Page 213 – Respect existence or expect resistance!

E.ON protests & actions – London (x3), Bristol, Norwich, Coventry (x2), Nottingham, Brighton & Kingsnorth

Pix-&-Vidz of E.ON F.OFF, Pall Mall, London – 28 Nov 08

Pix-&-Vidz of E.ON F.OFF, Pall Mall, London – 28 Nov 08

Greenwash Guerillas London Brigade, Detection Platoon #1, pay a protest-oriented visit to the London Office of filthy climate criminal corporation E.ON UK to confront a Short-Sighted Fat Cat and PR Pushers plugging ‘Clean Coal’ bullplop.

Climate Camp: How to make an E.ON F.OFF placard
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jbqngfkMZmU
Very useful and generally applicable method for placard & banner production using a projected image

Telling E.ON to Take its ‘Clean Coal’ Greenwash & F.OFF

At a time when the global climate crisis demands clean, renewable, energy generation solutions, a German energy transnational corporation called E.ON want to build a new filthy big coal powered electricity generating station [1] at Kingsnorth in north Kent [2]. All indications are that the UK ‘New’ Labour government will give them the go ahead, despite the fact that their own Environmental Audit Committee has recently called coal a ‘last resort, even with CCS’; where CCS = Carbon Capture & Storage, an unproven pipedream technology that won’t be available for 20 years at the earliest (or so says Alistair Darling, the industry itself and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

So building on the recent Mass Action Victory which scuppered E.ON’s UK graduate recruitment plan [3], a bevy of climate crisis protesters targeted E.ON UK’s London office at 100 Pall Mall [4] from 8:00 this morning. This is one of a number of decentralised protest actions arising from a call to ‘Take Back the Power’ through ’48 Hours of Action against E.ON and New Coal’ over Fri 28 and Sat 29 Nov 08 by:
▪ E.ON F.OFF – http://www.e-onf-off.org.uk
▪ Camp for Climate Action – http://climatecamp.org.uk
▪ Rising Tide – http://risingtide.org.uk
▪ Plane Stupid – http://www.planestupid.com
▪ Campaign against Climate Change – http://www.campaigncc.org

Footnotes

[1] E.ON’s proposed new filthy big coal powered electricity generating station – it will emit between 6 and 8 million tons of CO2 every year (equivalent to the annual emissions of Malawi’s 13 million people or more CO2 than Heathrow’s third runway would burn) source – http://www.e-onf-off.org.uk/why.html

[2] Kingsnorth in north Kent – http://tinyurl.com/KingsnorthCoal-map

[3] See ‘Mass Action Victory Scuppers E.ON’s UK Recruitment Plan’ – http://tinyurl.com/MAV-13-Nov-08

[4] E.ON UK’s London office at 100 Pall Mall – http://tinyurl.com/EON-LDN-map

All these photos and video clips are ‘CopyLeft’
This means you are free to copy and distribute any of my photos you find here, under the following license:
> Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License
> http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
> Accreditation: tim.dalinian.jones@googlemail.com

NB: These pix are edited and downsized versions (up to 640x640px, 0.39Mpx, 324 to 728 KB) for onscreen display. If you would like the free, edited, full-sized versions (up to 3072x2304px, 7.1Mpx, 1.0 to 2.9 MB) for print, poster, placard, banner, etc, please email your request to tim.dalinian.jones [at] googlemail.com quoting the picture title(s) you’d like.

—-

On Friday 28th November London Rising Tide visited the FA Headquarters to protest about E-on’s strive for new coal in the UK.

The FA cup is sponsored by E.on and a full team of Rising Tiders turned out to play football in T shirts bearing the names of the government’s proposed new coal fired powerstations.

Yellow and Red cards explaining the facts about dirty coal were handed out to staff leaving the headquarters and passing public.

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

—-

Students spoof natwest ads – 48hrs action on coal

In the 48 hours of action against e.on and new coal, South London students affliated with People and Planet use their photoshops skills and sense of fun to target Natwest’s investment in climate change.

