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Tuesday at climate camp.

Guido | 06.08.2008 11:33 | Repression | London

Some snaps and a short report from tuesday at Climate Camp.

How many tons of carbon?
How many tons of carbon?

Camp at dusk.
Camp at dusk.

Monbiot's marquee meeting.
Monbiot's marquee meeting.

Keir Milburn.
Keir Milburn.

The north gate visited by numerous cops.
The north gate visited by numerous cops.

Those Police medics make us feel soooo much safer.
Those Police medics make us feel soooo much safer.

A you thought the black bloc looked sinister?
A you thought the black bloc looked sinister?

Monbiot
Monbiot


Arriving in time for George Monbiots meeting I was pretty impressed by the turnout. The marquee was packed. Monbiot was arguing for a pragmatic approach to working alongside governments to tackle climate change. next was Almuth Ernsting whose apocalyptic predictions scared the shit out of absolutely everyone. She was followed by Kier Milburn of Turbulence magazine who in my humble opinion was by far the most realistic speaker. He argued that the only way to tackle climate chaos and the rest of our ills was by empowering the majority. He also pointed out that the poor will suffer first from climate change and are already doing so in places like Bangladesh. I also found myself thinking about the trailer parks of the USA being battered by twisters while he was making his point. Climate Change IS a class issue before anything else and he made the point very well.

The next speaker from the Danish group organising for Copenhagen 2009. He had barely started when everyone started running towards the north gate where the Police were looking like they were considering one of their site invasions. There was a stand off. The cops were in riot gear but not making any serious effort to come into the camp. This continued throughout the night. The Police seem to be employing a tactic of ensuring that noone sleeps between now and Saturday.

I wonder in the BNPs Red White and Blue festival will suffer the same level of harrassment?

Guido
- e-mail: guidoreports@riseup.net

Comments

Hide the following 3 comments

I hope that people get the message

06.08.2008 12:36

After all the obvious plod activity, I hope that a few more people get the message that the police are scum (and always will be) and go home with that safely tucked under their belts for future reference. That would be one of the possible useful lessons and experience to be gleaned from Climate Camp, amongst others.

Well done to all resisting the plod down there.

Peter K

Grim reality doesn't spin well.

06.08.2008 22:18

As Monbiot is locked in horns with Julie Burchill,  http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7544000/7544598.stm (perhaps more ninja mutants from Chatham would have been better for the climate camp's class profile) the writer suggests Almuth Ernsting is too apocalyptic and yet -

I'm reading every word and listening to every cast about this climate camp in England from my home in Barcelona. It's the hottest August on record here following the worst droughts on record, it's four years now since the tropical tiger mosquito arrived, the fleas are epidemic and water was brought to the city for the first time by tanker a few months ago. But the worst effects of climate change are not going to be felt here. Nor are they going to be felt in the UK, my country of birth Ireland or even any state of northern Europe. Ironically those states are geographically positioned to take the most advantage of clean and carbon neutral energy sources - windy -wavey - sunny to a point with lots of fresh water...

The worst effects of climate change occur where the most humans live - in grimsville.

Earlier trying to make some figures understandable I found myself describing the damage done by locusts in a state which filters a huge percentage of migrants to our continent. I tried to express 1.4 million hectares in 6 days. It occured to me that in 2004 in Mauritania swarming locusts ate an area of land roughly equivalent to Kent, the garden of England in approximately one day. That's grimsville and that's climate change and that is then followed by mass migration of humanity.

Locusts like must bugs love climate change. Just ask my cats who now suffer fleas all year round.

This is not just a "green issue" - it is also really & truly : a global class issue.

I pray from afar that either Kent plod or chopper-flying Essex filth find some Burberry on the camp soon.

Solidarity! & Global necessity!

iosaf

police should be helping us stop kingsnorth, they are giving themselves terrible

07.08.2008 23:39

reputaion as political corporate drones, especially the met

James