Wednesday 22 October 2008

wake up, freak out - then get a grip

A good, simple yet non patronizing short film explaining climatic feedback systems.







Look for more information on wakeupfreakout.org


During the 2008 climate camp at kingsnorth, Unsustainable agrifuels were highlighted.
30 People from around the country blockaded the Vopak refinery in Essex.The video above explains a little about the problems with agrifeuls.

lock-on


Biofuels are driving climate change literally,instead of growing food to feed the millions in the world without a meal,large business is growing crops to make diesel!

Class, Climate Change and Clean Coal

1st November 2008, Newcastle, 11.30 -5.30

This all day conference has been organised by supporters of coal in reaction to the climate camp. We have agreed to participate in this important debate with Dave Douglass, Arthur Scargill and others.
http://www.rinf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3129

Dave Douglass report on climate camp with responses is here:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/08/407011.html

Another report on climate camp with responses is here:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/08/407061.html

"Clean Coal; never was there an oxymoron more dangerous"

Join the Camp for Climate Action
“Every striking worker gives up earning a living and puts his family in hardship for the greater good, for the principle, for a better future. We contend that this is the same principle.” Battle for the Trees, Merrick
The class struggle: "Must go on until the workers of the world organize as a class, take possession of the means of production, abolish the wage system, and live in harmony with the Earth." Preamble to the Constitution of the Industrial Workers of the World
Garment workers in Bangladesh are suffering from severe flooding as a consequence of Climate Change. Under the present system, Corporations and States compete to exploit our labour and our natural resources. Capitalists choose profit over the welfare of the people. The land owning class use our land for industrial agriculture. The Camp for Climate Action is organized without hierarchy, with neighborhoods governing themselves. This model of self government has its history in the workers industrial unions.
The 2008 Camp for Climate Action is to be held near to the proposed site for a new coal fired power station. E-on, the company that wants to build the power station has stated that it will be “Carbon Capture and Storage ready”. C.C.S is still in an early development stage and has not been used on such a large scale.
“The International Energy Agency (IEA) describes a “capture-ready” plant as one “which can be retrofitted with CO2 capture when the necessary regulatory or
economic drivers are in place”. This definition is broad enough to make any station theoretically “capture-ready”, and the term meaningless.” False Hope, Greenpeace
Workers in the Renewable Energy Industry, in the Nuclear Industry and in the Fossil Fuels Industry should organise ourselves together into one powerful, international union. We need to be free to debate our many disagreements and to act together on what we agree on because our strength is in our diversity.

Wednesday 1 October 2008

Film and disscusion

On the 9th of October at the Star and shadow cinema,byker, newcastle upon tyne. A film night to watch a few short films around climate change and discuss what action can be taken.
£4/3 or donations, free to asylum seekers.
see you there??

What next??

For a week in August 2008, at a camp near Kingsnorth power station, climate change activists worked together to live sustainably, learn new skills and take direct action against climate change. This camp did not happen in isolation there have been previous mobileisations in 2007 a camp was set up at Heathrow in oppostion to the building of a 3rd runway,in 2006 the first climate camp took place at Drax power station ( the U:ks largest single source of co2 ) In 2005 the G8 summit was staged in Gleneagles a camp was set up to oppose the G8'S(nations) domination of the people and planet.
What can we learn from these camp's? How can we work together locally and effectivley to tackle the huge issue of climate change?

The norths second black gold rush

The North East’s second Gold rush

The 2008 camp for climate action is to be held near to the proposed site for a new coal fired power station. E-on the company that wants to build the power station has stated that it will use a system called Carbon Capture and storage. C.C.S is still in an early development stage and has not been used on such a large scale. The power station will have to begin life without any c.c.s meaning mega-tons of unfiltered Co2 emissions’ heading into our atmosphere .

The climate camp(www.climatecamp.org.uk) at Kingsnorth in the Medway valley will highlight and take direct action against the black hole in the governments climate change policy. COAL.

Power stations like Eggbrough, Drax and Kingsnorth produce huge amounts of filthy emissions, drax alone produces approx 21 millions tones of Co2 per year.
All this coal has to come from somewhere and it would ‘seam’ the money men have set their greedy eyes on the north of England again.
U:k coal and the banks group have several planning application to surface mine/open cast across the North East.
*Bradley Co. Durham- 550 000 tonnes
*Park wall north Co. Durham- 1 275 000 tonnes
*potland burn Northumberland- 2 000 000 tonnes
*Shotton Northumberland- 3 000 000 tonnes
*An extension to the exsisting site at widdrington

In addition to these applications there is already one of the largest open cast sites in the U:K at Stobswood near Morpeth. Surface mining sites are also operating in Widdrington, Blagdon estate in Northumberland. Steadburns and stoney heap near to Consett Co. Durham.

In the case of shotton/cramlington planning application, Shotton is in an opencast constraint area which means that there is a presumption against Surface mining. Northumberland county council up held the constraint and re-jected the application. However the communities and local government secretary Hazel Blears M.P Stepped in and overruled the county council allowing the opencast operation to go ahead much to dismay of the local community
(www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2008/02/08/ministers-quizzed-on-opencast-policy-61634-20450633/ )
The potland burn site is also in a constraint area yet U:K coal has still lodged an application probably because they feel the political climate is in their favor.

As if the ecological destruction, industrial injuries/deaths and disruption to the community that opencast mining leaves behind Npower have stated that they have an imminent planning application to build a new coal fired power station in Blyth on the site of the existing power station. Construction is due to begin 2014 on the same timeline as Kingsnorth.
Whilst the focus is on the climate camp and Kingsnorth, the North of England and our resources are central to the U:K government and their capitalist bosses plans for a new generation of dirty power stations .
This new generation of coal fired power stations and the unacceptable mining practices that accompany them must be stopped.
One of the key features of the climate camp is direct action.
The Banks group have offices in West Cornforth near Ferryhill, U:K coal headoffices are in Doncaster’ leave it in the ground’ have began regular noise demos outside the offices.All opencastsites are easily accessable

Links and info:

www.climatecamp.org.uk
www.earthfirst.org.uk/leaveitinthrground
www.greenpeace.com
www.thecoalhole.org
www.indymedia.org.uk
www.banksdevlopments.com
www.ukcoal.com