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Let's be friendsCoal becomes a burning issue
Action against new coal power in the UK is building up, with the leaders of the Stop Climate Chaos coalition protesting at Kingsnorth last week, and the Camp for Climate Action setting up outside the power station gates.
Leaders of Stop Climate Chaos organisations protest outside Kingsnorth
Stop Climate Chaos goes to Kingsnorth
Last Tuesday, the leaders of Stop Climate Chaos, the UK’s largest coalition dedicated to stopping climate change, warned Gordon Brown that a green light for a new unabated coal plant at Kingsnorth will lock Britain into decades of spiralling emissions and severely undermine the government’s ability to meet its climate targets.
At the invitation of the local community, leaders from a diverse range of organisations including People & Planet, the Women’s Institute, RSPB, Oxfam and Greenpeace planted flags in the ground at Kingsnorth to show Mr Brown the breadth of opposition he faces if he gives the go ahead to a fleet of new unabated coal plants. Instead, the coalition demands that he invests in renewables and makes massive improvements to energy efficiency.
- Take action: add your name to the letter to Gordon Brown.
Camp for Climate Action gets underway
100 people entered and secured an uncultivated field at Deansgate Ridge on Wednesday, only 1 km from Kingsnorth Power Station. They erected and climbed tripods to prevent police from moving them and erected a marquee alongside a banner reading ‘No New Coal’.
The camp, which is due to officially start on Sunday, 3 August, is expected to attract thousands of people coming from all over the UK. The week long camp hosts hundreds of workshops on sustainable living and the politics of climate change. The camp will culminate on Saturday 9 August in a mass direct action to shut down Kingsnorth power station on protest over E.ON’s plans to build the first new coal-fired power station in the UK for 33 years.
“E.ON and the government believe that you can have endless fossil-fuelled economic growth in a world of finite resources,” said Christina Greensford, who helped to secure the camp. “People from all over the UK are here to create a democratic, low-carbon society in which our long term future on this planet is prioritised over the short term profit margins of the fossil fuel industry.”
Find out more about the Climate Camp on their website.
Students from People & Planet have set up a group on Facebook for people planning to go to the Climate Camp.
Take action and find out more
- Download the Stop Kingsnorth briefing.
- Download the FAQ on Kingsnorth.
- Sign up to the Stop Climate Chaos letter to Gordon Brown.
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