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Greenpeace protest at Land Rover dealership in Nottingham

Tash [alan lodge] | 24.06.2005 21:23 | Ecology | Sheffield

Greenpeace active supporters in Nottingham continued the summer of action against gas guzzling 4x4s with activists outside the Merlin Land Rover dealership in Nottingham demanding curbs on the climate-wrecking cars.






















Greenpeace active supporters take on 4x4 craze across Nottinghamshire

Greenpeace active supporters in Nottingham continued the summer of action against gas guzzling 4x4s with activists outside the Merlin Land Rover dealership in Nottingham demanding curbs on the climate-wrecking cars. This was just weeks after Greenpeace volunteers chained themselves to the production line at the Range Rover production line in Solihull and 4 activists from Nottingham were amongst volunteers chained to Range Rovers in a Manchester dealership. The petrol-powered 4x4 can do just 12mpg in urban areas.

The protest is part of a nationwide summer of action and road users will become used to seeing road signs saying no 4x4s and 4x4 drivers will find notices on their vehicles reminding them of the climate damage their 4x4 is causing. The Greenpeace campaigners also have product recall notices which will be placed in car magazines and action cards to local MPs demanding that they force the Government to take action.

Greenpeace volunteer Rebecca Rothera said "driving cars like this in towns and cities is mad. Many of these vehicles do less than the Model T Ford. That means in 80 years we have gone backwards, and with up to 150,000 people dying every year due to the effects of climate change, we need to ensure our cars are more fuel efficient. With Greenpeace activists across Nottinghamshire ramping up the campaign, we hope more and more people will listen to what we have to say. Most of these climate wreckers only go off road when they park on the pavement but the greenhouse gases they spew out is killing people and wrecking our planet."

The Range Rover is the least fuel efficient of Britains top 10 selling 4x4s. Ford, the owners of Land Rover are aggressively marketing its range of urban 4x4s - cars like the Discovery and Range Rover - to urban drivers. It spent £3m on advertising in London alone last year! Publicity material for these climate wreckers describes them as "astounding. There has never been a Land Rover so focused on awesome tarmac performance."

Protestors will be accompanied by Captain Climate

For information on fuel efficiency of different cars visit www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/search/search.asp

For more information on the Greenpeace campaign, call 0207 865 8255 or visit www.greenpeace.org.uk
www.choosecleanenergy.com

Message ends

For information on the event call Jane Burd 07946 331065


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ALAN LODGE
Photographer - Media: One Eye on the Road. Nottingham. UK
Email:  tash@gn.apc.org
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Member of the National Union of Journalists [No: 014345]
____________________________________________
"It is not enough to curse the darkness.
It is also necessary to light a lamp!!"
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Tash [alan lodge]
- e-mail: tash@indymedia.org
- Homepage: http://tash.gn.apc.org

Comments

Hide the following 14 comments

Greenpeace Hypocrisy ?

25.06.2005 05:52

So Greenpeace, apparently, dislike the energy wasted and the emissions exhausted by 4x4's?

Why do they actively support the Glastonbury festival then? Their banner and logo is all over the site.

The marquees, stages and many of the other facilities are delivered and erected using 4x4's, it's miles away from anywhere so has to be travelled to, isn't this the frivolous hypermobility they purport to despise?

Why is it OK for loads of people to be frivolously hypermobile to visit Glastonbury, but not to drive their 4x4 into town occasionally?

I wonder if they've considered the waste of energy involved in supporting the electrical requirements of all the sound stages and stalls, along with the exhaust fumes from the multiple generators that don't have the relative cleanliness of exhaust emissions of a road-going vehicle?

Was there a risk assessment done regarding the relative exhaust emissions of the generators to be used?

Seems they just pick on things they dislike and go along with things they like, despite what it does to the environment.

They seem more like Hypocrites and self-centred hedonists than eco-warriors to me.

The Caretaker
mail e-mail: the_caretaker@hotmail.com


travel to big events

25.06.2005 09:58

The Caretaker makes a reasonable point about people travelling hundreds of miles to attend pop festivals, often by car. Against this you could counter that the scale and originality of what goes on at Glastonbury might get people thinking about the way they live. Additionally, Glastonbury has a go at getting people there by public transport.

