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…
Climate Rush is a new campaign inspired by the actions of the Suffragettes 100 years ago, who showed that peaceful civil disobedience could inspire positive change. We are a diverse group of women and men who are determined to raise awareness of the biggest threat facing humanity today – that of Climate Change. We demand DEEDS NOT WORDS because individual choice alone cannot curb CO2 emissions if we are to stop runaway global warming.
We say: “No new coal – to avoid runaway climate…
Rajendra Pachauri, head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), remarked of US president Barack Obama on 11 March: “He is not going to say by 2020 I’m going to reduce emissions by 30%. He’ll have a revolution on his hands. He has to do it step by step.”
Within the mainstream, the kind of protest and turmoil that might be thrown up by a strict climate policy amounts to a “revolution”.
Frankly, we do need that kind of revolution. We need to force political…
Following Climate Camp Cymru in mid-August, Wales set up a neighbourhood at the Climate Camp in London. The first of the Wales crew arrived with our enormous marquee squeezed into a small camper van. After a battle with the elements we got the marquee pegged down and could set up to boil the kettle for a much-needed brew.
Other Wales Campers arrived once the site had been taken in a swoop. “Is this the right station?” we wondered, exiting Blackheath station. Surprised by the…
Founded in 2008, Workers’ Climate Action (WCA) is a direct action and solidarity network made up of socialists, anarchists and other class struggle activists involved in both the environmental and labour movements.
We must move our economy away from fossil fuels – but in a “Just Transition”: the costs of changes in employment and economic activity should fall on those who can afford it, not on those who can’t. WCA stands for a worker-led just transition to a low-carbon economy and…
The most firmly held myth of our time is that no society can exist without a government and that we need the state to protect us – including from environmental destruction.
Let’s begin by not confusing two terms. Anarchy is the condition of a society without a ruler. Anarchism is a rich nineteenth-century political philosophy. Anarchists are not against democracy, they want to deepen it and make it our servant, not our master.
While it does reject the idea of governments…
Since Climate Action Scotland (see PN 2513), the camp at Mainshill Wood, site of a proposed opencast mine in Lanarkshire, has continued into its third month with the support of the local Community Council.
At the camp, Beth told me how the local community is particularly concerned about the cost of opencast coal mining to public health, in an area that already has three mines. There is evidence of strong linkage between opencast mining and asthma, as well as increased cancer rates…
Across the UK, companies are planning to cash in on a subsidy bonanza for electricity from burning biofuels. Producing one megawatt from biofuels such as palm oil attracts up to twice as many “green energy” subsidies (Renewable Obligation Certificates or ROCs) as gaining the same energy from onshore wind.
One company, Vogen Energy, applied for permission to build a vegetable oil power station in Newport, Pembrokeshire. Some 10,000 hectares of oil palm plantations would be required…
The Drax 29, who in June had obstructed a train carrying 1,000 tonnes of coal to be burnt at Europe’s largest coal-fired power station, were sentenced on 4 September. Five activists who had previous convictions were given 60 hours’ community service each, and three were ordered to pay £1,000 in court costs. However, the remainder were all given conditional discharges.
Beth Stratford said she was “really relieved” at the verdict, “but Drax costs £3m [in damage to environment and…
