[risingtide] CLIMATE ACTION NEWS SHEET 70, AUGUST 2007
Rising Tide
info at risingtide.org.uk
Fri Aug 10 00:24:53 CEST 2007
CLIMATE ACTION NEWS SHEET 70, AUGUST 2007
Compiled and sent out by Rising Tide UK: info at risingtide.org.uk
To receive this News Sheet monthly, email news-subscribe at risingtide.org.uk
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CONTENTS:
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UPCOMING ACTIONS AND EVENTS:
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1) THE CAMP FOR CLIMATE ACTION IS HERE - 14-21.8.07
2) DUTCH/BELGIAN EARTH FIRST! GATHERING - 24-26.8.07
3) EMAIL YOUR CONCERNS ABOUT THE PIPELINE
4) EMAIL YOUR SUPPORT FOR ECO-VILLAGE PROJECT
5) ECOTOPIA IN PORTUGAL - 4-19.8.07
6) LAST STAND AT TARA, IRELAND
7) CITY OF EYSK (RUSSIA) AGAINST BLACK OIL - 7.8.07
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RECENT HAPPENINGS:
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1) RISING TIDE CAMPAIGN UPDATES - JULY 2007
2) ZERO CARBON BRITAIN IN TWO DECADES - Monday 9 JULY 2007
3) NEW REPORTS REVEAL BIOFUEL IMPACT - JULY 2007
4) AIRPORT EXPANSION GROUNDED - JULY 2007
5) NATO DEFEATED BY EARTH FIRST! IN THE NETHERLANDS - 18.7.07
6) ROSSPORT / SHELL TO SEA UPDATES - JULY 2007
7) CRITICAL MASS BIKE RIDES AUGUST UPDATE
8) SHELL THREATENS LAST WESTERN GREY WHALES RUSSIA, 3.7.07
9) "SAVING ICELAND" BLOCKADES CENTURY SMELTER - 19.7.07
10) CUT THE CARBON MARCH JULY-OCTOBER 2007
11) HOW TO PARTY WITHOUT FOOTPRINTS 14.6.07
12) SUV STUCK IN STUCCO, USA 20.7.07
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UPCOMING ACTIONS AND EVENTS:
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1) THE CAMP FOR CLIMATE ACTION IS HERE - 14-21.8.07
Injunction or no injunction, its going ahead: eight days of low-impact
living, debates, learning skills, and high-impact direct action tackling
the root causes of climate change.
The camp dates are drawing nearer and nearer and we're all desperate to
know where it will be... but we'll just have to wait a little longer! If
you get yourself to Staines railway station in West London by 10am on
Tuesday 14th August, you will be greeted by our friendly welcome team and
promptly transported via a magical mystery tour, to the camp. (There will
also be lifts to the camp later in the day and throughout the week.)
Mass direct actions will take place from midday to midday, 19-20th August.
www.climatecamp.org.uk
The US camps (August 8-14) are looking fantastic too - check out
www.climateconvergence.org
The USA Climate Convergences are in full swing this week (August 8-14) on
the East & West coast with over 200 workshops between them, and days of
action planned. The location for each camp has been strategically chosen
to work in solidarity with surrounding communities already fighting
climate-destroying industries.
http://www.climateconvergence.org/
* Download the Rising Tide North America Tour resource pack for trainers
and facilitators. Popular Education games, info, experiences and links to
resources for running climate workshops. This spring Rising Tide North
America spent four months touring the US & Canada. This pdf contains
step-by-step explanations of the games, exercises, topics & many of the
resources we used. It can be downloaded at:
http://risingtide.org.uk/pdfs/RTNAtour.pdf
2) DUTCH/BELGIAN EARTH FIRST! GATHERING - 24-26.8.07
A Dutch/Belgian climate gathering is being planned to start a few days
after ours ends. http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/dutch_flyer_en.gif
For more info visit www.groenfront.nl or send an email to
2007 at groenfront.nl with your own workshop suggestions.
