Posts Tagged ‘coal’
German energy giant EON have announced that they are shelving controversial plans for a massive expansion of coal and gas electricity generation in the Medway region. The surprising news emerged today as Eon contractors broke ground at the offices of Medway Council on Dock Road, Chatham, and started installing wind turbines and solar panels.
Eon media relations officer, Joe King announced, “We realise that continued investment in fossil fuels is a dangerous distraction from the urgent need to develop truly sustainable technologies so we’ve abandoned our dated plans to continue burning gas and coal. This wind farm for Medway council is just the beginning, we’re also offering all our customers heavily discounted shares in future community wind farm schemes, so they’ll actually co-own the systems that provide their power”.
In a leaflet passed out to passers by, Eon admitted that until now, only a trivial amount of their investments had gone into renewables but promised that would now change. Acknowledging the urgent need to drastically cut emissions in order to curb global warming and avoid disastrous climatic tipping points, the company promised they’d abandon their plans to turn Medway into a CO2 pumping hub, end further investment into fossil fuels, and instead commit to truly sustainable energy such as wind and sun. Read the rest of this entry »
Activists Pull Elaborate ‘Fossil Fools Day’ Prank on Xcel Energy
April 1st, 2010
Denver, CO – On April Fools’ Day – as part of the international ‘Fossil Fools Day’ – Colorado activists pulled an elaborate prank on Xcel Energy, the largest utility company in the state. With a farce website (www.xcelresponsiblebynature.com), a satirical press release, and a letter to Colorado ratepayers, activists helped Xcel Energy become a renewable energy leader. The announcement said that Xcel Energy would switch to 100% renewable electricity in Colorado by phasing out all coal plants and abandoning plans to convert existing coal plants to natural gas.
In the spoof initiative, Xcel Energy agreed to pay for the transition to renewable energy out of its own deep pockets. The letter assured Colorado ratepayers: “While, over the past several years, we have raised rates for our customers numerous times, our new approach will put the burden on Xcel’s executives rather than our loyal and hardworking customers. And, rest assured, we can afford it. With an annual profit of nearly $700 million and CEO pay in the millions each year, our ‘responsible by nature’ executives are volunteering to take pay cuts to ensure the success of our plan.”
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Hi Res Pictures
Activists Risk Arrest with Elaborate Protest at EPA HQ; Demand Immediate Action to Stop Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining
Group Erects Purple Mountain Majesty At EPA; Say “If Administrator Lisa Jackson Won’t Visit the Appalachian Mountains, They Will Bring The Mountains to Her”
In an attempt to further pressure EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to enforce the Clean Water Act and halt mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR), activists early this morning erected two 20-foot-tall, purple tripod structures in front of the agency’s headquarters. A pair of activists perched at the top of the tripods have strung a 25-foot sign in front of the EPA’s door that reads, “EPA: pledge to end mountaintop removal in 2010.” Six people are locked to the tripods and say they won’t leave unless Administrator Jackson commits to a flyover visit of the Appalachian Mountains and MTR sites, which she has never done before.
This is the latest in a series of actions and activities aimed at pressuring the EPA to take more decisive action on mountaintop removal coal mining. Today’s tactic is modeled on the multi-day tree-sits that have been happening in West Virginia to protect mountains from coal companies’ imminent blasting. Called the worst of the worst strip mining, the practice blows the tops off of whole mountains to scoop out the small seams of coal that lie beneath.
“We’re losing our way of life and our culture,” said Chuck Nelson, Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: action, cap-and-trade, civil disobedience, climate, coal, mtr, trees and forests | 
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The Nation: The Wrong Kind of Green
March 5th, 2010
Why did America’s leading environmental groups jet to Copenhagen and lobby for policies that will lead to the faster death of the rainforests–and runaway global warming? Why are their lobbyists on Capitol Hill dismissing the only real solutions to climate change as “unworkable” and “unrealistic,” as though they were just another sooty tentacle of Big Coal?
At first glance, these questions will seem bizarre. Groups like Conservation International are among the most trusted “brands” in America, pledged to protect and defend nature. Yet as we confront the biggest ecological crisis in human history, many of the green organizations meant to be leading the fight are busy shoveling up hard cash from the world’s worst polluters–and burying science-based environmentalism in return. Sometimes the corruption is subtle; sometimes it is blatant. In the middle of a swirl of bogus climate scandals trumped up by deniers, here is the real Climategate, waiting to be exposed.
I have spent the past few years reporting on how global warming is remaking the map of the world. I have stood in half-dead villages on the coast of Bangladesh while families point to a distant place in the rising ocean and say, “Do you see that chimney sticking up? That’s where my house was… I had to [abandon it] six months ago.” I have stood on the edges of the Arctic and watched glaciers that have existed for millenniums crash into the sea. I have stood on the borders of dried-out Darfur and heard refugees explain, “The water dried up, and so we started to kill each other for what was left.”
While I witnessed these early stages of ecocide, I imagined that American green groups were on these people’s side in the corridors of Capitol Hill, trying to stop the Weather of Mass Destruction. But it is now clear that many were on a different path–one that began in the 1980s, with a financial donation.
