When E.ON submitted its plans for the UK’s first new coal plant in 30 years, it presumably expected some resistance but did it expect a full blown backlash? In terms of breadth of opposition and diversity of tactics being employed, the fight back has been sizable and is growing.
Politically both major opposition parties in England are opposed to new coal without carbon capture and storage. Even the government support is looking shaky now that Ed Milliband is responsible for a new combined department of energy and climate change.
The UK is a world leader in climate policy, throughout the 90’s it reduced its carbon emissions whilst simultaneously experiencing sustained economic growth. Now the government will maintain that leadership by signing up to legally binding emissions reductions targets which will lead to an 80% reduction of emissions by 2050.
Perhaps from the US it looks like this is the case? Let’s talk about what is really going on.
Back in the 1990’s we had a glorious female prime minister, she accomplished amazing feats such as devastating miners’ communities, keeping a firm grip of some islands in the South Atlantic and informing members of the public that if they where to be found on public transport after the age of 25 they could safely consider themselves a failure. Well, she also privatised the energy sector. This lead to the ‘dash-to-gas’ and a considerable decarbonisation of the national energy grid as you would expect when moving away from coal.
There hadn’t been a coal plant built for some years and market economics guaranteed this wouldn’t change soon. Now some thirty years after the last coal plant was built we have a hero entering the energy policy stage. This hero is multi-national energy giant E-ON. Facing terrifying odds–a population accustomed to clean air, a political consensus on emissions cuts of 80% by 2050 and an enormous civil society coalition of more than 70 organisations–E-ON is planning a new lease of life for coal. Boldly leading the energy sector back to the stone age, EON are planning to build a 1600MW coal fired power plant at Kingsnorth in Kent.
As the climate bill looks set to enter law any week now we find ourselves working harder than ever to prevent backsliding. We want action now, not in forty years time. And we want action here in the UK, not the buying of carbon credits from eastern Europe!
On October the 13th one group that rapidly developed out of the frenetic uk climate movement decided that it wastime to rush parliament and demand no new coal, no aviation expansion, and a climate bill that reflects the latest science. We have no patience for government rhetoric, there is the serious work of decarbonisation to be done. The 13th was chosen as it was 100 years to the day that the Suffragettes stormed parliament to demand universal adult suffrage.
The group that i am most involved with is the Camp for Climate Action, a hugely dynamic and growing movement of people willing to participate in non-violent direct action to stop the root causes of climate change. For the last three years we have created climate protest camps, firstly at the UK’s largest coal fired power plant, then at Heathrow to protest its expansion, and most recently at Kingsnorth where they are planning a new coal plant. Next year there probably wont be a camp everyone is putting their energy into preparing for and sustaining a blockade of Kingsnorth if it gets planning permission in March as expected. We aren’t planning simply to blockade the power plant, we are planning to attack E-ON UK from all angles, highlighting the companies who give them finance, the dubious record of the imported Columbian Coal that is currently being used and organising boycotts of the banks that fund them. We have also started targeting student recruitment fairs. E-ON know that UK students care about climate change, that is why they present themselves as environmentally sound, even going so far as to claim solving climate change is their priority. At campuses around the UK, with E-On branded materials and amazing design work with have set the record straight.
Our next major project, to take place on Friday 28th and 29th of October, is a national call to action. Supported by Climate Camp, Plane Stupid, Coal Action Network, Campaign against Climate Change and Rising Tide amongst others. We will not allow new coal power to be built in the UK, it is too important to let this go…quite simply the UK has no legitimacy to negotiate an international climate treaty with Asia and the developing world if it is still using the most polluting form of energy known to man.
At 3pm British Summer Time on July 30th around 100 climate activists took an uncultivated field around a kilometer from Kingsnorth Power Plant in Kent. The 2008 Climate Camp has begun.
The exact location of this site was a closely guarded secret until it was taken, so as to avoid police obstruction. Now that the site has been taken everyone has been taken, everyone is invited so if you are in the UK…get down there! (travel guide) I`ll see you in a couple of days–me and many kilograms of audio visual recording equipment! I`m hoping to record as many of the over 200 workshops (full program) as i possibly can.
The Camp for Climate Action is in its third year in the UK and judging by past years it will be an exciting, educational and above all inspirational event.
Hannah Abbots puts it succinctly:
“We have a future to protect, and today, in setting up the climate camp, we’ve drawn a line in the sand at Kingsnorth. We will not allow companies like E.ON drag us over the edge of climate catastrophe.”
Since the first Camp for Climate Action in 2006 the radical climate movement has been developing well; in terms of skills, numbers and experience. The Climate Camp was born out a set of needs: need for space to build campaigns and discuss ideas, the need for education on climate problems and solutions, and the need to act against the root causes of climate change.
The Climate Camp is unusually in how it sets out to meet these aims, the idea of consensus decision making is perhaps the most important distinguishing factor. This idea of consensus partly stems from the strongly anti-authoritarian philosophy within the camp, and is with decision making at the appropriate level rather than from the top down. Whole camp issues are gone through in detail by working groups that are open to all comers, these produce proposals for discussion by the whole camp. Decisions effecting smaller groups are dealt with by those smaller groups. Working groups exist for dealing with ongoing whole camp issues and are generally in regular communication,all working groups get together at monthly national gatherings, which take place around the country and minutes to which are made available online. These national gatherings are hosted by regional groups which exist to organise the various neighbourhoods which–along with there own kitchens, toilets, marquees–make up the accommodation areas of the camp. This openness, freedom for local groups and range of working groups make the whole climate camp process both extremely inspirational and empowering as everyone can find a group that is working on an area of personal interest or in need there own skills.
In the first two years this way of functioning has has managed to create a movement with increasing momentum. The first camp, at Drax, the largest coal fired power plant in the UK, attracted some 600 people and led to a great deal of national press coverage as well as evening news items. In terms of radical politics this was effectively a re-launch of a dormant movement; not since the anti-roads protests of the 1990’s has such an influential radical political grouping been active. Bringing together diverse groups working on corporate globalisation, southern rights, trade justice and inequality under the banner of climate change activism has been a significant development—one which has inspired similar actions around the world and that continues to grow.
Above:Last year a group of US activists made a video in solidarity with us. This made us feel that we where part of something global, many more developments in this area are happening this year…to many for this space but to all of you out there working on climate change solidarity and good luck with your future plans!Continue reading ‘2008 Camp for Climate Action and Building a Movement’
Since the
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