In Australia, the Bayswater Coal-Fired Power station is their largest single source of carbon pollution. The Company that owns the station plans on expanding its operation and building a second power station that will be known as “Bayswater Station B”. ‘‘We know that if we build Bayswater B, pollution will double, water impacts will double and health concerns will double,’’ Climate Camp spokeswoman Naomi Hogan said. Because of this proposed expansion of the generating station, during the first week of december climate change activist participated in a four-day Climate Camp on the banks of Lake Liddell. During this camp activist took action against the company and disrupted the companies production for over eight hours. These actions included: Chaining themselves to a conveyor belt, Knocking down a chained fence to allow for entry, and locking onto train tracks to halt supply of coal… Over 150 people were arrested for this action Ms Hogan says, “There is a large and growing movement of ordinary people concerned about the impacts of coal – not only climate change, but loss of agricultural land, impacts on water, damage to people’s health, and environmental destruction. “150 people will now be arrested to show the strength of our conviction that we will not allow Bayswater B to be built.” for more information check out the camps website at www.climatecamp.org.au
Dec 3 2010.
All over the world people are planning and preparing for mass actions around the international talks on climate change policies that is happening right now in Cancun Mexico.
Better Known as Cop 16 the “conference of the parties” will continue their ongoing discussions and debates around climate change policy and make decisions that will affect the entire world. Last time this meeting was held in Copenhagen, where most people were left with a bitter taste in their mouth. Instead of agreeing on viable solutions that will help lower the global temperature and reduce carbon emissions, World leaders continued business as usual and followed through with their market-based solutions further commodifying earth’s natural resources.
The hot topic being discussed this year in Cancun is the idea of REDDS. the whole notion of REDDS or Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation is to make forests more valuable standing than they would be cut down, by creating a financial value for the carbon stored in trees. This sounds good in theory but the UN’s definition of forests is vague enough to include monoculture tree plantations (such as oil palm, pine, eucalyptus), as well as clearcuts (termed “temporarily unstocked areas”) and genetically engineered (GE) trees, which basically means a corporation can buy the land rights of an entire forests and clear out the indigenous plant life (along with the peoples living in the forests) and plant their own form of cash crop and be considered a savior of the environment…
Activists from all over the world are making their way to Cancun to get their voices heard and spread the messaging that comes from the peoples accord that was created by a democratic process in which all peoples were involved in Cochabamba Bolivia earlier this year. The messaging of the Peoples Accord includes Eliminating the idea of REDDs, putting an end to all forms of a Carbon market, and Identifying and accepting the rights of the Mother Earth and Indigenous peoples of all kinds.
For those of us not able to make it to the discussions in Cancun, Dec 7 1010 is the international day of action in solidarity with the people who are in Cancun. All over the world people will be taking action in many different forms. In Little Village Chicago, this has taken the form of a community mural which depicts images of local struggles and solutions dealing with the environment and making the connections with the events happening globally… here’s a little preview…
The BBC is visiting eight areas of the world to find how people are preparing for climate change. Paul Adams reports from the American city of Chicago.
The threatened blizzard seems to have slid off in some other direction, and the snow is melting under grey, drizzling skies.
I know the local, day-to-day weather is completely beside the point, but it surely makes it hard for many to contemplate the reality of a planet warming towards dangerous levels. Just think about it: you’re at native Chicagoan, possibly struggling as a consequence of the global economic downturn - something that’s very tangible. It’s snowing. You’ve just heard that a friend of a friend lost a brother in Afghanistan. From far away come voices warning of dire global climatic scenarios, using highly technical terminology to describe something that, as far as you, here, now can actually see, isn’t happening. Continue reading »
