundamentally alter the terrain of struggle; this in turn impacts both the practice and possibilities for a radical ecological movement.
2010’s Winter Moot is to be held in County Durham, an area with a large number of opencast coal mines, both active and at the application stage. The weekend will include opportunities to meet with activists involved locally in campaigns against these.
Cost including vegan food & crash-pad accommodation £20-£30 (depending what you can afford-but please don’t blag-even the organisers will pay).
If you have particular accommodation, access or dietary needs or are bringing children it would help us to know as soon as possible so we can plan suitable facilities; whoever you are please do try & drop us an email at least a week in advance so we can gauge how many to cater for.
www.earthfirst.org.uk
21.10.2009
Shell’s annual graduate recruitment event aimed at schmoozing Oxford University students was disrupted by local activists tonight who heckled, switched off displays and audio equipment, gave an alternative speech and chatted to the students.
21.10.2009
Shell’s annual graduate recruitment event aimed at schmoozing Oxford University students was disrupted by local activists tonight who heckled, switched off displays and audio equipment, gave an alternative speech and chatted to the students.
Less than a week after BP’s recruitment event at the same venue got similar treatment, a last-minute gathering of folks from Thames Valley Climate Action made sure that Shell’s PR gloss did not go unchallenged either.
Just like all oil companies, Shell are not only destroying all our futures by fuelling climate change, they also destroy communities on a local level, from the Tar Sands of Alberta, Canada, to Rossport, Ireland, Nigeria and beyond. Our action was in solidarity with all those affected by Shell’s operations, mindful of the much greater risks and repressions they face.
While their presentation was interrupted by an alternative speech, the PA system was being unplugged and shiny displays turned off to level the playing field a little. At this point a couple of us were dragged out by the heavies, making sure that everyone was loudly aware of why we were there in the process.
But with only a couple of security guards busy keeping an eye on the rest of the room, no-one was guarding the hotel door, and we were able to go straight back in for another round of ranting. Ooops; bit of an oversight on their part! Dragged out again, this time even more grumpily, and my friend was petulantly kneed in the leg on the way out just for the sake of it. Wonder what they were so pissed off about? 🙂
I don’t know the details of what happened next, but there were plenty of activists still in the room so I’m sure Shell were even further embarrassed. Hopefully more reports will be posted soon, probably with photos and videos too.
http://blip.tv/play/njSBrORbAg
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TVCA – http://tvca.ox4.org/
Recent action at BP event – http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/23240
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Corporate Watch profile of Shell – http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=305
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Tar Sands Watch – http://www.tarsandswatch.org/
Indigenous Environmental Network – http://www.ienearth.org/
Dirty Oil Sands – http://dirtyoilsands.org/
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Rossport Solidarity Camp – http://www.rossportsolidaritycamp.110mb.com/
Shell To Sea – http://www.shelltosea.com/
Recent Rossport action – http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/23272
Rebellion, a spark in search of a powder keg – the new Action Update is out, the quarterly round-up of ecological direct action from the UK and beyond.
What’s in this issue?
Rebellion, a spark in search of a powder keg – the new Action Update is out, the quarterly round-up of ecological direct action from the UK and beyond.
What’s in this issue?
Old King Coal meets his Match, but the Nuclear Empire Strikes Back! Read tales of flotillas, bishop-bashing, blockades and occupations as the Rebel Alliance takes on the Empire. The rebels have also been hanging around in nets and on platforms, occupying and locking-on at coal terminals, and passionately attacking power station fences around the world, trying to shut ’em down. Mainshill protest camp continues to pro-actively resist open-cast mining – they climb, occupy, and by night, anonymous pixies sabotage. Who knows when they sleep – with a strong alliance with local villagers, they welcome YOU to come and play anytime, with a gathering at the end of October.
Want more? Radio-towers toppled, dams and trucks seized, naked oil streaks and green smears in defence of the wild, a shit dumped with shit…resistance to peat mining, genetic engineering, logging and Shell in Ireland, and for Vestas wind turbine factory and workers on the Isle of Wight.
Still not enough? Stopping Tesco, climate campaigning successes, runway invasions, more ecotage, and the EF! Winter Moot, plus contacts and upcoming dates.
To download your copy go to this website:
http://www.earthfirst.org.uk/efau/actionupdate_oct09.pdf
If you want paper copies to distribute, contact us at: actionupdate@earthfirst.org.uk or pick up a bunch from our stall at the Anarchist Bookfair in London. To print your own, download from http://www.earthfirst.org.uk/efau/actionupdate_oct09print.pdf
Wanted: We are very skint! Please send us some dosh to help us pay for the printing.