Natwest, part of RBS, were given shiney new posters boasting their investment habbits to customers. We had a smashin time putting them up so print some out and have fun to. Also lots of stickering and fun with the space hijackers topshop swap shop – good day!

see www.oyalbankofscotland.com

—-

Bristol Rising Tide and activists from in and around Bristol had a day of shenanigans directed at the Royal Bank of Scotland, E-on and new coal.

The day started with a banner drop on one of the flyovers crossing the M32 motorway running into the city centre. Over lunchtime the main RBS branch in the city centre was picketed, with activists handing out forged £20 banknotes (see below) to passers-by and customers only to have an ‘RBS bank robber’ steal them back to give to E-on and the coal industry (see photo). A mock bank statemate was also distributed showing RBS’s investment in coal around the world set against the taxpayer funded bail out of the bank. The picket moved on to an E-on ‘Family Football’ event in the Broadmead shopping centre (see photo). Mid afternoon saw over 50 activists gathering in the city centre for a reclaim the streets party. The party, with mobile sound system roamed the city centre forcing the city centre branch of NatWest to close early and leaving the RBS branch unusable after a very messy cake fight!

http://risingtide.org.uk/bristol

—-

Norwich RT Spoof E.on Stall

29.11.2008
Today six activists from Norwich Rising Tide set up a spoof E.on stall on the Royal Bank of Scotland’s doorstep (RBS is one of E.on’s core sources of funding).

The spoof (despite all materials reading E.on F.off – including a table cloth, banner, t-shirts, leaflets, badges and stickers) fooled many of the public. Passers-by said things like “we don’t want to hear anything about E.on” and “I’m not a fan of E.on” (it really was amazing how hostile people were to E.on). Once they were informed that we were revealing the truth about E.on and Coal most then took a leaflet and badge.

In total we gave out 400 leaflets and undertook a questionnaire on behalf of E.on.
Results showed that …

50% of people didn’t know that E.on plans to build a new coal fired power station – they do now.
90% of people didn’t know that RBS will part funding it – again we made sure to inform them of this fact.
Lastly, 100% of people said they thought that coal fired power stations should be shut down and replaced with renewable energy sources.

We’ll pass on our findings to E.on as soon as possible!

norwich@risingtide.org.uk
http://www.risingtide.org.uk/norwich

—-

On Friday morning, Warwick University People and Planet held a demonstration at the UK headquarters of E-ON in Coventry. This was part of the national 48 hours against E-ON. The demonstration was attended by around 30 people, including a number from Coventry university and Leamington Rising Tide. The group left central campus at around midday and marched to E-ON HQ, chanting and drumming. The action was colourful and lively; entertainment included some carbon capture theatre and singing (see below). We also leafleted employees walking past. Spirits were high and strengthened by the knowledge of the other actions to come in the national 48 hours of actions.

Grace Kelly, EON

E.ON: I want to talk to you!
Protestor: The last time we talk, Mr E.ON, I reduced you to tears! I promise you, it might well happen again!

**Verse 1**

E.ON: Do I attract you?
Do I pollute you with my CO2?
Am I too dirty?
Am I too mirky?
Don’t I like what you like?

Protestor: You could be wholesome
But you’re still loathsome
I should stop being so shy

E.ON: Why don’t you like me?
Why don’t you like me?
Why are you making me cry?

**Pre-chorus**

Protestor: We tried to keep it all pretty,
Just a little banner or two,
But when your plans are so shitty,
There’s nothing else I could do!

**Chorus**

E.ON: I can be Brown
I can be blue
I can pollu-ute the sky
I can be hurtful
I can burn people!
I can burn anything I like!

Protestor: You gotta be green
Gotta be clean
Gotta be everything more!

E.ON: Why don’t you like me?

Why don’t you like me?

Protestor: Why don’t you walk out the door!

**Verse 2**

E.ON: How can I help it
How can I help it
How could I stop burning coal?
Coal is my baby
My little lady
I like to get in it’s hole.
Why don’t you buy me
Why don’t you buy me
Why don’t you buy CCS?
When old coal over
I’ll been much bolder
And still pollute nothing less.