Every year there are more and more money making events which involve 1000s travelling. The contrived football playoffs are a good example. Day after day, 80,000 people driving from places like Hartlepool and Lincoln to Cardiff. Maybe a tax per attendee should be leveed on those organising these mass movements unless they can demonstrate social benefits?

teddy
- Homepage: http://www.daveches.co.uk


Where can I get some of those signs?

25.06.2005 10:18

I'll put them up in Chelsea

Sim1


Another stunt

25.06.2005 11:54

I see the Greenpeace bank account is once again running low - time for another publicity stunt.

What a shame Greepeace doesn't adopt the policy it preaches with the engines on its ships, but hey one rule for us - one rule for them

Yawn


Not that I agree with Greenpeace...

25.06.2005 18:17

But I see actions of charities such as Greenpeace to be acting to change things in the long term. If many people see the information posted by Greenpeace on their website and other literature, then maybe they will change their ways.

I said the same thing in a recent article, short term losses for a long term goal.

fredrico
mail e-mail: musteatvegan@yahoo.co.uk


Yawning Caretakers

26.06.2005 20:35

Dear Yawn & the Caretaker,

your comments can fuck right off. I'm so sick of the whingeing 'you wear leather shoes' argument - which goes: "you talk about ideals and campaigning for a better world, about the environment, about animal rights, yet you have travelled by car in your life and you wear leather shoes therefore everything you say is worthless and can be undermined by me with the excuses I find to sit on my fat arse doing little else except posting to indymedia and finding fault."

bored


Heard of our solar showers?

28.06.2005 21:18

Ok, first of all let me apologise for the guy's language above. That's not how Greenpeace works.

Generally these events COST Greenpeace money, so having the bank account low beforehand isn't such a wise idea! The fund raising that Greenpeace does is usually much more low key, using things like Co-op credit cards and the like.

The point of the campaign isn't to just ban all 4x4s, but to get them using cleaner engines. It's true that getting the gear in and out of Glastonbury would require big heavey vehicles - it's just a shame that manufacures like Land Rover don't produce vehicles using cleaner engines - such as the hydrogen fuel cell. Recently Lexus have produced an SUV that uses and ordinary V6 engine, along with 2 electric engines (known as a hybrid). If they can do it, so can Land Rover. Unfortunately, that's not likely to happen without serious pressure - like huge public embarrassment.

In the Greenpeace field at the Glastonbury festival (have you ever visted Caretaker?) you'll find solar powered showers, and other equally clean and green activities. If the event's going to go on anyway, isn't it better that Greenpeace try to make it as environmentally friendly as possible, and take the opportunity to raise some funds to allow their work to go on? It's like Fredrico says - short term losses for a long term goal.

I'm glad to see that the main arguments here aren't against the idea of combatting climate change - at last we've got over that major hurdle (that wouldn't be anything to do with the work of Greenpeace over the last decade would it?), just about methods. So, Caretaker, what are YOU doing to help stop the climate becoming worse?

HippyJim
mail e-mail: jim@hippycentral.org.uk
- Homepage: http://www.hippycentral.org.uk


Greenpeace?

25.11.2005 10:49

what a load of cobblers ok 4x4 cars are big and yes they do use more than the average car fuel wise however they dont use anywhere near as much as the average bus or truck or even transit vans for that matter and a heck of a lot of cars are far more inefficiant for the record mine does 23 mpg its a diesel but it runs on renewable energy or biofuel as do a lot of diesel 4x4 owners its a matter of choice i choose this car and i use it to enjoy my lifestyle i drive offroad in properly designated areas when i have the time i use it and its size to carry my tools to my work otherwise i would be useing a large transit size van it also gives me and my family who after all are my most precious possesion extra protection in bad weather floods etc or heaven forbid in an accident so frankly greenpeace you can shove it your attitude and poster waving has led to hundreds of innocent people being victimised spat on and bullied plus vehicles are being criminally damaged by so called do gooders i think you should point your pathetic and wothless criminal signs right back at yourselves and i hope when the first nutcase decides to murder someone for driving a 4x4 you will feel proud of yourselves, maybe you should reconsider your stupidity

4x4 driver


WHAT IF????

