[risingtide] CLIMATE ACTION NEWS SHEET 84

Rising Tide info at risingtide.org.uk
Mon Nov 3 21:54:29 CET 2008


CLIMATE ACTION NEWS SHEET 84, OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2008
Compiled and sent out by Rising Tide UK.

To receive this News Sheet monthly, send an email to news-subscribe at
risingtide.org.uk with the subject line 'subscribe' (without the quotes
and replace at with @).

-------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIONS:
-------------------------
1) RBS, E.ON and Shell university recruitment tours, Oct/Nov 08
2) Climate Camp National Gathering, Bradford, 8/9.11.08
3) Remembering Ken Saro-Wiwa, 10.11.08
4) Shared Planet Conference, Birmingham, 21-23.11.08
5) 48 hours of action against E.On and new coal, 28/29.11.08
6) Buy Nothing Day, 29.11.08
7) National Climate March, 06.12.08
8) Earth First! Winter Moot, 6-8.02.09
9) Fossil Fools Day 2009, 01.04.09

----------------
RECENT HAPPENINGS:
----------------
1) Towards Copenhagen 2009 – the first global gathering, 13/14.09.08
2) Coal power station blockaded in Virginia, USA, 15.09.08
3) Rossport - Solitaire leaves Irish waters with no pipeline laid! 20.09.08
4) Flashmob against airport expansion a success! 23.09.08
5) Climate Camp policing condemned, 30.09.08 & 28.10.08
6) Boston (US) Rising Tide pay Citibank a visit, 7/10/08
7) Day of Action Against PacifiCorp dam, 10.10.08
8) Parliament rushed by climate activists, 13.10.08
9) Oxford students just say no to BP jobs, 14.10.08
10) Art Not Oil visit the NT and hoax boss Hytner, 15.10.08
11) Protesters disrupt European biofuels summit, 16.10.08
12) Scottish climate activists target Scottish First Minister, 16.10.08
13) Greenwash Guerrillas EDF Action, 22.10.08
14) Manchester students flashmob RBS and E.On recruitment stalls, 23.10.08
15) Barclays' coal investments targeted in Leamington Spa, 25.10.08
16) Protestors stop work at Shipley open-cast; Shipley Bodge court case
collapses, 27.10.08
17) The Rainbow Warrior goes to Kingsnorth, 29.10.08
18) Bristol University Death Fair
19) Conveyer belt lock-on stops Australian coal power station, 1.11.08

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

1) RBS, E.ON and Shell university recruitment tours, OCT/NOV 08
Climate criminals are recruiting now, in a University near you. Find out
when and where, as they have kindly posted their itineraries online.
www.makeitrbs.com/events/

www.shell.com/home/content/gbr/aboutshell/careers/students_and_graduates/calendar_of_events/calendar_of_events_30052008.html

www.eon-uk.com/Careers/Graduates/807.aspx

Stuck for a direct action idea? Check out Rising Tide’s “15 ways to topple
the Fossil Fuel Empire” on our website.

2) Climate Camp National Gathering, Bradford, 8/9.11.08
The next Climate Camp gathering will be in Bradford on the 8th and 9th
November. Come along and get involved.This month we will be in the fair
city of Bradford, based up at the student union. Food will be provided by
the delicious Treehouse Cafe and crash space will be nearby.

Large Group Facilitation Training
Seeds for Change are running a Large Group Facilitation Training for
Climate Campers on Friday November 7th in Leeds (just down the road from
the gathering in Bradford), 11AM to 5.30 PM. Please email
process at climatecamp.org.uk asap if you are interested.

3) Remembering Ken Saro-Wiwa, 10.11.08
Film screening and fundraiser at 7PM at LARC in London, 62 Fieldgate St,
E1 1ES. On the 13th anniversary of the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the
rest of the Ogoni 9 by the Nigerian state in 1995, with Shell in close
cahoots, we will be remembering what they fought for and what they  died
for. We'll also be hearing about the inspirational resistance  of people
around the world to Shell's unfortunately far from unique  brand of
destruction, duplicity and overall mayhem in the chase for ever-greater
profits. There will be film screenings of ‘Those Who Dance’ and 'Shadows
and Light: Oil, Power, and the Niger Delta', inspirational art on the
walls and food and drink. Funds raised will go towards Art Not Oil’s new
campaign against the Shell-sponsored Oedipus production currently running
at the National Theatre.