**Pre-Chorus**

Protestor: We tried to keep it all pretty,
Just a little banner or two,
But when your plans are so shitty,
There’s nothing else I could do!

**Chorus**

E.ON: I can be Brown
I can be blue
I can pollu-ute the sky
I can be hurtful
I can burn people!
I can burn anything I like!

Protestor: You gotta be green
Gotta be clean
Gotta be everything more!

E.ON: Why don’t you like me?
Why don’t you like me?

Protestor: Why don’t you walk out the door!

**Bridge**

Protestor: Say what you want to satisfy yourself
But you only want what rich investors say that you should want
(should want)

**Chorus**

—-
1 December 2008
E-ON HQ occupied

Shortly after 9am two mini buses packed with Santas arrived outside their headquarters and a score of festive protesters armed with sacks of coal poured in to the building.

For a good half hour they toured the offices, really scoring a bullseye when they inadvertently crashed the boardroom where a full scale meeting was in progress. Even after security managed to clear the upper floors the huge reception area was occupied until well into the afternoon.

Outside security goons and police created a cordon and refused entry to dozens of visitors. Clearly a good number of meetings were postponed as a result.

The mood soured slightly towards the end and extra grumpy police were summoned to kill the festive spirit. After some jostling the spectre of Scrooge emerged and four were arrested, charges not known.

—-

Yesterday (1st December), activists from across the country staged the third demonstration against e.on’s headquarters in Coventry in eight days. Graham, e.on’s security boss for the day, bemoans the impact on the company…

Yesterday, activists from across the country staged the third demonstration against e.on’s headquarters in Coventry in eight days. Graham, e.on’s security boss for the day, bemoans the impact on the company.

We’d thought we had seen the end of the protests. The 48 hours of action that had been called was annoying enough, but that would be it. We’d taken down the Harris fencing around our headquarters and were waiting for just another days work running and planning to build coal-fired power stations. Before we knew it two van loads of people dressed in Santa Clause costumes with “e.on f.off” emblazoned on them, were unloading coal, scrambling on our building and generally running amok.

Just before 9am yesterday morning, about 15 managed to get inside the building bringing, they say, presents of coal, because apparently e.on has been very naughty this year – because we want to build a new coal fired power station in Kingsnorth and continuing to contribute to climate change. Outrageous. We are a decent, respectable company. Some managed to get to a boardroom meeting and dish out a lump of coal to all sitting there. Others got scarily close to the CEO’s office. Others engaged with staff on the large open plan office that made their voices heard by all. It took us a good hour to clear the pesky Santas from the building.

Meanwhile there was one unsuccessful attempt to scale part of the roof, but at the revolving doors at the main entrance, two were able to get up and hold up a banner. Several of those in the foyer glued onto side doors, while yet another Santa, found himself in the middle of the revolving doors, also glued on in the midst of a pile of coal bags with “Co2 al” printed on them. Later yet another Santa glued themselves to a barrier.

Some claimed to have be bringing the mystical solution of “carbon capture and storage” – coal left as it is.

We had to lock the entire building down, forbid staff from leaving, and turned away loads of visitors that were arriving, it being a busy day for us. This despite us having already introduced various security measures such as new turnstiles – maybe next time we’ll have them locked so the protestors cannot simply walk through them to the open office.

I can tell you that e.on are deeply unhappy at being made a fool of so comprehensively yet again. On the day that Lord Turner released his report that the government would fail dramatically to reach its CO2 reduction targets if e.on are allowed to build a new power station at Kingsnorth before controversial carbon capture and storage technologies have been developed. The protests made Radio 4 headline news at mid-day, much of the local media and other press. There were at least four cameras from mainstream media while a number of other independent photojournalists were also there to make sure it was properly covered. The bosses are not happy, and the protestors got some good images.

My staff, from Initial Rentokil, were not enthusiastic about how they had been made to look like bumbling idiots. They need to calm down a bit and stop kneeling on people’s necks because they have been defied. Some of them were not helping their bosses by being rude to the BBC cameraman and other media. They strutted up and down like lost penguins, trying to shove people around and shoving cameras in to the faces of the Santa Clauses – though they all got waves back. We had to seem important by telling staff in the canteen that they were not allowed to look at the protestors – the top brass were getting jumpy by then.