25.11.2005 11:26

HI, I HAVE JUST READ YOUR COMMENTS ON 4X4'S ..YOU STATE THAT THERE KILLING THE PLANET!!!!! SO WHAT IF LIKE MINE THEY RUN ON SUNFLOWER OIL????
WHAT'S THE PROBLEM THEN????? I HAVE BEEN DRIVING MY 4X4 FOR YEARS ON SUNFLOWER OIL, OTHER FRIENDS HAVE LPG KITS ON THERE'S?? SO ARE ALL 4X4'S REALLY THAT BAD OR ARE YOU BIASED AGAINST US ALL...THE DIESEL ENGINE WAS FIRST BUILT TO RUN ON PEANUT OIL NOT FOSSIL FUEL...MAYBE WE SHOULD ALL LOOK AT CONVERTING TO THIS METHOD... I RESPECT YOUR OPINIONS BUT YOU SHOULDN'T CAST EVERY 4X4 OWNER AS BEING DESTRUCTIVE TO (OUR) PLANET..
THANKS FOR YOUR TIME MR FINGERS

FINGERS MCLEAN


Idiots

25.11.2005 15:36

Landrover are a subsidiary of the Ford motor company who are activley developing fuel cell cars. Trouble is in order to do this they have to spend money, now where does the money come from? oh yeah their business of selling cars. People want 4x4's so Ford sell them to them. Eventually landrovers will come with fuel cells etc but only once they are able to be used practically for the application for which they are intended. Obviously some people will not use the cars for off roading and merely use them for school runs but that is what happens when we live in a free society. Incidentally the most popular 4x4 in the UK is the landrover freelander which actually has a smaller "footprint" on the road than the ford mondeo and we dont hear any complaints about them. Fuel cells are a good technology and will cut emmissions and shut up greenpeace eventually but they are too expensive to be cost effective at the moment. Why dont greenpeace invent a cheap way of doing it instead of harrassing honest businesses which employ thousands of british people?

John
mail e-mail: brown@hotmail.com


An informative site for a change

25.11.2005 17:05

To save typing out everything just go to this site
www.4x4prejudice.org

Bob696


two things

12.01.2006 19:35

1 - how much energy in the form of fossil fuel (for methane cracking or electrolysis) has to be used to make the equivalent amount of hydrogen fuel?
2 - how much energy in the form of fossil fuel (for fertiliser, pesticide, transport and harvest) has to be used to make the equivalent amount of biodiesel?

If you think alternative fuels are great then I look forward to your answer on the above. Otherwise don't come back here with your pseudo-science.

Crash


energy & biodiesel / ethanol

22.03.2006 08:01

go to this link for information on energy & biodiesel..& other biofuels ..table 11...

the bottom line clarifies

even the worst case is not bad compared to the alternatives.. lets not forget how much energy is used in securing current supplies, exploration, drilling construction of oil rigs, pipelines distribution infrastructure, transport wars, pollution political instability etc...

 http://www.biodiesel.co.uk/levington_tables.htm#Table%2011

barleymow


ban 4x4's!!????

30.01.2008 22:19

I hope these greenpeace people realise that they shouldnt ban ALL 4x4's. I live in a rural area and use my old Land Rover for hauling logs from dead tree's in muddy fields or I use it to rescue a cow, and you can't do that in a Fiesta or a Pee Wiz. Taking the land rover off the public road is not an option either becuase sometimes I need to travel on the road to get to another field! Sure get rid of 4x4's in large towns or cities becuase mums just use them to take their kids to school and/or get the shopping. Also the Porche Cayenne or SOME Japanese 4x4's should of never existed becuase they guzzle the fuel and get stuck in a cow pat!

Martin
mail e-mail: martinbennett3@aol.com