4) Shared Planet Conference, Birmingham, 21-23.11.08
The University of Birmingham - Shared Planet is the UK’s largest student
conference on world poverty, human rights and the environment. It brings
hundreds of students together for a weekend packed with big-name speakers,
skills and issue based workshops, debates, discussions, film and a massive
party! http://peopleandplanet.org/events/sharedplanet

5) 48 hours of action against E.On and new coal, 28/29.11.08

The UK Government is calling for an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by
2050, we are calling for 48 hours of action against E.ON and new coal NOW.
Join us in saying ‘No to New Coal’: get your friends together and plan an
action for your area. Go stickering, blockading, serving direct action
warning notices at supply chain premises, organise an awareness raising
talk, hang a banner, get creative on the streets, the options are endless.
Get together, get creative, and plan an action! For more information visit
- www.e-onf-off.org - where a list of potential targets, action ideas and
plenty of resources will follow shortly.

6) Buy Nothing Day, 29.11.08
Saturday November 29h 2008 is Buy Nothing Day. It's a day where you
challenge yourself to switch off from shopping and tune into life.
The rules are simple, for 24 hours you will detox from consumerism and
live without shopping. Anyone can take part provided they spend a day
without spending – better yet, get together with some friends and
challenge consumer culture directly!
www.buynothingday.co.uk

7) National Climate March, 06.12.08
March on Parliament to demand that the government acts on climate now! The
march this year goes to Parliament Square to demand that the government
act now on climate. The march will start at Speakers Corner, Hyde Park -
assemble 12 noon. The march will be preceeded by a climate protest bike
ride starting from Lincoln's Inn Fields at 10.30 am: see more here.  There
will be an After-Party in the Synergy Centre from 5.00 pm till late.!
www.campaigncc.org/index.shtml

8) Earth First! Winter Moot, 6-8.02.09
The Earth First! Winter Moot is a weekend to reflect on where we are as a
radical ecologist movement and on where we are going. The moot will be
about discussing strategy, strengthening the EF! network, security and
communications and action planning. A session is also reserved for
discussing a UK mobilisation for the UN climate conference in Copenhagen
late 2009. The moot will be held in Brighton (t.b.c.). Please check this
website nearer to the time for further details and email any items you
would like to add an item to the agenda to moot2009 at earthfirst.org.uk.
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/21557

9) Fossil Fools Day 2009, 01.04.09
Just in case you missed the news last month – Fossil Fools Day is back!
Whether you’ve been looking for a chance to dip a toe into the growing
climate action movement, or have had your kick-ass action planned since
last year, now is the time to do it – whatever it is. On April 1st, join
the global day of resistance and pull a prank that packs a punch. Call-out
now available on the website, so get spreading the word. Info and
resources will be posted on the website soon, and look out for leaflets to
distribute in December.
www.risingtide.org.uk/fossilfoolsday2009

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

1) Towards Copenhagen 2009 – the first global gathering, 13/14.09.08
The first social movements' meeting was from 13-14 September 2008, in a
free school in Norrberg, hosted by the Danish movement ClimaX
(klimax2009.org). There were about 100 people present from 21 countries
around the world, and mobilisatations towards December 2009 were well and
truly launched.  For the call to action, translations, and a personal
perspective on the meeting, see http://risingtide.org.uk/copenhagen. To
get involved, send an email to climate09-int-subscribe at list.riseup.net.

2) Coal power station blockaded in Virginia, USA, 15.09.08
At 6:00am on September 15 around 40 people blockaded the construction site
of Dominion Virginia's Wise County coal-fired power station. Eleven
protesters were arrested after four hours. Protesters locked their bodies
to eight large steel drums, two of which had operational solar panels
illuminating a banner that read "renewable jobs to renew Appalachia." In
addition, protesters held a 10'x30' banner, which said: "we demand a clean
energy future."