Some of my security need to think as well, it seems. Wasn’t the brightest thing to say that protestors were fine to stay at the main door. Nor was telling the protestors on the roof of the door that they could not attach the banner to the wall because e.on would not be able to get it down.

If all that was not enough bumbling, in a deft movement, the Santa Claus’s realised that the staff had not locked the revolving door and used the fact to get a half-dozen back in to the building were they ran around singing altered Christmas hymn about no new coal. Loads of more images for the waiting press, including them congo’ing through our main foyer.

Eventually they released themselves, and proceeded to leave. West Midlands police were there, and had kept a pretty useless, low profile throughout the day. Now, at the request of our boss they decided to do something. They were very low on numbers and clearly were not up for removing the actual protest, despite the fact the protestors were clearly peaceful and mostly singing their silly songs. The police tried to form a line to stop them leave but their public order training was woefully bad and kept letting them escape through despite the fact they were carrying sacks of coal.

A number were seized and arrested; though some were let go because the police were little better than our security guards in terms of knowing what they were doing. Four ended up going to the cells, of which two have been released. They rest sailed away.

All in all, quite a bad day for us here at e.on. We’re going to have to rethink our entire security plan, having been comprehensively embarrassed. The bosses are fuming at having e.on’s reputation yet again dragged through the mud, and it is clear that the campaign against us is not going to fade away.

By the way, there is a load of email addresses for our various companies at http://www.eon.com/en/infoservice/3027.jsp

Hopefully we’ll not see more protestors soon.

Another report, photos of police cordoning Father Christmases, and videos
—-

As part of 48 hours of nationwide action against E.ON, called for by the Camp for Climate Action, Rising Tide, Plane Stupid and Campaign against Climate Change, Nottingham students called a demonstration outside E.ON’s city centre offices (Mount St, NG1 6PG)

They met at 11.45 in front of the the town hall in Market Square on Friday 27th Nov. Then moved over to the offices at 12pm to flyer and protest about E.ON’s plans to build a new coal fired power station at Kingsnorth in Kent, a venture that will wreck any serious plans to cut carbon emissions and protect the planet and its’ population from the most disastrous effects of climate change.

The policing and security arrangements seemed a little excessive to me, to manage 10 students and fluffy toy!

Why target EON and Kingsnorth?

The proposed power station will emit between 6 and 8 million tons of CO2 every year, and is just the first in a plan to build up to seven new coal fired power stations. This will wreck the UK’s chances of meeting its own target of an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.

Climate change isn’t about warmer summers, here in the UK. It’s about serious changes that will cost millions of people (particularly those that are the worst off and living precariously) their livelihoods and lives. If we can stop E.ON, other companies will be discouraged from risking similar plans, and we will send the strong message that the energy crisis needs to be tackled positively, implementing the solutions that will get us off fossil fuels.

E.ON’s proposed new big coal powered electricity generating station – it will emit between 6 and 8 million tons of CO2 every year (equivalent to the annual emissions of Malawi’s 13 million people or more CO2 than Heathrow’s third runway would burn) source – http://www.e-onf-off.org.uk/why.html

Kingsnorth in north Kent – http://tinyurl.com/KingsnorthCoal-map

For photos of the FIT surveillance again in Nottingham, see also https://indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/11/413951.html

and ….. earlier Nottingham action on the subject:

Nottingham Spring into Action :: Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/04/367714.html
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/04/367736.html
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/04/367757.html

‘Clean’ Coal On Trial [Feature] inc Ratcliffe case court reports
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2008/01/389386.html

Fossil Fools Blockade E.On Offices in Nottingham : Pictures 1
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2008/04/395382.html

Fossil Fools Blockade E.On Offices in Nottingham : Pictures 2
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2008/04/395403.html

Fossil Fools Blockade E.On Offices Surveillance and Specialist Equipment
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2008/04/395429.html

—-

Brighton – 28th
In Response the the 48 hours of action against Eon and new coal Brighton activists staged 2 actions over the 48 hours. The first action on Friday 28th Activists staged a demonstration outside the Royal Bank of Scotland with a large banner saying ‘RBS and EON fund Climate chaos’ With some subversive cleaning ladies attempting to Clean some coal but strangely to no avail – (Illustrating the unfeesability of ‘clean coal’). There was also alternative ‘banking advice’being offered to passers by, letting them know about RBS and its investments in EON and the building of a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth.

