Climate change & climate action

Power company E.ON announced on 7 October that it would not go ahead with its planned coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth in Kent (for at least two years). It became clear on 11 October that airports operator BAA will not submit a planning application for a third runway at Heathrow airport before the next general election, will not sign binding third runway-related contracts before then, and will not fight for the additional runway if the Tories form the next administration.
The…

Okay, so there were two of them rather than one, but with just a little cargo netting and rope borrowed from friends, campaigners closed Ffos-y-Frân, Wales’ largest opencast coal mine on 23 September.

“Coal is the biggest cause of climate change, which according to the UN is already killing four hundred thousand people a year,” said David Jones, when he came down from his day-long vigil suspended above the mine’s only access road.

“And the real crime is that all this is…

With the Big Green Gathering cancelled at the last minute, a few Bicycology activists visited the Isle of Wight to support Vestas workers occupying their wind turbine factory to protest against its closure.

The workers were about 200 metres away with access to a large balcony. When we arrived, they were being effectively starved out by Vestas, surviving on one small evening meal. This was supplemented by whatever could be stuffed into tennis balls and thrown to them. About 1 in 20…

Members of the jury.
I’m going to try to summarise why we feel that we are not guilty, why we feel that what we did was right, despite the very proper laws against obstructing trains.

From what evidence we have been able to get across to you, with his honour’s indulgence, we hope that you can see that these facts [about coal and climate change] speak for themselves, and our actions, though harmful, were indeed necessary to try to stop a greater harm. And if you agree with that…

Between 3-10 August the first Camp for Climate Action was successfully held in Scotland. Climate Camp Scotland occupied Mainshill Wood, the site of a proposed new opencast coal mine. The location was chosen in solidarity with local residents who are outraged at the proposed development, and to support a tree-sit already set up in the area to resist the mine.

Why were we there?

Scottish Coal, the UK’s largest opencast producer, has been given permission to mine 1.7 million…

At the Drax Camp for Climate Action in 2006 a few Wales participants formed a neighbourhood with the West Country and West Midlands, the legendary - out West anyway – ‘Westside Hood’. By 2008 at Kingsnorth, Wales got together our own neighbourhood. This year Wales hosted Climate Camp Cymru (CCC) in Merthyr Tydfil, very near the notorious Ffos-y-Frân opencast coalmine. In tribute to the movement we are building, CCC was actively supported by the Westside Hood. In turn, CCC supported the hard…

Ed Miliband’s announcement that new coal power stations will only be permitted if 25% of their emissions are carbon-captured and stored hasn’t put a stop to the blossoming UK anti-coal movement – and rightly so, given the massive loopholes in the announcement.

Following the success of the Coal Caravan, which toured the north of England in April and May, five climate activists blockaded a coal conference at Chatham House on 1 June; the Surrey office of construction firm BAM Nuttall…

From 11 -14 June, Glasgow was host to an energised and growing movement for climate action. Around the country, people are talking about how climate change affects us and how the system we live in is doing nothing to slow the tide of climate chaos.

Despite government rhetoric, little has been done to address the problem and the time has come to take matters into our own hands.

“Boiling Over – Scotland’s Gathering for Climate Action” provided a space for thought, analysis,…

In Aberystwyth, on 14 June, activist choir Côr Gobaith joined Billy Bragg on stage in the protest singer’s own version of The Internationale. Bragg’s tour of Wales is to mark the 25th anniversary of the miners’ strike.

The Thatcher government of the 1980s enforced colliery closures that decimated mining communities throughout Britain, not least in Wales. At the time, songs sung by Bragg such as “Which Side Are You On?” and “There is Power in a Union” were rallying calls for…

Bethan Jenkins AM (Plaid Cymru) will meet with Assembly environment minister Jane Davidson to raise concerns on behalf of constituents and campaigners who fear new regulations on opencast mining may not be enough to protect the health and wellbeing of communities in Wales.

On 20 January, the Minister issued the Minerals Technical Advice Notes: Coal (Coal MTAN), which included the implementation of a 500-metre buffer zone for future opencast developments.

Campaigners and…

I liked the Transition books the moment I saw them – they are well-designed and produced, and look and feel great. In a way they mirror the Transition movement itself, rolling together a mass of related ideas into an attractive package that promises a way out of the looming dead end that is peak oil and climate change. So they look good and offer much, but do the books deliver? And can the Transition movement itself deliver on its promises?

The Handbook is split into three sections –…

b> We’ve decided to focus on carbon trading in the financial sector, a system of legal and financial support that the G20 leaders are giving to climate criminals, by targeting the European Climate Exchange (Bishopsgate, London) on 1 April.

Carbon trading, like the financial system that led to the current economic crisis, is characterised by incredibly complicated accounting procedures that very few people really understand. The European Climate Exchange is one of the world’s…

At around 11pm, despite all the problems with effective decision-making, those of us still at Climate Camp in Bishopsgate orchestrated a controlled retreat. By this point I was right up against the police line on the south end of the camp.
We were walking with our arms linked, being pushed by a line of police using their riot shields. They kept pushing us, but when we got as far as we’d agreed we sat down. Shortly afterwards, they tried pulling people out of the line – they didn’t…

The atmosphere when I arrived with most of the other campers at 12.30pm and throughout the day was excellent – there were workshops all afternoon, a working kitchen, compost toilets, a farmers market, music - samba, Céilidh, guitars, folk bands – a real carnival feel. The event was entirely peaceful all day with the police calm and friendly, some walking through the camp, at least one holding a daffodil and at least one seen hugging a protester!

At 7pm, the mood changed…

The clever young things at Plane Stupid recently came up with a great idea for forging closer links between environmental activists and concerned residents threatened by the proposed third runway at Heathrow. The idea was to twin residents up with existing affinity groups, and for each affinity group to support their resident in their fight against the new runway, ultimately helping them defend their homes if necessary.

To get the campaign off the ground, an initial group of activists…