So, we've got a continuous month of climate camping from August 8-26, AND
it's just been announced that activists in Australia have started planning
a Climate Camp for summer 2008 See
http://www.climateimc.org/en/announcements/2007/07/09/aust-climate-camp-2008-initial-planning-meeting-july-23
3) EMAIL YOUR CONCERNS ABOUT THE WELSH GAS PIPELINE
Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Wales,does not think there are safety
concerns over the 200 mile long LNG pipeline. Please leave a comment and
encourage others to do so as well: www.fightthepipe.co.uk/
4) EMAIL YOUR SUPPORT FOR ECO-VILLAGE PROJECT - 13/07/07
The Lammas group are aiming to create an ecovillage in Pembrokeshire which
will become a demonstration model for low impact living. They are working
in partnership with Pembrokeshire County Council, but recently there has
been some opposition to the project. They are asking for anyone who cares
that there should be a flagship project of this sort in the UK to write in
support of the group.
www.lammas.org.uk
5) ECOTOPIA IN PORTUGAL - AUGUST 4-19 2007
Ecotopia is a two-week activist camp and an open event for everyone
interested in environmental and social justice issues. This year Ecotopia
will take place between 4-19 August in Aljezur in the south of Portugal.
European activist gatherings (Ecotopia, Portugal 4-19 Aug & ASEED
international activist camp, Bulgaria, 26-29 July)
6) LAST STAND AT TARA, IRELAND
A court case on this roadbuilding project is pending in the European
court, but the road company, aiming to save on much lost time and money,
has started a big push and has now reached the part of the route where a
gigantic woodhenge was unearthed during the excavation. The court case is
due mid-to-late August and The Henge is looking like the site of the last
stand. Help is needed!
www.savetara.com
7) CITY OF EYSK (RUSSIA) AGAINST BLACK OIL - 7.8.07
People and Authorities of City of Eysk Speak Out Against Black Oil Terminal
Environmental Watch on North Caucasus; www.seu.ru
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RECENT HAPPENINGS:
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1) RISING TIDE CAMPAIGN UPDATE
a) RTUK had slots on Sky News and Al-Jazeera as a result of its support
for the Alive Earth alternative to Live Earth. Direct action and the
climate camp were emphasised,
and also that we believe in joy not hair-shirts...
b) David Madden from RTUK was on Radio 4s Analysis on 19.7.07, pointing
out that the theres an insanity at the heart of capitalism that makes
direct action to dismantle it more sensible than petitioning governments
and corporations.
c) As of May 2007, following discussions at our 2007 national gathering,
RTUK has adopted the Peoples Global Action Hallmarks. Peoples Global
Action (PGA) is a network for spreading information and coordinating
actions between grassroots movements around the world. These diverse
groups share the same opposition to capitalism, and commitment to direct
action and civil disobedience as the most effective form of struggle.
For more information about PGA, including history and organising principles;
http://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/index.html
d) We are also continuing to contact artists/judges/venues that are
involved with the oil companies' greenwash campaigns, (Shell Wildlife
Photographer of the Year, BP Portrait Award etc.)
www.artnotoil.org.uk
2) ZERO CARBON BRITAIN IN TWO DECADES - 9.7.07
The Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) today released
zerocarbonbritain, a blueprint for Britain to reduce its carbon emissions
from fossil fuels to zero by 2027. "zerocarbonbritain is scientifically
necessary, socially possible and technically achievable - we must now make
it politically thinkable."
www.zerocarbonbritain.com, http://www.cat.org.uk
3) NEW REPORTS REVEAL BIOFUEL IMPACT - JULY 2007
Two new reports reveal the serious impacts of biofuel monocultures on
climate, biodiversity, local communities and food sovereignty.
A report by GRAIN "No to the Agrofuels Craze" can be downloaded from
http://www.grain.org/nfg/?id=502
The other report, "Agrofuels - Towards a reality check in nine key areas"
can be downloaded from
http://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/docs/agrofuels_reality_check.pdf
Over 100 organisations from North and South are calling for a moratorium
on EU incentives for agrofuels, EU imports of agrofuels and EU agroenergy
monoculture. To sign, please email with "Signing Agrofuels Moratorium
Call" in the subject line. Please state whether you are signing as an
individual (give name and country) or on behalf of an organisation (give
organisation's name and country).
http://www.econexus.info
4) AIRPORT EXPANSION GROUNDED - JULY 2007
First Uttlesford Council ruled against the expansion at Stansted on
environmental grounds; then Luton Airport's owners dropped their plans in
the face of determined opposition from SLAP
(http://www.stoplutonairport.org). Warwick Council dismissed plans to
expand Coventry airport, and Birmingham got in on the action, shelving
expansion plans "indefinitely". Now it's the turn of Macclesfield Borough
Council, part-owners of Manchester Airport, to decide against unlimited
expansion.