On the Saturday 29th
A stampede of endangered animals decended on Brighton Town centre handing out flyers to raise awareness about EON and its plans to build at Kingsnorth. In the middle of the large shopping centre forecourt the animals staged a dramatic ‘die-in’. With bewildered shoppers and security guards crowding round this tragic scene, Mother earth herself addressed the crowd and explained what might happen to the animal kingdom and the human one if EON and other Coal hungry companies were allowed to have their way and wreak climate havoc!

—-

Kingsnorth action coverage – “Intruder enters E.ON power station and switches off 2% of UK supplies”

SOLIDARITY WITH MIGRANT WORKERS: DEMO AT AMEY HQ, OXFORD: MON 8TH DEC

SOLIDARITY WITH SACKED MIGRANT WORKERS 8/12/08

On Monday the 8th December at 11.00am there will be a noisy demo outside
Amey PLC’s Corporate HQ in Oxford (address below)called by the Campaign
Against Immigration Controls, and The No Borders Network

In September this year 5 migrant cleaners were sacked by Amey Plc for “bringing the company into disrepute”.

SOLIDARITY WITH SACKED MIGRANT WORKERS 8/12/08

In September this year 5 migrant cleaners were sacked by Amey Plc for “bringing the company into disrepute”.

(Those of you with long memories may remember Amey as the contractor for Whatley Quarry way back when in 1996.)

How were they damaging the company image? By belonging to a Trade Union and telling other staff at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in London where they work what was happening to them. Since them they have had their appeal against dismissal rejected.

Background:

Julio (one of the sacked cleaners) recently described how Amey were contracted by the National Physical Laboratory to do the cleaning work. Originally there were 36 Latin American cleaners. When Amey took over the contract at NPL the cleaners were paid £7.10 per hour. The company were surprised at this rate of pay and so attempted to get rid of those workers contracted at this rate of pay.

Their first act was to reduce the levels of staffing. When the workers resisted the company responded using intimidation. On one occasion the workers were invited to a health and safety training session. Once in the room 60 police and immigration officers entered. Some of the workers did not have the papers needed to work and have since been deported.

But this did not deter the other workers who knew their rights and continued to show a tremendous spirit of solidarity and courage.

No Borders Groups from Bristol,Oxford,London & South Wales are attending. It would be great see other groups and individuals there.

Transport is available from Bristol. E-mail: bristolnoborders@riseup.net

About The Campaign Against Immigration Controls:

Immigration controls are a weapon against the whole work force. They divide us and are a tool of discipline the workforce. If there are workers with less right or no rights, this undermines the position of workers as a whole. The answer must be to oppose immigration controls. EQUAL RIGHTS ARE IN THE INTERESTS OF ALL WORKERS!

http://caic.org.uk/

About The No Borders Network:

No Borders is a network of groups struggling for the freedom of movement for all and an end to all migration controls. We call for a radical movement against the system of control, dividing us into citizens and non-citizens.

/www.noborders.org.uk

Amey
The Sherard Building
Oxford Science Park
Edmund Halley Road
Oxford
OX4 4DQ

“I got a letter from the government the other day, I opened and read it, it said they were suckers” Chuck D

Telmex phone booths sabotaged in Mexico City

Communiques from the 96 phone booths sabotaged in four separate actions by the eco-anarchist cell for direct attack, the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the Luddites Against the Domestication of Wild Nature (LCDNS);

“During four days last week 37 telephone receivers of public telephones belonging to the ‘telmex’ phone company in Mexico City were cut (with the help of bolt cutters and wire cutters), leaving the phones unusable.
Telmex, in addition to being responsible for the destruction of the planet, also financially supports, directly and with advertising, sadistic bullfights.
The sabotage continues … it will not stop …

arm your desires … do not let the moment pass …

until the exploitation ends.

eco-anarchist cell for direct attack.

mexico city 31 october 2008″

—————————-

“Inspired by the action on October 31 in Mexico City, we have likewise sabotaged 25 phone booths of the Telmex company.

