A great article posted in The Independent recently debated the best way to make progress on environmental issues and it seems that times are changing. The 1970’s saw a surge in the success of the Environmental Protests and Rallies; however there is an argument that ever since these successes, the achievement of protests and mass demonstrations has been in steady decline.
Given last December’s COP 15 debacle, there has never been more proof that our glorious leaders are not listening to us; that they cannot be trusted to act in our best environmental interests when they keep getting distracted by pretty shinning things like money and popularity and that they are no longer taking much notice of physical protests.
There is of course always the lobbying aspect, where campaign groups converge in the paperwork, littering MP’s desks with letters of concern, petitions for action and cluttering up their hard drives with online petitions and e-mails threatening not to vote…
The 1990’s saw a raise in more dramatic feats to get heard, with handfuls of the more adventurers, steadfast protestors scaling huge buildings, tying themselves to things often in fancy dress or taking up residency in trees or on sites of environmental interest.
Although I am being flippant in my descriptions, all of the above represent large swaths of people, action groups and protesters who feel incredibly strongly and are desperately trying to make a difference.
It seems that in 2010, with the rapidly gaining prevalence of groups such as Transition Towns, Transition Heathrow and 10:10, a new form of action is being put in motion. Not surprisingly given the disillusionment of environmentalists following Copenhagen, this new style of making change happen operates on an individual, grassroots level, cutting out government and attempts to change legislation and instead focusing on the reality of modern day living and the price we will all have to pay for it.
The Transition Towns movement is a superb example of this; having lost all hope that local government will lead the way, and acknowledging the fact that fossil fuels are a limited resource, the movement prepares communities for a low carbon future, gradually yet effectively weaning towns off of fossil fuel dependency through a united and conscientious approach.
So are the days of protest marches well and truly over? Certainly not, any positive action will always have its place, however since we can’t trust the government to make the difficult decisions for us, we will simply have to start making changes to our own lives, doing what little we can to make a difference and leading by example – who knows one day they might just catch on.
The UN Climate Change Conference was always going to be controversial and yesterdays disturbances have certainly come as no surprise. With news of demonstrators arrested and cars set on fire we can be forgiven for thinking things of already gotten out of hand. However, when reports confirm that one man was hurt by a stone and another injured by a firework you can’t help feeling that there’s more damage done on an average Friday night out. Therefore, nearly 1,000 arrests under contentious anti-hooligan laws seem somewhat excessive.
With tens of thousands of peaceful demonstrators flooding into Copenhagen, it can clearly only be a highly impassioned, more violent minority who are causing the trouble. Obviously this can’t be helping, but then people do feel incredibly strongly on this issue and with so much riding on Copenhagen it’s understandable that frustration levels are risings.
There seems to be mixed reactions to yesterday’s events with many people feeling that all the fuss in the news is purely a distraction from the real issues. There is also a school of thought that far more harmful to the climate struggle than the demonstrators, are secret closed door negotiations and the false hope the conference is giving, especially given the high profile delegates, without any actual definitive action agreed upon as yet. The conference continues until next Friday 18th December.
Following the diary posting on Greenmomentum for 24th October – International Day of Climate Action, I urge you to check out the 350.org website. The photographs are truly awesome and inspiring
Spurred on by the recent success of the Great Climate swoopers? Then next stop Copenhagen…
From 7th to 18th December, a climate summit will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark. This event is billed as the ‘largest ever to be held’ and ‘our last best hope’. Frustrated by the lack of progress Plane Stupid and their cohorts intend to make an appearance and their feelings known!
The intention is to take over the summit on December 16th and have their say, transforming the conference into a ‘Peoples Summit for Climate Justice’.
Since talks began 15 years ago there has been no evidence of a reduction in greenhouse gasses and emissions continue to steadily rise. So more of the same type of promises regurgitating out of Copenhagen simply aren’t going to have any credence – seen and heard it all before and more to the point, they just don’t work!
Environmentalists believe alternative changes should be made, such as:
• No fossil fuels
• Community control of resources
• relocalising food production
• reducing over consumption
• recognising and dealing with ecological and climate debt
• respecting indigenous and forest peoples’ rights
Why are these alternatives so impossible for the summit to consider, when they appear so potentially achievable? It’s time to change the system not the climate!