3) Rossport - Solitaire leaves Irish waters with no pipeline laid! 20.09.08
On Friday the 20th September, the pipe laying ship, the Solitaire, finally
left Irish waters. During the ship's time in Ireland, Shell failed to lay
any part of the offshore pipe line. The departure of the Solitaire is a
massive victory for the Shell to Sea campaign. Resistance in the past six
weeks has taken many different forms: fishermen preventing the ship's
access to the bay by refusing to move from her path, site invasions by
local people and the Rossport Solidarity Camp, numerous waterborne actions
to prevent work by supporters from other parts of Ireland and further
afield, national and international solidarity actions and finally, an 11
day hunger strike by local campaigner Maura Harrington, that continued
until the ship left Irish waters. The events of the last 6 weeks have
inspired not only those involved, but also many who witnessed them from
afar, new links and friendships have been forged and many lessons learned.
In the aftermath, the Shell to Sea campaign can clearly be seen to have
been revitalized, both locally and nationally. It is unclear when the ship
will attempt to return to Broadhaven Bay. It is possible it could still be
this year if repairs are quick and a suitable weather window appears, or
it may not be until next spring. However, while it may be uncertain
exactly when the ship will return, what is certain, is that it will meet
even greater opposition upon its next arrival. Come and be part of it! The
Rossport community is calling on people everywhere to put pressure on
Shell, Allseas (the company that owns the Solitaire) and Irish embassies
to demand that the Solitaire leaves Irish waters immediately.

4) Flashmob against airport expansion a success! 23.09.08
Over 100 campaigners staged a colourful flashmob against airport expansion
at midday today outside Manchester Town Hall. The group included London
campaigners opposed to the expansion of Heathrow. The flashmob was timed
to coincide with the Labour Party Conference. At 12.45 precisely the
campaigners stripped off to reveal red t-shirts with the words ‘Stop
Airport Expansion’ emblazoned across them. They then lay down to form the
words 'TAKE TRAINS' with their bodies. The protest marked the public
launch of the recently formed 'Stop Expansion at Manchester Airport'.

5) Climate Camp policing condemned, 30.09.08 & 28.10.08
A spokesman for Medway Trades Union Council said “We have decided to hold
an inquiry into the Policing of the Climate Camp because of our concern
over the level of policing and various incidents such as a policeman in
riot gear assaulting a protester with a riot shield, as shown on TV, and
other allegations including local campaigners being subjected to pepper
spray and a local councillor being pushed to the ground”

Also, in the House of Commons, MPs accused police of unnecessary
aggression towards climate campers. Home Office ministers were told that
officers "provoked violence against peaceful protesters" and even arrested
someone for "aggressively picking up litter".
www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/09/409732.htm

6)Boston (US) Rising Tide pay Citibank a visit, 7/10/08
Four activists chained themselves to the front entrance of the Citibank
branch in Harvard Square, Cambridge. The action started as a protest in
front of the Bank of America branch a block away before marching down the
street to Citibank, where the four activists had already chained
themselves to the front door, closing the bank for a period of time. Over
150 people attended the protest, while many more onlookers gathered in
Harvard Square. The action, using the tag-line “Not With Our Money”, was
intended to raise awareness of the connections between the current
financial crisis and the impending climate crisis. Both Bank of America
and Citi Bank are responsible for funding dirty coal power that harms the
environment, and engaging in predatory lending practices that are fueling
the foreclosure crisis and have left families in Boston homeless. Several
groups were involved with the protest including Rising Tide Boston and
Rainforest Action Network, both environmental justice groups, and City
Life/Vida Urbana, a tenants’ rights organization.

7)  Day of Action Against PacifiCorp dam, 10.10.08
A coalition of Klamath River Indian tribes, fishermen, conservationists
and local supporters (including Cascadia Rising Tide) ramped up their
campaign to remove four fish-killing dams on the river today when they
held a spirited protest in front of PacifiCorp’s headquarters in Portland.
The “Day of Action Against PacifiCorp” started off at 8:30 a.m. on
September 18th when local activists hung a banner proclaiming “Warren
Buffett Kills Salmon, Jobs and Communities” over Interstate-84 in
solidarity with the Tribes. Around 200 people converged in front of
PacifiCorp for a press conference. After the conference, 70 people
occupied the area in front of the headquarters, effectively shutting down
the front entrance to PacifiCorp as company staff locked the doors.