Frente de Liberación de la Tierra [Earth Liberation Front]”

—————————-

“Sabotage to 4 telmex telephones.

On Saturday, November 8, with the means within our reach we sabotaged 4 public telephones belonging to the super millionaire Carlos Slim and his business telmex. Telmex not only financially supports bullfights, but is also one of the major destroyers of the planet.
These sabotages will not stop… until the end of exploitation of flora and fauna.
For animal liberation… commitment and direct action…

eco-anarchist cell for direct attack.

mexico city (d.f.) november 9, 2008″

—————————-

November 12:

The company that destroys the earth and its inhabitants, Telmex, received a new attack from the Luddites Against the Domestication of Wild Nature (LCDNS); at night we sabotaged 30 telephones, tearing them from their respective booths.

The sabotage against Telmex will not stop until civilization falls.

We are the stone in your shoes!

Revolution and insurrection, Mexico.”

—————————-

Source – www.directaction.info

NEW SOCIAL JUSTICE CENTRE IN BIRMINGHAM

24.11.2008
A new social centre is developing near Birmingham City Centre. Please come and get involved.

JUSTICE NOT CRISIS have moved on from their squatted Cllr John Lines homeless village, http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/21744
into the Firebird pub, on the local Benmore estate.

24.11.2008
A new social centre is developing near Birmingham City Centre. Please come and get involved.

JUSTICE NOT CRISIS have moved on from their squatted Cllr John Lines homeless village, http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/21744
into the Firebird pub, on the local Benmore estate.

The protest has become much more than a housing demonstration. “Its a response to the lack of youth provision, community provision and the lack of communal spaces for people to meet without the need to spend money.”

Since entering the pub the group has been cleaning up, inside and out, making it safe and secure. There is a cosy community space and the young people from the local area have been given their own space to do their own thing. They’ve brought in their own pool table and a sofa. They have also decorated the entrance during a grafitti workshop.

Free advice on debt, benefits and housing is being offered to local residents, a fireplace has been built from recycled materials found on-site and a library has been started.

The beginnings of a Social Centre are emerging from the initial Justice Not Crisis protest and the collaboration between the different groups involved. For more information on Social Centres go to; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_centre

We are still in the process of fixing up the space and anyone is welcome to come down and get involved.

Some of us will be at the film screening this Thursday at The Spotted Dog in Digbeth at 7.30pm, showing and talking about we’ve been up to.

For more info;
http://www.justicenotcrisis.wordpress.com

——-

Previous updates (since last report):

THE JOHN LINES HOMELESS VILLAGE FINDS NEW LOCATION

November 9, 2008
Following the granting of an eviction by Birmingham’s county court The Councillor john Lines Homeless Village has moved to a new site.

Following our live interview on BBC1’s The Politics Show campaigners form JUSTICE NOT CRISIS moved tents and belongings to a new site just 50m away. The old site has been cleaned up and the remaining few things will be removed tomorrow (Monday) before the bailiffs turn up SO NO BIG CLEAN UP EXPENSE councillor Lines.

The site is at the start for the Pershore Road (city end). Parking is available in Balsall Heath Road. Click here for a map.

——-

HOUSING DEMO MOVES TO A THIRD SITE

Posted on November 12, 2008
Having moves to a new site just yards from the original site we have now been told to move again. We didn’t want to cost the council any money be refusing and making the council pay for a bailiff so we have left the site.
Our new location is at the old Firebird Pub in Bellevue. We have chosen this site as the building has been empty for years, is vandalised daily and is an eyesore. The land could be used for social housing, community facilities, a business that could provide jobs, etc but the owners have left it empty and falling down.

