PR firm Weber Shandwick attacked by activists in solidarity with Douglas Valley
sticky | 11.04.2011 08:40
On the evening of Sunday the 10th of April the Edinburgh offices of Weber Shandwick had their locks glued shut preventing the start of work on Monday morning.
Weber Shandwick are a public relations company who help clean-up the image of many irresponsible corporations, one of them being Scottish Coal. Scottish Coal are currently pushing to expand open-cast coal mining across Southern Scotland, in particular the Douglas Valley area of South Lanarkshire.
Weber Shandwick are a public relations company who help clean-up the image of many irresponsible corporations, one of them being Scottish Coal. Scottish Coal are currently pushing to expand open-cast coal mining across Southern Scotland, in particular the Douglas Valley area of South Lanarkshire.
Opencast coal-mining has a devastating impact on local communities. For 20 years the Douglas Valley has been exposed to dangerous levels of dust and fumes, the noise pollution of 24-hour excavation, large speeding trucks bringing chaos to the roads, and the destruction of the local countryside and wildlife. There is also good evidence of a range of health issues associated with living near open-cast coal mines, including kidney disease, chronic lung diseases such as COPD and cancer.
On a wider scale, coal emits the most CO2 of any fossil fuel. Coal fired power stations are the largest and fasted growing source of greenhouse gases within the power generation industry (rising by 30% between 1999 and 2005). Public relations companies like Weber Shandwick have helped spread the myth of 'clean coal', touting Carbon Capture and Storage as the solution. However, the industry itself admits that the technology will not be available for at least another 15 years, if it is feasible at all. There is a scientific consensus that our greenhouse gas emissions need to peak and fall before 2015 so there is not enough time to wait for an unproven technology like Carbon Capture and Storage.
However, despite these chronic problems, both the UK and Scottish governments are ignoring the concerns of local communities, and risking the health of people and the environment to satisfy the needs of profit-hungry corporations. Instead of resources going towards downscaling our energy needs and developing sustainable energy, they are being re-invested in coal. Over 27 open cast applications have gone to local councils in Scotland over the past few years, the vast majority of which have been approved with full government backing. This makes a complete laughing stock out the Scottish government's target to reduce CO2 emissions 80% by 2050.
Mining communities have a long history of neglect and deprivation. A just transition is needed to ensure that changes in employment and activity should be fair and not cost workers or communities their health, wealth, or assets. It will be the workers, not the bosses who are hit hardest by the effects of climate change, and for lasting significant change, campaigners and workers in high emission industries must unite to stop climate change and environmental degradation together.
By supporting the biggest social and environmental criminals around today such as Nestle, ExxonMobil, British Nuclear Fuel, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Scottish Coal, Weber Shandwick make millions of pounds worth of profit helping maintain the status quo and preventing a just transition to a sustainable future for us all.
On a wider scale, coal emits the most CO2 of any fossil fuel. Coal fired power stations are the largest and fasted growing source of greenhouse gases within the power generation industry (rising by 30% between 1999 and 2005). Public relations companies like Weber Shandwick have helped spread the myth of 'clean coal', touting Carbon Capture and Storage as the solution. However, the industry itself admits that the technology will not be available for at least another 15 years, if it is feasible at all. There is a scientific consensus that our greenhouse gas emissions need to peak and fall before 2015 so there is not enough time to wait for an unproven technology like Carbon Capture and Storage.
However, despite these chronic problems, both the UK and Scottish governments are ignoring the concerns of local communities, and risking the health of people and the environment to satisfy the needs of profit-hungry corporations. Instead of resources going towards downscaling our energy needs and developing sustainable energy, they are being re-invested in coal. Over 27 open cast applications have gone to local councils in Scotland over the past few years, the vast majority of which have been approved with full government backing. This makes a complete laughing stock out the Scottish government's target to reduce CO2 emissions 80% by 2050.
Mining communities have a long history of neglect and deprivation. A just transition is needed to ensure that changes in employment and activity should be fair and not cost workers or communities their health, wealth, or assets. It will be the workers, not the bosses who are hit hardest by the effects of climate change, and for lasting significant change, campaigners and workers in high emission industries must unite to stop climate change and environmental degradation together.
By supporting the biggest social and environmental criminals around today such as Nestle, ExxonMobil, British Nuclear Fuel, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Scottish Coal, Weber Shandwick make millions of pounds worth of profit helping maintain the status quo and preventing a just transition to a sustainable future for us all.
sticky