8) Parliament rushed by climate activists, 13.10.08
Demanding deeds not words from the government, 500 Climate Rushers
gathered in Parliament Square to celebrate 100 years to the day since the
Suffragettes rushed parliament demanding votes for women. After sharing
tea and cake on the lawn of Parliament Square, men and women dressed in
Edwardian garb became a little less civilised, and the doors of to
Parliament were locked as climate activists rushed the main entrance.
Although no one got in, the sounds of protesters striking the doors were
clearly audible from the inside.
www.climaterush.co.uk

9) Oxford students just say no to BP jobs, 14.10.08
Activists infiltrated an attempt by BP to woo Oxford graduates at a
top-notch hotel on October 14th. One interrupted the cheesy BP PR man’s
presentation as he claimed that he ‘loved the countryside’ - while putting
the gloss on oil and gas exploration, extraction and financing - to ask,
why then, has BP spent more on its green
sunflower rebranding than on its annual renewable energy budget? Activists
then gave their own presentation of BP’s activities around the world, why
major oil companies are counter-productive to climate change solutions,
and why any tempted graduates should reconsider their career options. A
member of Colombia Solidarity Campaign gave a first hand account of BP’s
complicity in environmental destruction, subverting peaceful social
movements and funding death squads. A moment of stunned silence was
followed by applause as the re-educated audience abandoned the shindig.

10)Art Not Oil visit the NT and hoax boss Hytner, 15.10.08
After a visit to the theatre (Darling!), arty climate activists cooked up
a letter claiming to be from NT boss Nicholas Hytner questioning the use
of oil sponsorship in the arts. The NT were none too pleased about this
and the ensuing row reached the letters pages of luvvie-weekly “The
Stage”(a first for the direct action movement?). Art not Oil ask: “We're
asking people if they're up for making an artwork of some kind as a
response This could be an image, song, film or poem to appear on our
website, or to be printed on a postcard or something similar. We're open
to ideas. (Unfortunately, we aren't able to pay for your work, but we have
no wish to possess it!) If this is of interest, we'd love to see it as
soon as possible, as 'Oedipus' runs until January 2009 only.”
www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/10/411200.html and
http://www.thestage.co.uk/features/feature.php/22157/chit-chat-hytner-miss-or-maybe-an-attack-

11) Protesters disrupt European biofuels summit, 16.10.08
On World Food Day, 16th October, activists from Action Against Agrofuels
disrupted the Biofuels Expo in Newark, one of the largest biofuel industry
conferences in Europe. Four banners were dropped, as protesters climbed
on the roof outside the main entrance and on a ledge inside the main
exhibition hall, where they remained for over three hours. Rape alarms
were set off across the exhibition centre. Banners read "Agrofuels for
cars and power plants worsen climate change", "Land-grabbing for agrofuels
causes hunger", "Agrofuels - a climate crime" and "Greenwashing hunger
and deforestation".  Separately, Leeds University students held a banner
and leafletting protest outside the conference.

12) Scottish climate activists target Scottish First Minister, 16.10.08
At 4am, residents from Clydebank, Paisley, Kirkliston and Cramond
peacefully set up a stereo and blasted aeroplane noise through the
entrance of the First Minister's private residency in Edinburgh. The
action stands as a protest 'dawn chorus' to highlight the experience of
living life in the shadow of a growing airport. Ironically, the stereo
caused 110 decibels of noise - the equivalent of a jumbo jet taking off. 
For half an hour about ten residents surrounded the building dressed in
bright pajamas, night caps, clutching teddybears, with ear defenders to
display the dangerous levels of noise pollution endured by their families
and communities. Their placards stated "It's time to wake up to the
impacts of aviation" and "have a taste of your own medicine".  The
residents took these steps to state loud and clear to the First Minister,
who holds ultimate say over the fate of the expansion plans, that he
cannot ignore any of the effects of airport expansion. These impacts
include dangerous noise levels, rising air pollution, climate change and
increasing economic uncertainty during the current credit crunch.

13) Greenwash Guerrillas EDF Action, 22.10.08
London Rising Tide's Greenwash Guerillas Brigade, Detection Platoon #1,
moved into action on Monday morning, 22 October, at 08:00 hours –
targeting energy corporation Électricité de France (EDF) at the central
London headquarters of their UK subsidiary EDF Energy. EDF has recently
bought out British Energy and have announced that they plan to build 4 new
nuclear power stations in the UK in the coming years. Inspired by our
counterparts in France demonstrating against new nuclear power, we chose
to target EDF's attempts to muscle in their FALSE nuclear solution to the
looming disaster of catastrophic climate chaos. Our action (consisting of
12 Greenwash Guerillas) highlighted the dangers of nuclear power to the
biosphere, humanity, and REAL renewable energy solutions.

