If the climate were a school playground, we’d all have issues with power companies, mining companies and the Government - the obvious climate bullys, short on brains and big on breaking things. (Like the delicate balance of the earth’s climate, for instance.) But every now and again it pays to examine the conduct of the spectacle-wearing nerds of the climate playground who, in exchange for the protection (and cash) of the climate bullies, try and put a respectable veneer on their money-grabbing activities.
People like PR company Edelman, who would like you to believe that e.on are the new ecologically-minded saviours of the planet. So today, the nerds get their comeuppance, as the gang at Oxford Climate Action have been scampering around in and on top of their offices.
Edelman are the eeeeee-nor-mous public relations company that’s been busy cranking out green spin for e.on about the proposed new power station at Kingsnorth. Annoyed at this, several protestors gained access to the firm’s offices, while others outside climbed onto the roof to unfurl a banner reading “Edelman: Spinning The Climate Out Of Control.” Local MP John McDonnell also dropped by to lend support.
Debbie, who was at the protest, cut through the greenwash with this pithy statement:
“Coal is the dirtiest form of fossil fuel. Edelman are telling E-On to say that Carbon Capture and Storage can help. But CCS is an unproven technology and 20 years away at the earliest. We’re here to reclaim the PR machine for normal people who want to see real action on climate change not another dose of corporate greenwash”.
Edelman have a long record of working with dubious companies to brighten up their image, and e.on are only the latest. Go Oxford! we say, as the action continues to build the momentum for Climate Camp next month.
Thanks to Susan for this…
Wednesday, 11:32 by admin | 1 comment
An enormous wodge of coal links for you, on a Wednesday for a change…
Wednesday, 9:28 by admin | no discussion
Thanks to the kids at Climate Camp for this…
Protestors halt coal train at Newcastle, AU.
A summer of global climate protest: First of five global Climate Camps starts in Australia
Coal train and world’s largest coal port peacefully blockaded
London, 14 July 2008
For Immediate Release
As the G8 leaders fail to achieve any meaningful agreement on tackling
climate change, thousands of activists from Britain to Australia are
spearheading a radical approach to the issue. Inspired by previous Camps
for Climate Action at Drax and Heathrow, six “Climate Camps” are taking
place across the world throughout July and August in what is dubbed “the
Convergence for Climate Action”.
In the last few days the first camp was established at Newcastle,
Australia. Yesterday, people from the camp chained themselves to a
coal train, blocking access to Carrington coal terminal for most of the
day and costing the company an estimated 1.2 million US dollars.
Today, more climate camp activists are blocking work at the world’s
largest coal port at Kooragang.
The events in Australia will be followed by camps in Germany, the UK
and three across North America into late August. Each camp has the same
messages of education on climate change and direct action against some of
the major polluters and other climate criminals. Coal is a strong theme,
featuring as the principle target in a number of countries.
“We are running out of time,” said Lizbeth Halloran from Australia, where
hundreds of people have already gathered. “The G8 are making pitiful
noises and insulting our intelligence with their so-called targets. With
world leaders so clearly the puppets of the corporate profit motive, it is
ordinary people who have to put the brakes on climate change when nobody
else will.”
The camps share the same four key objectives: show sustainable
alternatives in action, share skills and knowledge, build a grassroots
movement against the root causes of climate change, and take direct
action, which is seen as a proportionate and necessary response to the
scale of the problem. There is also a recognition that there needs to be a
‘just transition’ to bring about an environmentally and socially
responsible society.
“Two years ago we started off as six hundred people in a field in
Yorkshire, but it sparked something massive worldwide,” stated Connor
O’Brien, a spokesperson from the UK’s Camp for Climate Action. “Now we
know that whatever we achieve in our local struggles this summer, they are
amplified by the achievements of the five other climate camps around the
world, the many more planned for next summer, and the year-round global
social movement that is both resisting runaway climate change caused by
the pursuit of economic growth at all costs, and building pathways to a
sustainable future.”
The camps bring together diverse elements of the anti-globalisation,
social justice and environmental movements, united by the recognition that
governments and corporations are part of the problem and therefore cannot
be part of the solution. As well as taking direct action against some of
the root causes, they seek to promote sustainable solutions to the
challenge of climate change.
From the gang at Climate Camp… see http://www.climatecamp.org.uk
Tuesday, 9:37 by admin | 1 comment
Opencast mining - big, bad and ugly.
While we’ve been getting excited about the protests against new coal that have been kicking off in the past few weeks, and getting ready for climate camp next month, it’s worth remembering that the coal industry continues to rumble on in the background - extracting, transporting and burning the most climate damaging of all the fossil fuels. Surely, we reckon, when you’re in a hole, you should just… stop digging?
There are 14 deep coal mines open in the UK at the moment, and 4 more planned. Deep coal mines are what you might traditionally think of when it comes to coal mining, but things have changed a bit these days. For the coal industry’s expansion plans, opencast is where it’s really at - there are 33 opencast mines in the UK at the moment, with 30 more in planning or development - a near doubling of mine sites.
Currently, 29% of the coal we use comes from the UK. While we’re generally in favour of local produce, we draw the line at coal. The Government, on the other hand, would like to see that figure go up. They’ve said that they want to “maximise economic recovery… from remaining coal reserves” - which as far as we can work out means digging it up, making power companies rich by letting them burn it, and messing up our chances of having a safe climate in the future. Oh well!
Why is opencast poised for such a huge expansion? Simply, because it’s the cheapest way to extract coal from the ground. Using enormous mechanised machines, a small number of workers can rip apart the landscape and get to the coal, meaning no need for expensive underground tunnels and shafts. Unfortunately, this makes opencast amazingly destructive to the environment around the mine, as well as a climate disaster. It also means that new mines usually provide very few jobs.
The government approved 10 new open cast mines in 2006 - including Ffos-y-Fran and Lodge House in Derbyshire, the site of which is currently being occupied by some active citizens who are busy stopping work from starting on site. Between 2000 and 2004 the Government also provided £220 million in subsidy to coal mines, and that money isn’t going to dry up any time soon.
The good news is that people are increasingly joining the dots between local and global, mines and coal power stations, how we choose to get our power and what kind of planet we are going to have to live on in twenty years. After all, it’s not like there aren’t plenty of good alternatives to coal.
Friday, 11:52 by admin | no discussion
Like this canary, we’d like to be your friend. These days, that means facebook. We realise that facebook is:
a) often quite annoying
and b) probably funded by the CIA
Despite this, we like you so much that we’ve gone and created a facebook ‘experience’ for you. Go to our facebook page and ‘become a fan’ of us. This will be amazing for our egos, and more importantly it will also let us let you know when interesting stuff is happening - stuff like exciting protest opportunities, interesting stuff on the site, the collapse of the West Antarctic ice shelf, that kind of thing.
And while you’re busy integrating your digital life, why not sign up for our RSS feed as well? You lucky people.
Love,
- The coal hole geeks
Tuesday, 17:45 by admin | 1 comment
Flying in the face of scientists who said it was unlikely to happen for at least twenty years, we’ve captured the best of this week’s carbon internet for you , and stored it in this blog post. Read it quick - There is a reasonable chance that it will leak out and destroy the planet.
- No smoke without Ire - civil disobedience on coal is growing in the UK. Really good overview from the Guardian, plus a diary from the Drax coal protestor.
- The Great Rebel Raft Regatta - Take to the high seas at climate camp. Probably madness, possibly inspired.
- Getting in bed with industry - Greenpeace US go undercover to infiltrate a coal conference. Actually, they sponsor a coal conference. Madness.
Friday, 8:56 by admin | no discussion