Sir David Attenborough has added his voice to the aviation debate; "Each
of us in the UK is responsible for producing about 11 tonnes of CO2 each
year. We can try to make a difference by cutting down that figure. By
wasting less energy: Insulating our homes better, for example. By driving
more efficient cars. And by flying less often..." The Sun, 4th June 2007
www.planestupid.com
5) NATO DEFEATED BY EARTH FIRST! IN THE NETHERLANDS - 18.7.07
For two years GroenFront! - Dutch & Belgian EarthFirst! - have been
fighting with the local community in Schinveld, in the southeast of the
country, to preserve a forest that would be destroyed for the sake of the
NATO airforce base across the German border. On July 18th the Dutch
highest administrative court ruled that the logging of Schiveld forest is
illegal.
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/3058
6) ROSSPORT/SHELL TO SEA UPDATES - JULY 2007
"The injustice of the incarceration of three men with no previous
convictions, based on a prosecution case with no evidence, has seen the
Shell to Sea campaign once again revitalised." Following the jailing of
local fishermen, two successful pickets have held up operations at
Bellanaboy. Also, on the evening of 13.7.07 around one hundred people
broke through the gates and took control of the Shell site.
On 23/7/07 Rossport Solidarity Camp temporarily thwarted Mayo Co.
Councils attempt to secure a permanent injunction. Judge Harvey Kenny
adjourned the case to Tuesday 31st of July to give members of the camp
time to seek legal advice. However the threat of eviction remains.
www.shelltosea.com, www.indymedia.ie/mayo
7) CRITICAL MASS BIKE RIDES AUGUST UPDATE
a) Manchester - Despite all the students being away for the summer there
was still a good turnout of around 30-40 people.
Future critical mass dates are:
31st August / 28th September / 26th October / 30th November / 28th
December. Meet Manchester Central Library at 6pm
http://www.myspace.com/mcrcriticalmass
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=597661675&ref=mf
b) London - 29th June. Several hundred cyclists enjoyed a fun ride through
the City and Holborn and managed to stay dry the whole way through!
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/06/374738.html)
c) Edinburgh: It went pretty well. Around 50 people. Considerably more
than last month.
d) Glasgow got the sun and a ride out to the West End.
e) The Cut the Carbon Cyclecade organised on Saturday 30th June by
Sheffield Campaign Against Climate Change attracted 40 cyclists to a rally
in Barkers Pool.
8) SHELL THREATENS LAST WESTERN GREY WHALES 3.7.07
"Noise pollution from a gas and oil project in the Russia Far East is the
likely cause behind critically endangered western gray whales abandoning
their only known feeding area".
The installation of a platform by Sakhalin Energy at Shells Sakhalin II
project site resulted in constant, high noise levels underwater for over
two days. The whales, which were normally seen feeding adjacent to the
shore, have disappeared.
"Shell has been warned by experts of the need to limit both the duration
and level of noise, but the company will not let protecting the whales
interfere with its construction schedule" said James Leaton, WWFs Oil and
Gas Policy Advisor.
www.wwf.org.uk
9) "SAVING ICELAND" BLOCKADES CENTURY SMELTER - 19.7.07
This was Saving Iceland's latest action as part of the Summer of
Resistance to the aluminium industry in Iceland (which is a major
contributor to Icelands greenhouse emissions).
http://www.savingiceland.org
10) CUT THE CARBON MARCH JULY-OCTOBER 2007
On Saturday 14 July, the international development agency Christian Aid
launched the longest ever UK protest march as part of its Climate Changed
campaign.
The Cut the Carbon March is an 11 week 1,000 mile trek across the UK
starting in Northern Ireland and ending in London on 2 October 2007. The
walkers will also be asking people to sign a petition for the Prime
Minister Gordon Brown calling for:
A law to make UK companies declare their CO2 emissions
A new UN climate agreement to be negotiated at the Bali conference,
December 2007
The petition can be signed by texting CUT to 84880.
http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=10255
11) HOW TO PARTY WITHOUT FOOTPRINTS 14.6.07
A new text giving explanations of Climate Change, personal Carbon
Footprints and ideas on how we might cut our emissions has been produced
with the help of the Spanish Can Pascual social centre in the Catalan
countryside.
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/3039
12) SUV STUCK IN STUCCO WASHINGTON, USA
Bruce Wilkinson, a student at Evergreen State College in Washington, USA,
ecently gave up his SUV by encasing it in stucco as part of an activist
art piece in the school parking lot where it will remain for the
foreseeable future. The second part of this project is to get others to do
similar acts in other parking lots around the US...parking lots,
motorways, bridges...ah, the possibilities!
http://autovoid.blogspot.com/
The piece is now also part of Art Not Oils 2007 online gallery, at
http://www.artnotoil.org.uk/gallery/v/gallery2007
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