Cheques can be made out to Earth First! Action Update, and posted to The Basement, 78a Penny St, Lancaster LA1 1XN
Love and Rage
Your Action Update collective
16.10.2009
BP’s flagship annual recruitment event at Oxford’s Randolph Hotel was disrupted last night when members of the audience jumped on the stage and took over the event. Around 20 campaigners targeted the 6.30pm event in protest at the company’s recent decision to extract oil from Canada’s Tar Sands.
16.10.2009
BP’s flagship annual recruitment event at Oxford’s Randolph Hotel was disrupted last night when members of the audience jumped on the stage and took over the event. Around 20 campaigners targeted the 6.30pm event in protest at the company’s recent decision to extract oil from Canada’s Tar Sands.
The campaigners stole the stage from Peter Mather, Head of BP UK, and gave a presentation of their own, which highlighted the fact that in recent months the oil giant has dropped the pretence of having moved ‘Beyond Petroleum’, slashing its renewables budget and closing down its alternative energy division. BP were accused of getting involved not just in ‘dirty oil’, but ‘bloody oil’ due to the devastating effect Tar Sands oil extraction is having on the environment and local indigenous communities. [1]
The presentation revealed that:
“There is no clearer demonstration of BP’s determination to ignore the risks of climate change than their decision to invest in Canada’s Tar Sands. Extracting oil from these sludgy deposits produces three to five times as much greenhouse gas as conventional oil…The Tar Sands are the biggest industrial development in the world, are the fastest source of deforestation and have left a hole the size of Florida in the Canadian wilderness. Every day, the extraction process uses enough gas to heat 3.2 million Canadian homes for an entire year. The lakes of toxic waste sludge it produces are visible from space, and are leaching into local water supplies, causing high rates of rare cancers in indigenous communities nearby.” [2]
Following the presentation, the question and answer session was dominated by the activists in the audience, transforming BP’s cosy recruitment event into a major public grilling on climate change and Tar Sands. For the final half hour of the event, the campaigners answered students’ questions about BP’s environmental record over wine and canapes provided by the company.
The campaigners, Oxford students supported by local group Thames Valley Climate Action [3], also unfurled a banner that read “BP: Bloody Oil” outside of the Randolph Hotel, handed out leaflets about the Tar Sands, and cornered senior BP staff for detailed one-on-one questioning at the end of the event.
Christine Ashworth, 19, said “With 300,000 people a year dying from the effects of climate change, I’m appalled that BP are not only making this problem worse, but they’re trampling over the rights of indigenous people as they do it. I encourage students from all universities where BP are recruiting to take action to stop the company extracting oil from the Tar Sands.”
Laura Doughty, a local student, said “We were there to impress upon students that there are only two possible outcomes of taking a job with BP. Either we succeed in tackling climate change by rapidly phasing out fossil fuels, which means your job will quickly become obsolete, or else we fail to stop climate disaster, in which case you will be partly responsible for the loss of hundreds of millions of lives, homes and livelihoods. There are green jobs out there, but they aren’t at BP – 98% of their business is oil and gas!”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
[1] BP purchased a significant stake in the Tar Sands operations in 2007. See:
http://www.ienearth.org/cits and http://dirtyoilsands.org
BP’s involvement in the Alberta Tar Sands was highlighted at the Camp for Climate Action in London this summer, which included a protest outside the London headquarters of BP.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8232522.stm
[2] The full text of the presentation is copied below
[3] http://tvca.ox4.org/
THE PRESENTATION
BP are here today to sell themselves as a cutting edge company who have the right response to deal with our energy needs in the face of climate change. We’re from Thames Valley Climate Action and we believe the potentially devastating consequences of climate change put a huge question mark over our future. Many of you will share our concerns and we hope you’ll make an informed choice about whether BP really do have what it takes to take us into the future.
Climate change is the biggest challenge facing humanity today. A few years ago, BP appeared to acknowledge this with a 600 million dollar green rebranding operation. But despite this rebrand, 98% of their business remained in oil and gas. Then in June this year, the “Beyond Petroluem” pretence was finally dropped when they slashed their renewables budget by half a billion pounds, closed down their alternative energy division – prompting its director to resign – and decided to invest in the dirtiest fossil fuel source on Earth – the Canadian Tar Sands. More about that in a moment.
Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute reports that to keep atmospheric CO2 concentration at a safe level, we can only afford to burn 20% of the fossil fuels we know about, and we certainly can’t afford to go looking for any more.
So if BP is asking where they can find more oil or how to make extraction techniques more viable and cost-effective, then they are asking the wrong question. The real question is: how can we
decarbonise the energy sector in the next 20 years, in line with the recommendations of the government’s independent Committee on Climate Change.
_________________________________________
Let’s just remind ourselves of what’s at stake here:
According to the Kofi Annan’s Global Humanitarian Forum 300,000 people a year are already dying from the effects of climate change. Advancing deserts and flooding caused by sea level rises could lead to the loss of a third of the world’s fertile land within your lifetime, resulting food riots, mass starvation, drought and water shortage beyond anything we have seen so far.
It has the potential to dwarf the death count of all the twentieth century’s wars, and produce 250 million climate refugees by the middle of the century. And more wars can be expected to result from the rush for resources like land and food in a deficit world. Meanwhile, a third of all species could be committed to extinction.
Climate change needs to be seen as the greatest moral issue of our age, and energy companies are major players who have a serious responsibility to address this – uncompromisingly and immediately. As the burning of fossil fuels results in CO2, there is a direct link between BP and the greatest problem humankind has ever faced. Climate change urgency has sparked a proliferation of ethical promises, but in BP’s case this has been little more than a PR tool to legitimise their continued profit from fossil fuels. According to the UN, the UK is responsible for 2.6% of global greenhouse gas emissions. BP is responsible for 5.6%.
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There is no clearer demonstration of BP’s determination to ignore the risks of climate change than their decision to invest in Canada’s Tar Sands. As conventional oil starts to run dry, companies like BP are scraping the bottom of the barrel by pursuing impure, hard-to-reach and even more polluting sources like the Tar Sands. Extracting oil from these sludgy deposits in the heart of Canada’s ancient forests produces three to five times as much greenhouse gas as conventional oil. Tar Sands development is turning once pristine stretches of forest into desolate, post-apocalyptic landscapes and producing toxic pollution that is harming the health and quality of life of the region’s indigenous First Nation communities. The Tar Sands are the biggest industrial development in the world, are the fastest source of deforestation and have left a hole the size of Florida in the Canadian wilderness. Every day, the extraction process uses enough gas to heat 3.2 million Canadian homes for an entire year. Yes, a year’s worth of gas for 3.2 million homes, every single day. The lakes of toxic waste sludge it produces are visible from space, and are leaching into local water supplies, causing high rates of rare cancers in indigenous communities nearby. Let me read you a quote from George Poitras, the former chief of the nearby Fort Chipewyan community: “We are convinced that these cancers are linked to the Tar Sands development on our doorstep. It is shortening our lives. That’s why we no longer call it ‘dirty oil’ but ‘bloody oil’. The blood of Fort Chipewyan people is on these companies’ hands.”
This is what BP mean when they say they are investing in “alternative energy”. I think it’s safe to say they’ve gone Back to Petroleum – in fact, they’ve gone further, into Bloody Petroleum.
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And it’s not just the Tar Sands: BP’s petroleum extraction is associated with poverty, militarization and local environmental degradation all around the world. Human Rights Watch details specific problems around BP’s operations in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and in Indonesia. In Alaska BP has been fined for fraud and environmental crimes relating to oil spills. BP has no compunction
about lending legitimacy to the Indonesian occupation in West Papua, where human rights groups estimate 100,000 have been killed by government forces. A large body of evidence has linked BP to the murder of Colombian trade unionists. However much BP may claim to be a “good” oil company, their profits from oil extraction are inevitably at the expense of local populations. If you are thinking about working for BP, you’ll have to consider whether such human rights abuses are something you want to be associated with.
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Oil was pivotal to our post-industrial development. It has shaped our history. But oil has had its day. The simple fact is that in the face of current problems we can no longer keep burning fossil fuels – and the world is waking up to this.
As graduates with a top quality education, you have the opportunity to be at the forefront of where we go next with our planet. If you want a career in energy, that’s great. But is BP really where you want to be? There are exciting up and coming companies out there with the emerging technologies that can really build our future. A career in oil and gas is a dead end. BP have gone Back to Petroleum, which means that BP Belongs in the Past.
Thames Valley Climate Action
oxford@climatecamp.org.uk
http://tvca.ox4.org
