[...cont’d from part 2]


What’s Next?

Please do take a look the More Info & Take Action Links sections in Part 2 (see links in a comment below), to glean the information you need to motivate you to take action on climate change. As you’ll see, there’s everything from letter-writing, email-sending and petition signing through to mass direct action initiatives. Many would argue, including me, that the most effective tactic is the latter – from swarms of Santas dumping dirty coal all over E.ON’s Coventry boardroom [14], to Plane Stupid’s magnificent airfield occupation at Stansted Airport [15], the vigourous demonstration of folk applying their political power co-operatively and directly (rather than individualistically giving it away to a bosses lackey politician in a bourgeois election) gives hope for an increasingly participatory green future. Below are three direct action opportunities in the UK for the months ahead.


DIRECT ACTION OPPORTUNITY 1

Heathrow Decision Day Flashmob – We’re In It for the Long-Haul

With Geoff Hoon, the new Transport Minister, expected to announce the Labour Government’s decision on Heathrow expansion in December, we’ve announced our plans for a Decision Day flashmob back at Heathrow Terminal 5 – where it all started earlier this year.
Here’s the plan: unless *all* expansion plans for Heathrow are dropped, a Stop Airport Expansion flashmob will take place at Heathrow Terminal 5 on the first Saturday after the decision is announced. We will be unveiling our T-shirts at 12 noon (on the dot!) in the departures section of Terminal 5. Be ready to come! Red T-shirts are desirable but not essential!
The flashmob will be an immediate chance to demonstrate our feelings if expansion is given the go-ahead – and show that opposition to expansion is not over for the Government by any stretch of the imagination.
More info: T5 Flashmob –  http://t5flashmob.wordpress.com


DIRECT ACTION OPPORTUNITY 2

Dinner at Domestic Departures – Mon 12 Jan 09

On Monday 12 January 2009 at 7pm the Climate Rush and the Government of the Dead will hit Heathrow, Terminal 1. We will arrive in Edwardian dress (under a big coat!) with hampers of food to have our 'Dinner at Domestic Departures'. This will be an action against the construction of the third runway and the unsustainable use of short-haul, national flights. It will take place on the day that the MPs return from their winter holiday.
When the string quartet plays its first note we will reveal our dress and share our food. Ours will be the first peaceful sit-in of the environmental movement. Hundreds will join us and together we will make history. We have waited too long and been misled too many times. It is time for us to take control and to lead social change.
More info:
Government of the Dead –  http://tinyurl.com/GotDead-DDD
Climate Rush –  http://climaterush.co.uk/whatnext.html


DIRECT ACTION OPPORTUNITY 3

Fossil Fools Day – Wed 01 Apr 08

Take Direct Action to End the Fossil Fuel Empire
On April 1st last year, people around the world celebrated Fossil Fools Day. Over 150 actions took place across four continents. Oil, gas, coal and aviation were all targeted. Fossil fuel extraction, production, financing, PR and greenwash all felt the jester’s wrath. Actions spanned the full spectrum from the simply subversive to the downright disruptive: office occupations, banner drops, street theatre, Big Carbon blockades, city centre parades, spoof product launches, subvertising, leaflets, lock-ons and even a laugh-in. The tentacles of the carbon web were exposed for all to see, more people saw the empire for what it truly is – a sinking ship awaiting abandonment – and here and there, the carbon machine even ground to a halt. This year Fossil Fools Day will be bigger, better and bolder.
Our actions are amplified when we act in unison, so this year, in the build-up to the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen in November, let’s see if we can reach over 1000 worldwide! Fossil Fools Day is about taking action in the name of carbon common sense – leave fossil fuels in the ground, abandon false solutions, and build real and just alternatives. Dismantling the fossil fuel empire is a massive task, but every action we take takes its toll, and there is no doubt that our resistance is growing and our struggles are uniting year by year. So whether you’ve been looking for a chance to dip a toe into the growing climate action movement, or have had your kick-ass action planned since last year, now is the time to do it – whatever it is.
On April 1st, join the global day of resistance and pull a prank that packs a punch.
More info:  http://www.fossilfoolsdayofaction.org/2009/


IN CONCLUSION

When my nephews and niece ask me, “Uncle Tim, what did YOU do in the Great Climate War?”, I hope I’ll be able to give them a good account of the responsible actions I took to help avert Catastrophic Climate Change – and in a similar situation, I hope and trust that you will be able to do so too. Let’s mobilise!


Up the Revolution,

Tim Dalinian Jones


Footnotes

[14] Swarms of Santas dumping dirty coal all over E.ON’s Coventry boardroom:
▪ Pix-&-vidz of ‘E.ON's early christmas surprise’ –  http://www.ameliasmagazine.com/amelias_blog/2008/12/eons_early_christmas_surprise.php
▪ The E-On 'Face-Off' begins... Kingsnorth Shut Down –  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/12/414372.html

[15] Plane Stupid’s magnificent airfield occupation at Stansted Airport:
▪ ‘Plane Stupid shuts Stansted Airport’ –  http://www.planestupid.com/?q=content/plane-stupid-shuts-stansted-airport
▪ ‘Climate activists held after Stansted runway protest’ –  http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/dec/08/stansted-runway-protest


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