Climate Campers Escalate Action Against Eon
IMC London | 08.09.2009 23:54 | Climate Chaos
On Wednesday 3rd September, as the Camp for Climate Action finished up clearing the site of this years climate camp, a group of activists pitched a tent within the grounds of E-on owed Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal-fired power station in Nottinghamshire. The tent was emblazoned with the words 'Climate Camp is coming' in reference to their plans to shut down the power station in October.
German energy giant Eon (owner of the Kingsnorth power station in Kent which was the focus of last year's climate camp) was the target of a number of protests during the week. On the Monday, naked protesters occupied the roof and lobby of Edelman Public Relations. The firm have been employed by Eon to ease public concern over controversial plans to build the first coal-fired power station in the UK for 30 years, and you can contact Edelman here
On Tuesday, activists invaded the Dartford offices of construction giant Laing O'Rourke which is one of the companies bidding for contracts with Eon to build a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth. A large group of activists entered the offices, handed out leaflets and talked to staff. Meanwhile, another team scaled the building and hung a banner reading 'Don't Build Kingsnorth'.
Laing O'Rourke is among six companies bidding to build the power station which would, if completed, emit more carbon dioxide than the entire country of Ghana. Other firms bidding for the contracts were targeted earlier in the year by protesters keen to ensure the companies are aware of the opposition they'll face should they attempt to build Kingsnorth.
Links
Climate Camp | Eon Watch | Eon F Off | Don't Build Kingsnorth | No New Coal | The Coalhole | Leave It In The Ground | The Tipping Point
The world coal institute had its door handles chained together and expanding foam piped into its locks, the activists then went on to target E.ON (the company behind climate camp target Kingsnorth power station) with more expanding foam and graffito reading "stop climate change now". Outside London, Christian Aid invited members to trespass at Eon?s Ironbridge power station, where they projected campaign messages onto a cooling tower.
Many other actions took place during the 2009 Camp For Climate Action, which was held at Blackheath in SE London. Most of the people on these actions were first time protesters who took part in 'direct action' training at the camp.
Last year campers pledged to stop the new Kingsnorth, and what was previously an annual event has escalated into an ongoing campaign. One year on, activists inspired by the camp have set up a shop (called Tipping Point) in Gillingham to bolster the local campaign, provide direct action training and invite members of the public to pledge to stand in the way of construction if the decision to build a new coal-fired power station is approved.
Other companies involved in attempting to make Kingsnorth a reality is Scott Wilson. There contact details are here. In fact, there are lots of different companies involved in this project, and you can find details of them here, or you can adopt a contractor.
IMC London
Comments
Hide the following 10 comments
Help us shut down Ratcliffe power station!
09.09.2009 00:31
Camper
Need to set realistic objectives
10.09.2009 07:26
We didn't 'shut' Kingsnorth.
We did gain excellent publicity.
If we stick with 'shut' - the protst will be branded a failure.
Realist
Actually....
10.09.2009 10:11
we shut them down!
And other examples
10.09.2009 10:44
a better realist than you
We need to have meaningful aims
10.09.2009 20:37
Unless we are aiming to stop catastrophic climate change, then we are just a media stunt to 'gain excellent publicity' and any objectives we set to meet this aim are meaningless.
If the objectives of shutting down power stations are unrealistic, we need to raise our game to make them realistic - or we need to give in and admit we're all fucked.
And I'm not willing to admit that that. I'll do more, and I'll encourage others to do likewise - there seem to be quite a few suggestions on this page to follow up. Anybody else with me? Or do you, like Realist seems to be doing, want to throw in the towel now?
We can win, but we're going to have to fight.
Chris Rich
Not unrealistic but....
11.09.2009 20:40
You can't shut down a coal-fired power station by restricting its coal supply. Not unless you can keep the coal out for days or weeks, anyway. They always have huge stocks of milled (i.e. powdered up) coal inside. The unmilled stuff you can see outside is only part of the stock. So conveyor belt lock-ons etc. are just a symbolic nuisance. Not saying don't do them, just don't get carried away with exaggerated notions about their effect.
But Realist is half right. Power stations -or generating units within them- are regularly shut down for days or even weeks for maintenance. They are routinely taken on and off line according to demand. So shutting down even a big one like Ratcliffe-on-Soar, Kingsnorth or Drax is no big deal. The system can cope with that. Pound to a Penny Ratcliffe will be shut down in advance of the October action, like Kingsnorth, like Drax. Then they'll lie and claim we're threatening power supplies to people's homes, hospitals etc!
The only way a power station will ever get shut down by activists is by ambush tactics -a small posse of determined and knowledgeable people who know exactly what they're doing and whose security is tight enough that nobody but them knows they're going for it. They also need to be lucky. Even then, what's the point? OK, it's a surprise, but it would be coped with in 5 minutes by bringing on reserve capacity. For that to be even a slight problem, it would have to be done at a peak demand time of day during very cold weather.
So whether they close it down because there's hundreds / thousands of us camped / raging outside or we do it by surprise guerilla tactics, the most that can be achieved -and even that's not guaranteed- is a temporary shift from coal to a bit of extra oil, gas or nuclear generation. It's symbolic and the only real gain is publicity.
We do need to think of other tactics.
Stroppyoldgit
Sabotage!
13.09.2009 00:40
@
To sabotage
13.09.2009 17:00
Wrencher
making it count
21.09.2009 06:42
we will embrace the true pirate spirit. this year it gets personal
crewman J
why dont the foe supportes do something useful stop incinerators
10.10.2009 15:10
peter ambler
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tigger1946