As Iraq burns and Afghanistan trembles, the oceans of the world rise ever
higher and the skies fill with the smoke of innumerable factories and jet flights for the rich.
higher and the skies fill with the smoke of innumerable factories and jet flights for the rich.
It is no coincidence that BAe Systems, in its dealings with the repressive government of Saudi Arabia, accepts payment in the form of barrels of oil, mediated by the British government. Climate change and international conflict, twin threats of the modern world, are intricately linked, feeding off one another for mutual profit as people and the planet are destroyed.
In 2004, a report leaked from the Pentagon spelled out the reality past the US government's stance on climate change. In spite of the lies and pseudo-science promoted as fact by a government in the control of the oil industry, the report - drawn up by government officials, oil consultants and military strategists - described climate change not only as an ecological disaster, but as a threat to national security, more destructive than international terrorism. "Once again," the report concludes, "warfare would define human life."
They were not wrong. Afghanistan (proposed site of a natural gas pipeline running from the Caspian sea) and Iraq (one of the three most oil-rich countries in the world) are just two of the more prominent examples of the increased militarisation of the world's unsustainable energy policy. Across the world, from the rapidly-depleting Amazon rainforest to the destructive paths woven by oil pipelines throughout central Asia, South America and elsewhere, earth abusers are met with grassroots opposition, to which they increasingly have a single answer: naked force. Money given in bribes by oil companies helps to facilitate civil conflict across Africa, with the resulting conflict forcing thousands from their homes in Sudan, Chad and the rest of a continent already feeling the most brutal edge of global climate change.
In addition to providing the iron fist with which to protect environmental abuse from popular resistance, the arms industry contributes directly to the increasing levels of carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere. Military aircraft contribute more emissions per vehicle than corresponding commercial aircraft and, due to their requirements, produce higher levels of destructive chemical emissions. The production and transportation of mass weaponry creates still more destruction, product of an arms trade which spans the globe.
Issues of armed conflict, whether between states, between peoples or between those with power and those without, cannot be separated from climate change, or from the wider system of capitalist exploitation.
Therefore, to coincide with the Camp for Climate Action, we call on all anti-militarists, environmentalists and anti-capitalists to join us in taking action against the BAe factory located in Brough, near Selby, from 12:30pm on 1st September. Bring anything to make noise, whether a whistle, a drum, or simply your own voice. Meet 12:30 at Brough station to leave soon after.
Directions: Brough is approximately twenty minutes by train from Selby (closest train station to the camp for climate action). Trains leave from Selby at 10:59, 11:44, 11:59, and 12:18; trains are sporadic so please make sure to leave on time. When leaving the station, go down Station Road, turn left onto Saltgrounds Road, and cross the bridge; keep walking, the site is difficult to miss.
In 2004, a report leaked from the Pentagon spelled out the reality past the US government's stance on climate change. In spite of the lies and pseudo-science promoted as fact by a government in the control of the oil industry, the report - drawn up by government officials, oil consultants and military strategists - described climate change not only as an ecological disaster, but as a threat to national security, more destructive than international terrorism. "Once again," the report concludes, "warfare would define human life."
They were not wrong. Afghanistan (proposed site of a natural gas pipeline running from the Caspian sea) and Iraq (one of the three most oil-rich countries in the world) are just two of the more prominent examples of the increased militarisation of the world's unsustainable energy policy. Across the world, from the rapidly-depleting Amazon rainforest to the destructive paths woven by oil pipelines throughout central Asia, South America and elsewhere, earth abusers are met with grassroots opposition, to which they increasingly have a single answer: naked force. Money given in bribes by oil companies helps to facilitate civil conflict across Africa, with the resulting conflict forcing thousands from their homes in Sudan, Chad and the rest of a continent already feeling the most brutal edge of global climate change.
In addition to providing the iron fist with which to protect environmental abuse from popular resistance, the arms industry contributes directly to the increasing levels of carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere. Military aircraft contribute more emissions per vehicle than corresponding commercial aircraft and, due to their requirements, produce higher levels of destructive chemical emissions. The production and transportation of mass weaponry creates still more destruction, product of an arms trade which spans the globe.
Issues of armed conflict, whether between states, between peoples or between those with power and those without, cannot be separated from climate change, or from the wider system of capitalist exploitation.
Therefore, to coincide with the Camp for Climate Action, we call on all anti-militarists, environmentalists and anti-capitalists to join us in taking action against the BAe factory located in Brough, near Selby, from 12:30pm on 1st September. Bring anything to make noise, whether a whistle, a drum, or simply your own voice. Meet 12:30 at Brough station to leave soon after.
Directions: Brough is approximately twenty minutes by train from Selby (closest train station to the camp for climate action). Trains leave from Selby at 10:59, 11:44, 11:59, and 12:18; trains are sporadic so please make sure to leave on time. When leaving the station, go down Station Road, turn left onto Saltgrounds Road, and cross the bridge; keep walking, the site is difficult to miss.
