Mayday Mayday: Invasion of the climate snatchers…: day of climate action [updated again; video added]

1.5.2008
London: at 07.45 this morning E.ON offices on Pall Mall were targeted by the new upstart Coal Cleaning Company as part of a nationally co-ordinated Day of Climate Action against False Capitalist Solutions.

Eon coal cleaning protest1.5.2008
London: at 07.45 this morning E.ON offices on Pall Mall were targeted by the new upstart Coal Cleaning Company as part of a nationally co-ordinated Day of Climate Action against False Capitalist Solutions.

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

FOR ONSITE INTERVIEWS AND UPDATES CONTACT : 07790 430 620

The Coal Cleaning Company launched their enterprise with E.ON as their first customer. According to the chatty cleaners, “There’s no mess too big! We make coal Fossil Fuel Fresh ™”.

The climate activists targeted E.ON for their promotion of ‘false capitalist solutions’ to climate change. E.ON is exploiting the idea of a future Carbon Capture and Storage system to justify building a new coal fired power station at Kingsnorth – where the utopia of low-impact living // education // high-impact direct action that is the Climate Camp will spring up this August.

CCS requires up to 40% more coal per unit of electricity than coal generation without CCS. So more coal needs to be burnt; increasing the overall pollution caused. It also neglects to address the wider problems of over consumption or deal with coal’s other social and environmental impacts.

The Coal Cleaning Company can be contacted on 07790 430 620 for onsite interviews and updates.

www.daysofclimateaction.org.uk 07880 937511 for national updates

www.climatecamp.org.uk

Video: Coal Cleaners at E.ON – video/mp4 29M
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RBS Banner Protest in York

People from groups across the city and both Universities took part in a banner protest outside Royal Bank of Scotland’s central branch in the city. Leaflets were handed out sumarising RBS’s climate crimes.

If the action was unimpressive in and of itself, then the fact we’ve finally broken the inertia around actions in York was probably a success in itself. The rain managed to hold off (only just) and even the passing cops had nothing whatsoever to say on the matter.

The action was held today because, well, its Mayday and its the day of action against False Capitalist Solutions, of which investment in new oil is perhaps the dimmest idea of the lot!

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Canada greenwash flier
Green Living show Inspected in Canada

Green Living show inspected and greenwash flyers handed out yesterday in Toronto Canada.

For pictures of the stalls on display with greenwash stickers, visit here

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Urban development sabotaged

The Earth and its inhabitants are being raped of their natural resources by the Corporate-State Complex. This is why for the Day of Climate Action we sabotaged this smooth operation in the early hours of April XX

Members of the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front joined forces to carry out an action against unnecessary urban development in the south-west. Ecoteurs broke into the construction site that is building yet another bridge for the transport of motorized vehicles. A 4×4 was found, paintstripped, all sides completely scarred, tyres damaged, whilst a truck and JCB had logos removed and sides stripped. The flawed concept of “building our way out of congestion” will no longer be tolerated at the expense of the rivers wildlife and £8 million of tax payers money spent on this project.

No Compromise in Defence of Mother Earth.

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INRA – French agricultural research – chalked about biofuels

The words AGRO-CARBURANTS = DANGER were chalked on the side of the French Agricultural Research institute, as were various cars throughout Paris.

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Sizewell Mayday Critical Mass

In support of the Mayday Climate Action Day, some people from Rising Tide and Earth First got together this Saturday for a Critical Mass to Sizewell nuclear power station to highlight that nuclear is not a solution to climate change.

We turned up at the meeting point – a train station in the tiny Suffolk village of Saxmundham – to be greeted by 15 police officers including some FIT from London. As we set out on a lovely sunny ride through the countryside, the extent of the over-the-top police operation became clear as we passed several unmarked cars full of FIT photographers, the entrance to Sizewell guarded by another twenty cops, and a further ten congregated at our end-point on Sizewell beach. All told we reckon there were fifty cops on hand to police our fun family day out to Sizewell. It was a great critical mass, a good time was had by all, and the local press seemed as bemused as we were by the ridiculousness of the police operation. Wonder if there are any red faces in police intelligence this weekend?

Why Sizewell on Mayday weekend?
This demo was part of a national weekend of action against false solutions to climate change. As climate change rises up the political agenda, a huge number of techno-fixes are forming a new economic sector: from biofuels to nuclear power, carbon-trading to hydrogen fuel cells, dumping urine in the ocean to carbon capture and storage. Everywhere corporations are seeking the elusive elixir which allows us to continue business as usual. All of these technologies are a distraction from the real solutions: a massive reduction in our consumption and the end to economic growth.

Let’s challenge these false solutions to climate chaos and show the real solution: far-reaching social change.

http://www.networkforclimateaction.org.uk

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E-on Coventry protest
On May 1st, Leamington Rising Tide visited the E.on headquarters at Westwood Business Park in Coventry to expose the truth behind E.on’s greenwash and show that carbon capture is a false solution to the problem of climate change.

E.on are planning to build a £1.5 bn extension to their coal fired plant in Kingsnorth. They justify this on the grounds that it will be ‘carbon capture ready’ even though the technology for carbon capture has yet to be invented and even when it does exist it will emit more pollutants trying to capture and store the carbon than if they just left the emissions unchecked. To protest against this, Leamington Rising Tide arrived at 8am to hand fliers to the workers.

Banners were erected reading “POLLUTE.ON NO MORE GREEN WASH”. There was juggling and a picnic outside the doors of the building as the protestors waited for a march of students from Warwick University People and Planet to arrive at 1.30. The marchers came with a replica model of the coal power station and a game of ‘catch the carbon’ with balloons and nets. The protesters gathered outside the building and then the sign outside was painted green to symbolise the e.ons greenwash and one protester occupied the roof of the building. The day was a great success with a positive, festive vibe and no arrests.