Bellevue is almost opposite the old camps and can be reached by buses: 61,62, & 63 Bristol Road, 45 &47 Perhore Road or the 8A & 8C.

Click here for a map.

See top of story for more info.

——-

JNC CAMPAIGNER STABBED IN THROAT

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

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

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

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

Friday 28th November

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

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

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

Saturday 29th November

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shell to Sea / Rossport Solidarity Camp Update from Erris Co. Mayo. November 2009.

While Glengad and Shell issues have largely gone from the public eye, and indeed things have quietened down some what, that’s not to say that stuff hasn’t been going on, it just doesn’t always make the media.

The last few months have seen a few developments since the Solitaire left our shores.

* Shell have completely vacated the Glengad compound in the last few week or so. Unfortunately they haven’t done a wonderful job of cleaning up after themselves. Plenty of rubble was left behind on the beach from the causeway that they extended out to sea and then removed.

The “cliff” has been banked up with soft materials which don’t look too stable to me and will likely continue to be washed out by the rainwater. In the old compound itself large heaps of materials have been piled and netted over to prevent birds nesting? Strangely they have not attempted to net the re-banked cliff area, as they had before. Some of the old netting can be seen on the cliff top, intermeshed with the grass on top.

Their channel buoy markers have been washing ashore recently also, as they left these behind to. At the road entrance to the Glengad compound all the fencing and gates have gone (as it has around the whole site), to be replaced with regular cattle fencing and gates, having pulled out at this time of year the whole place is a bit of a mud bath.

* The road, left unfinished by Mayo County Council now Shell have pulled out, is already showing signs of deterioration, with potholes forming in the tarmac beside where the entrance gates to this compound stood. The Co.Co. have left the road as it stands from what I can see, without finishing the works, just loads of signs and bollards left around everywhere.

* Nov 10th last saw a procession along the Bellanaboy Road up to the main refinery gates, attended by about 50 local people carrying crosses with the names of the Ogoni 9, to mark the execution of Ken Sara Wiwa and 8 of his colleagues in 1995, the Nigerian activists who were executed by the Nigerian Military Dictatorship at the time, at Shell’s behest.

* The Garda presence is likewise down, but still tangible.

* After a meeting some time ago with a few ministers, the silence has been loud from the powers that be, despite their recent announcement of setting up some forum or dialogue with people involved in the Corrib Gas issue. However no one here has actually heard anything or been contacted about as of yet. Minister Eamon Ryan has admitted in the media that ‘mistakes were made’ but has refused to discuss the moving of the refinery or the appropriacy of a pipeline landfall at Glengad. “There will be no re-visiting of the consents / permissions already given to Shell”, he said. As usual the terms of reference are pre-set by the ‘authorities’ in order to avoid a fair and proper addressing of the issues.

* The AFRI hedge school a few weeks ago was really fantastic with some great people coming to have an input/speak including Dennis Halliday and other people who have been dealing with Shell in other countries.

The fight goes on.

Solid Energy Gets Coal for Christmas (New Zealand)

24 November 2008
Long-time environmental activists Mr and Mrs Santa Claus, were very roughly removed from Solid Energy’s Annual Meeting in Auckland today for attempting to bring attention to Solid Energy’s climate changing practices. The meeting was a publicity stunt. Solid Energy even said at the meeting that it is not likely to continue to have open meetings in the future.

Mr Claus delivered a sack of Coal to Solid Energy CEO Don Elder for his naughty behaviour this year and Mrs Claus aimed a home-cooked pie at his face. Don greedily accepted the coal, but unfortunately managed to deflect the pie.
Solid Energy is intent on staying in the fantasy world that the coal industry has created, where the myth of “Clean Coal” is a sensible solution to climate change. So members of the Save Happy Valley Coalition (SHVC) thought that perhaps what was needed was another fantasy character to help bring Solid Energy back to reality. However, not even Santa Claus himself could persuade CEO Don Elder of the obvious fact that coal is dirty.