14) Manchester students flashmob RBS and E.On Recruitment Stalls, 23.10.08
A busy careers fair at Manchester's GMex was interrupted yesterday by
several long whistle blasts. 30 or so protestors suddenly revealed their
yellow 'Leave it in the Ground' t-shirts and surrounded the Royal Bank of
Scotland stall, holding banners and chanting 'leave it in the ground!'. A
protestor then read some extracts from the excellent report "Cashing in on
Coal", which shows that RBS is a climate criminal, pouring money into new
fossil fuel extraction projects. The security guards eventually began
dragging protestors out so they didn't get a chance to visit the E.ON
stall. However the protest continued outside where people handed out
leaflets explaining how E.ON (with a fat loan from RBS) plans to build the
first new coal power station in the UK in 30 years, while security guards
repeatedly threatened to have them arrested for trespassing.

15) Barclays' coal investments targeted in Leamington Spa, 25.10.08
Leamington Rising Tide took aim at a town centre Barclays on Saturday 25
October 2008 in protest at the bank's heavy investment in dirty coal.
Banners, leaflets and balloons let people know that 'Barclays are fuelling
global warming'. One of the banners used an image of scales to demolish
the myth that Barclays cares about climate change: they invest a whopping
3,300 million invested in coal against 15 million in renewable tech on the
other. Over the last two years, Barclays has been involved in 17 separate
loans to the coal industry, and together with RBS and HSBC, has loaned $70
billion to E.ON alone.

16) Protestors stop work at Shipley open-cast; Shipley Bodge court case
collapses, 27.10.08
Protestors from Earth First! stopped work at an open-cast coal site for
over two hours – they ran onto the site and clambered on diggers & dumpers
and held out banners stopping the work safely. Some of the digger drivers
were very friendly and were glad to have a break as they work very long
shifts, from 7am-6:30 with only lunch & half hour breaks at 10 & 3. Today
work had not been able to start till 10 as nature was fighting its own
corner, with rain drowning the site, and it was stopped again at 1 for 3
hours due to the protest.

Meanwhile, the first court case arising from the eviction of Bodge House,
Shipley, where protesters occupied the site of the proposed open cast coal
mine from June until August, collapsed today after the prosecution
admitted that it didn't have the evidence to support its case. The crown
prosecutor asked for an adjournment, the defence objected, the district
judge agreed with the defence and dismissed the case. Let's hope the
others go the same way.

17) The Rainbow Warrior goes to Kingsnorth, 29.10.08
The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior led a peaceful armada of boats
down the Medway to Kingsnorth, and thirty campaigners, each carrying flags
from 30 nations, disembarked onto Kingsnorth's jetty. E.on's proposed new
plant would emit as much carbon dioxide as the world’s 30 least polluting
countries combined (hence the flags), dashing our chances of beating
climate change and spelling disaster for millions of families around the
world. Meanwhile, another group of volunteers - including two of the
Kingsnorth Six (recently cleared of criminal damage to Kingsnorth’s
smokestack using the defence of climate change) – occupied a small,
concrete, E.ON-owned island just next to the jetty until they were forced
to leave by a high court injunction.
http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/climate/vigil-ends-20081030

18) Bristohl Uni Death Fair, 29.10.08
This time it was the 4 horseman of the apocalypse (well, 2 of them) who
highlighted the reality behind the shiny facades of companies like E.On
and BAE Systems.
http://westsideclimateaction.wordpress.com

19) Conveyer belt lock-on stops Australian coal power station, 1.11.08
29 people from Rising Tide Australia have been arrested after a climate
change protest at Bayswater power station today. Four people attached
themselves to machinery, stopping the conveyor belts that carry coal to
Bayswater’s furnaces for six hours while 25 others occupied the coal
piles.
http://www.risingtide.org.au/node/802


-----------------
Rising Tide UK,
c/o 62 Fieldgate Street,
London E1 1ES
www.risingtide.org.uk
www.artnotoil.org.uk
www.fossilfoolsday.org
Tel: 07708 794665

See also the Camp for Climate Action (www.climatecamp.org.uk), Network for
Climate Action (www.networkforclimateaction.org.uk) and Climate Indymedia
(www.climateimc.org)




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