Sometimes, we all get a little caught up in talking and arguing about politics and our movement. Some people recognize that merely talking (or blogging) about problems and solutions and ideas is not enough - and if we are to build a better world we need to act. Politicians, industry, and corporations have and will continue to ignore the climate problem if we continue to think that talking-alone will sway their power. As EVERY SINGLE historical social movement has shown - meaningful change will not occur until people come together, take action together, and reclaim power together.
The current state of politics; the “let’s be practical” attitude by many in our movement to water down our
message; the futile efforts to debate the “perfect” analysis and strategy; and the policy solutions being promoted by many (such as the wholly inadequate Lieberman-Warner bill) will simply not stop the climate crisis. If we are to beat the climate crisis and build a clean, just economy - we need a movement that is thinking big, acting big, and shifting popular paradigms to reflect an entirely new set of possibilities. There is a reason that the climate movements of other countries are way ahead of the US - it is because social movements there have been taking creative action and have opened the space to make the issue become a
priority. As a wonderful study on the role of protest in the environmental movement shows - our power comes from people taking action.
And while it may be a cliche, the urgency of the climate crisis renders it truer than ever - Talk minus action equals Zero. Action comes in many forms - but one of the most inspiring, effective, and urgent forms of action needed right now is Direct Action.
As I write this, activists in the UK are occupying a coal train in the UK, heading for the Drax power station in Yorkshire. Here is the breaking news, courtesy of The Coal Hole.
Protest halts Drax coal train as summer of discontent against coal continues…
See more images at http://www.flickr.com/photos/sitefeed/
Protestors who halted a coal train carrying fuel for Drax power station in Yorkshire, the single biggest source of CO2 in the UK, are settling in to make sure supplies of coal to the power station remain cut off. The protest comes six weeks before the 2008 Camp for Climate Action at Kingsnorth power station - which will also highlight how using coal to supply energy will be a disaster for the planet.
Dressed in white overalls and canary outfits, they used safety signals to stop the train on a bridge overlooking the power station, before climbing on board and dumping coal off onto the tracks.
The train has been stopped on a branch line used exclusively for delivering coal to Drax. Protestors have used a network of climbing ropes to suspend themselves under the bridge from the train - meaning any movement while the protest continues is impossible.
The UK Government is considering giving the go-ahead to a new generation of coal-fired power plants, the first of which would be at Kingsnorth in Kent - an act which would directly contradict all of their fine words on cutting emissions, bringing in climate bills, and being a world leader on the climate issue. Meanwhile, the ice caps are melting, we’re at 387 ppmv carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (that’s very high - higher than we can sustainably stay at) and rising, and people are dying - now.
There is a problem, and there is a solution. Serious commitments to renewables, energy efficiency and a bit of global leadership from our Government could go a long way.
Yes, you’re quite right. As a movement, we are serious. Although we conduct ourselves cheerfully, we don’t think this is a game. Although we can joke, we know why we act. Although we feel anxious and nervous about the consequences, we do it anyway, because it’s important. We are serious - serious about the problem, and serious about solving it.
Subscribe by Email!
Subscribe by RSS!
Share on Facebook
Is this relatively benign British Coal or the really horrid imported American petro-coke Drax has used in the past?
Just to opportunistically plug our campaign work with RAN, Rising Tide and Greenpeace, this sort of work is happening here in the U.S. as well, but more empowered people need to get involved. It can be by joining RAN’s “Adopt A Bank Branch” campaign rolling out later this summer or coming to one of Rising Tide’s Climate Convergences- http://climateconvergence.org/
As our friends at riseup.net say: “Get of the internet, I’ll see you in the streets!”
Contact Matt- Matt@risingtidenorthamerica.org or Scott- dirtymoney@ran.org if you want details.
good stuff.
Le Tigre also says “Get off the internet, I’ll meet you in the streets!” too. Which is pretty hot. But not as hot as this action. Holy crud!
This is awesome!
I can’t get these facts out of my head:
The coal industry is entirely at the mercy of the railroad companies, and could not survive for more than a few months without a fresh supply of coal. Railroads can take up to 80% of the cost of a ton of coal, and the coal companies depend on the railroads far more than the railroads depend on the coal companies. In fact, the coal industry didn’t really kick off until railroads started chugging. The railroads have fought legislation taxing or regulating carbon emissions. BNSF worked with ExxonMobil and others to confuse the public about the science behind climate change. “Big Coal”, a book by Jeff Goodell has a whole chapter on this. He states, “Already railroad congestion is the biggest bottleneck to the expansion of coal-fired power plants.”
Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) are the two North American railroad companies sharing a monopoly on coal transport. Without them, there would be no coal industry as we view it today. And seeing as the coal industry is a necessary casualty in the fight against catastrophic climate change (my deepest apologies to those who depend upon it for their livelihood), these are some very strategic targets.
Send me an email if you have any more information if you have it, or if you have ideas for stuff to do on this continent. –Maya
Oh yeah, my email is maya@risingtidenorthamerica.org