Mr and Mrs Claus wanted to demonstrate their frustration at Solid Energy’s disregard for the future of the planet, their continued mining and export of coal, and their plans to turn the pristine wilderness of Happy Valley on the South Island’s West Coast into an open cast coal mine, killing critically endangered species including kiwi in the process. Mr and Mrs Clause are being personally effected by climate change as their homeland in the North Pole melts away before their very eyes. They will soon be added to the growing list of climate change refugees.

“Don Elder has been a very naughty boy again this year,” says SHVC spokesperson Santa Clause.

“He’s not getting any presents from me this year, just dirty, carbon-emitting coal, which unfortunately he has far too much of already!”

In fact, Don Elder was quit eager to accept the gift of coal from Santa, snatching it greedily from Santa’s hands.

After attempting to deliver some of her home baking to Solid Energy CEO Don Elder, which he wasn’t so keen on, Mrs Clause had this to say,

“Every year Don is told he needs to stop promoting fossil fuels that cook the climate, but he just won’t listen to reason. I thought maybe a nice, home-cooked pie to the face might be the kind of reasoning he would understand.”

SHVC chose to take a very light-hearted approach today to what is a in fact a very serious issue. The public knows the reality of climate change, and that coal is a dirty, polluting substance which we should be leaving in the ground rather than mining. Solid Energy would like to convince us that profit is more important than the future of the planet and that coal can somehow be clean. But sensible people know how ridiculous that sounds. Clean coal technologies are impractical and unproven. There is no such thing as clean coal.

http://www.savehappyvalley.org.nz

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Please spread far and wide…

DISCLAIMER:

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

http://www.spacehijackers.org

============

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

============

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

============

Liverpool

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

============

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!

Chester Forest Rescue Camp Steps Up (Australia)

2008-11-23
Local and other community members campaigning to save over 800 hectares of rare, pristine forest in WA’s southwest have set up a tree platform and sustainable community camp in the Chester forest block after camping on nearby private property for the last few months. The move comes as the Forest Products Commission (FPC) starts to mark out Dieback infected areas and logging roads into the coupe. A callout has been made to all to get down and support the campaign.

After several months on private property near Margaret River, the Chester Forest Rescue Camp has moved into the forest as the logging date draws closer and the FPC begins to mark out logging areas and roads within the coup. A tree platform has been erected and a community camp set up on the edge of the coupe for what is expected to be an ongoing campaign to save over 800 hectares of a world recoginsed biodiversity hotspot.

Chester Forest Block is situated South of the Blackwood River in WA’s southwest, approximately 40km’s south-east from the town of Margaret River. It is comprised predominately of Jarrah and Marri(Redgum) woodland with seasonally wet lowland and a patch of Karri towards the middle of the coupe. There is a high number of threatened and priority endemic plant species (species that only occur within the local plant community) with Chester Forest having a very high degree of species richness. A large patch of forest within the coupe and surrounding Nature Reserve remains uninfected from Phytopthera dieback ( see http://www.dwg.org.au/index.cfm?objectid=2C607FE0-C09F-1F3C-C87C8B2114B042F3) which threatens to destroy and degrade much of the Forest. The FPC plans to log right in the middle of the uninfected, healthy forest. Logging the forest and all the disturbance that comes with it (Machinery, altered water flow, roads etc.) will only accelerate the spread of Dieback within Chester and surrounding pristine forest and woodland. Logging is expected to commence in early January.

With the effects of logging on Climate Change, increase salinity, and ecosystem collapse now well documented, and 85 percent of WA’s native forests already gone, it is unacceptable that native forests continue to be logged for tiny (sometime negative) profits for industry and government departments. It is now well known that our forests provide much more than just wood. They provide us with clean air, water, healthy soil and stable ecosystems to support life as we know it.

Come and join the campaign to save Chester Forest and build the community voice that is needed to stop the logging of our precious natural resources.

Get in touch with the Margaret River Environment Centre (Ph/fax. 9758 8078)
Or call 0422535328 for more info and directions to camp.
(a map will be posted soon for directions to camp)

Western Australian Forest Alliance
Global Warming Forest Group

A report from the No Borders network gathering

A report from No Borders gathering in Newcastle

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

A report from No Borders gathering in Newcastle

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

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

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

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

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

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