Further to the posting on 24th September 2009, we can report that the Great Climate Swoop protest at Ratcliffe went ahead on 19th October as planned and has been hailed as a ‘massive success’!
The Ratcliffe coal-fired power station in Nottinghamshire was the target for the environmental activists. The protesters gathered at various points on Saturday morning, broke through a perimeter fence within 5 minutes and swooped into the power plant in separate groups, thus achieving their aim.
About 300 protesters were present and police have confirmed reports that there were 3 people injured and that 50 arrests were made.
Demonstrators who were involved in the The Great Climate Swoop included supporters from; Climate Rush, Plane Stupid and Camp for Action. Their overall mission is to show that coal has no future and to take action, when and where possible, on issues climate change.
Climate change activists, such as: Camp for Climate Action, Plane Stupid, Climate Rush, Rising Tide and others have joined forces and as the result of an on-line public vote, have organised a mega pubic get together to close one of the UK’s biggest coal fired power stations: E.ON’s Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottingham
In the run up to Copenhagen, there is a mounting feeling of tension, which is spilling over into impressive calls for action. Growing numbers of people are feeling that it’s time to take action into their own hands as they become increasingly frustrated not to mention embarrassed by the extreme level of foot dragging going on in the UK over climate change – namely by the government and leading corporations.
The Great Climate Swoop openly recognizes the vital role coal has played in our nation’s past, however now it is time to take responsibility for our future. Burning coal is now the biggest single source of carbon emissions in the UK.
Although Drax is Europe’s biggest coal power station, and the UK’s largest source of carbon emissions, with a nod to the reality TV voting systems, the power station selected by thousands of interested parties for ‘Direct Action’ is Ratcliffe-on-Soar – the UK’s 3rd largest source of carbon emissions, with plans to build a controversial new coal plant at Kingsnorth.
The ‘Great Climate Swoop’ is planned for 17th and 18th October and will operate on the same basis as the G20 camp, which was deemed massively successful due to the fact that the protestors managed to set up camp completely avoiding police surveillance!
Apparently if all the commuters in England with a journey less than five miles went by bike rather than car or bus, the collective saving would be 44,000 tonnes of CO2! That’s the equivalent of emissions produced by heating nearly 17,000 houses and that’s just in the first week!!
Pedal power is big on the environmental agenda for reducing our carbon emissions, but it is also great for your health and your bank balance. Everybody stands to gain from increased participation in cycling, including local communities and society at large. That’s the motivation behind the Critical Mass movement which is sweeping the world and taking the UK by storm.
Critical Mass is an idea and an event, not an organization. Often described as an ‘unorganised coincidence’ it happens when a lot of cyclists happen to be in the same place at the same time and decide to cycle the same way together for a while. The Critical Mass campaign is designed as a celebration of the alternatives to cars, pollution, accidents and the loss of public spaces and freedoms.
Mass bike rides are taking place regularly up and down the country and around the world and most importantly they are all peaceful, safe and fun. There is even the occasional naked bike ride similar to the one held in Toronto on Sunday.
Critical Mass is not just for bikes – skateboards, roller blades, wheelchairs, pogo sticks – in fact any form of non-motorised, non-polluting transport are all very welcome!
Just in case you need any further incentive to get involved
Cycling for thirty minutes most days, combined with a reduced calorie intake, can achieve a weight loss equivalent to the reduction achieved by three weekly aerobics classes.
Cycling provides cardiovascular exercise without putting excess strain on the musculoskeletal system.
Regular exercise such as cycling is an important safeguard against health problems such as heart disease and cancer.
Unsurprisingly, improvement in cycling rates would have an impact on our purse-strings as well as as on our waistlines. In a study commissioned by Cycling England, it was calculated that a 20 per cent increase in cycling by 2015 would save £107 million in reducing premature deaths, £52 million in lowered NHS costs and £87 million by shrinking absences from work.
Promoting a fun, healthy, sustainable alternative to petrol-dependant transport.
It is a sorry sign of the times, but should we be surprised that the media takes such a negative stance on protesting? We at Green Momentum think it would be a wise move for protesters to watch & learn from the way that a) the media portrays protestors, and b) the police methods of ‘containing’ protestors.
Draw your own conclusions from this Sky News excerpt:
