Fossil Fools Day is making a splash around the world. We are following dozens and dozens of actions in the US, UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand! Here’s a brief update on some of the bigger actions thus far - but more are still to come! Solid media coverage on many of these actions on Reuters, BBC, Associated Press and beyond! For the latest news all day- check out FossilFoolsDay.org
8 Arrested as North Carolina, USA Residents Shut Down Construction at Cliffside Coal Plant
At 6:30 this morning, North Carolina residents locked themselves to bulldozers to stop the construction of Duke Energy’s massive Cliffside coal-fired power plant being built 50 miles west of Charlotte, NC. “In the face of catastrophic climate change, building a new coal plant is tantamount to signing a death sentence for our generation,” said local farmer Matt Wallace, while locked to a bulldozer. The concerned citizens also roped off the construction site with “Global Warming Crime Scene” tape and held banners that read “Coal Fuels Climate Change” and “Social Change, not Climate Change.” (more…)
We’re actively looking for donations to get people out of jail!
Billionaires for Dirty Energy blockade Citibank in New York, USA. 2 arrested
Boston, MA – As of 9:00AM, in conjunction with a downtown rally, four activists have locked themselves to the front entrance of the Bank of America branch in Copley Square. They are protesting the bank’s funding of coal and energy companies who are among the worst contributors to climate change, and directly responsible for innumerable human rights abuses in communities where coal is extracted and burned.Update: Four arrests in Boston, some lock boxes were cut, but others were loaded into the police wagon still locked to each other. (more…)
Please support legal costs for this action!
Ten activists with Rainforest Action Network Houston showed up to take action on Dynegy’s headquarters. While two activists delivered our Fossil Fool of the Year award to CEO of Dynegy, Bruce Williamson, eight others released a balloon banner in the Wells Fargo Plaza’s main lobby. Dynegy is currently proposing to build numerous coal-fired power plants across the US - and is the leading company of the US coal-rush. Everyone then proceeded to pass out literature about Dynegy, coal, and wind power in Texas to passers-by and people entering/exiting the building. The security, though unaware, reacted quickly - however not timely enough to stop the two activists from delivering the award to Dynegy’s secretary or stop the balloon banner from making it to the lobby’s ceiling. No arrests were made.
Fossil Fools Day at the University of Kentucky, USA
At the University of Kentucky, students protested the university’s coal-fired power plant by climbing atop the coal stockpile, and raising giant wind turbines. Raising a mock wind turbine on top of the UK power plant’s coal fuel pile was designed to show the futility and myopic vision of the University’s current energy policy. While happy to learn that UK does not use coal from mountaintop removal sites, the State of Kentucky’s flagship university is a fossil fool and it must demonstrate leadership and a far-thinking approach to its energy sourcing and usage. (more…)
Cambridge, UK Fossil Fools Day Protest at RBS Bank
EV-EON Carbon Capture launched on Southbank!
Posted Apr 1st, 2008
AntiWar@Laurier blockades local Shell station on “Fossil Fools Day.”
Waterloo, Ontario - Just before rush hour today, student and community activists from AntiWar@Laurier (AW@L) blockaded the Shell gas station at the corner of Westmount Road North and Father David Bauer Drive. AW@L’s “Climate Change Containment Unit” deployed to address the gross violation of the environment constituted by the planned increase in production of the Albertan oil sands, by shutting down Shell’s primary outlet in Waterloo. Shell is a leading offender with regard to profiteering from climate change causing activities, especially in the tar sands.
Plum Creek Receives “Fossil Fool’s Award” For Contributions To Climate Change
Fairfield, ME - Volunteers with the Native Forest Network (NFN) staged a mock “Fossil Fool’s Day” awards ceremony today at the offices of the Plum Creek Timber Company to draw attention to the potential impacts of the company’s Moosehead region development proposal on the regional and global climate. Continue Reading »
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Hey all, great job taking it to the man this April 1. Check out this great map of international Fossil Fools Day photos, and feel free to embed it on your blog or website: http://energyactioncoalition.org/fossilfools/international/photomap.
Huzzah!
and the action keeps on coming:
Please find below press release re. today’s action at Aberthaw Power Station, West Glamorgan. Over 30 activists have been blockading the entrance to the power station since 6am.
RISING TIDE
Thursday 3rd April 2008
Press Release: Aberthaw: Wales’ Worst Polluter
Today members of Rising Tide, a group of climate activists [1], are participating in an action that has stopped normal work at Wale’s biggest polluter, Aberthaw Power Station in the Vale of Glamorgan. The power station, also condemned by workers for its poor safety record, last year pumped out more than 7.4million tonnes of CO2 (carbon dioxide), the major contributor to climate change. It also emitted 28,000 tonnes of nitrogen dioxide and 31,000 tonnes of sulphur dioxide – two chemicals that contribute to acid rain.
This action comes after the successful closure by activists of Ffos-y-Fran open cast mine in Merthyr Tydfil, on Tuesday 1st April. Ffos-y-Fran is the biggest mine in Europe and has been forced upon the people of Merthyr Tydfil in-order to fuel the dirtiest of all power stations and big business’s greed for profit.
As the world acknowledges the need for a substantial reduction in carbon emissions the government and the Welsh Assembly have given their backing for the mining company Miller-Argent to spend upwards of 17 years extracting 11 million tons of coal from the nearby Ffos-y-Fran open cast mine in Merthyr Tydfil to continue feeding this power station.
As fossil fuels go coal is a serious contender for the dirtiest known. But despite the fact that coal-burning generators produce twice the carbon emissions of gas burners [2], the government intends to build £20 billion worth of new coal-burning generators by 2020.
Gordon James, director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, described the power station as a “dirty dinosaur” that should not be allowed to stay open in its present form. But RWENPower, the generating company that runs Aberthaw, said, “It is true Aberthaw Power Station is a large emitter of CO2 and that there are other emissions involved in power generation.”
Rising Tide believes that it is crucial to highlight the concerns and issues surrounding the development of Aberthaw and the proposed new investments into Coal powered generators such as Kingsnorth power station in Kent. The site of the next Camp for Climate Action.
Ciara, a member of Bristol Rising Tide states: “The burning of coal at Aberthaw and the new power stations across the UK such as Kingsnorth will only exacerbate the problems of climate chaos. People need to know that the government is hell bent on returning us to the dark age of fossil fuel.”