Environmental groups used to be funded largely by their members and wealthy individual supporters. They had only one goal: to prevent environmental destruction. Their funds were small, but they played a crucial role in saving vast tracts of wilderness and in pushing into law strict rules forbidding air and water pollution. But Jay Hair–president of the National Wildlife Federation from 1981 to 1995–was dissatisfied. He identified a huge new source of revenue: the worst polluters. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: big business, big greens, cap-and-trade, coal, congress, COP15, Copenhagen, denial, disaster, environmental justice, EPA, greenwash, media, politics |
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The Climate Movement is Dead… Long Live the Climate Movement!
March 2nd, 2010
Rising Tide North America is pleased to announce the release of our latest publication:
The Climate Movement is Dead… Long Live the Climate Movement!
In the aftermath of the COP15 talks in Copenhagen, the inability of the Big Greens, governments, and market approaches to find genuine and sustainable solutions to climate change is undeniable. As author Naomi Klein so aptly observed at the end of COP15 talks, “A particular model of dealing with climate change is dying.”
DOWNLOAD HERE [PDF]
In the same uncompromising spirit as Rising Tide publications such as Deal or No Deal, and Hoodwinked in the Hothouse, CMID:LLCM delivers a timely critique of the failures of this “particular model” as exemplified by the mainstream NGOs who have grown all too cozy with corporations and the political establishment. It explores the ways in which “green” capitalism,electoral politics, and market mechanisms, far from solving the climate crisis, are some of the climate movement’s biggest obstacles.
Not content with mere polemic, CMID:LLCM charts a course that diverges from the dominant discourse of the mainstream climate movement. The essay lays out a strategy of supporting and escalating frontline struggles againstdirty energy while building a new global climate movement from the ground up, based around core principles of climate justice, grassroots power, solidarity, and direct action.
The Climate Movement Is Dead: Long Live the Climate Movement is a must-read for anyone left disenchanted by the mainstream climate movement, and all who are ready to step it up and fight for climate justice.
You can download a digital copy to view online or print yourself.
Or send us an email to contact (at) risingtidenorthamerica (dot) org with your name, address, and how many copies you would like to receive. We are happy to provide this publication for free but as an all volunteer collective we greatly appreciate donations. Also consider joining in our print run collaboration:
Rising Tide North America is excited to announce a “Print-Run Collaboration” project for CMID:LLCM. Local groups and allies can help us raise the funds necessary for an initial print-run of several thousand copies, and in return, receive a big stack “hot-off-the-presses” at approximately the cost of printing (cheaper than photocopies!).
Click HERE to join in
Local Citizens ‘Die-in’ at Xcel HQ in Coal Protest (Colorado)
February 27th, 2010
Group calls on Xcel to Keep Comanche 3 Closed and Produce 100% Renewable Electricity by 2020
Denver, CO – At 11:45am on Friday, February 26th, local citizens demonstrated at the Denver headquarters of Xcel Energy – located at the corner of 17th St. and Lawrence St. – in protest of the utility’s impending plan to bring a new coal-fired power plant online in Pueblo, CO. The lunch hour protest called on Xcel executives to move Colorado in the right direction by keeping the Comanche 3 coal-fired power plant closed. Protestors demonstrated in a ‘die-in’ in front of the building’s main entrance to highlight the grim consequences that coal has on our lives and those of future generations. Simultaneously, two activists clad in hazmat suits dropped a banner off an adjoining bridge on Lawrence St. Police arrived on scene but no arrests were made.
The 750-megawatt Comanche Unit 3 would be the largest coal-fired power plant in the state, surpassing even the mammoth Cherokee coal plant in North Denver. “At a time when the costs of coal are becoming increasingly clear and the benefits of clean energy are ever more apparent, building the largest coal-fired power plant in the state is taking us 180 degrees in the wrong direction,” said Amy Guinan, an activist with Power Past Coal. Read the rest of this entry »
What are you going to do to raise the stakes this Fossil Fools Day?
February 23rd, 2010
Matt Wilkerson on It’s Getting Hot in Here
2 years ago I and several friends shut down construction at the site of the Cliffside Coal Plant in North Carolina. It was April 1st, Fossil Fools Day. After public hearings, petitions, legislative efforts, and protest failed, we knew we had to do something to up the ante in the fight against coal plants in this country. So it was that we found ourselves locked to Duke Energy’s bulldozers on that dark, drizzly morning.
Did we permanently stop the Cliffside construction site? No. However this action, along with the countless other actions like it by groups around the country, have greatly increased the cost, both politically and economically, of building coal plants in this country. While the construction at Cliffside continues, I feel confident that our direct actions, and those of others, is in part responsible for the wave of coal plants that have been canceled in the US (100 and counting).
No doubt utility companies and state governments pursuing new coal plants took note of the fight against Cliffside and decided that the constant controversy and harassment was not worth it (of course the recession and prospects of CO2 being regulated has helped as well). Well its 2010 and Fossil Fools Day is once again rounding the corner. We’ve witnessed the spectacular failure of Copenhagen, the Obama administration time and again capitulating to big business, and corporations doing there best to stall our efforts.
Yet we’ve seen inspiring resistance around the country, from Climate Ground Zero’s relentless direct action campaign against mountaintop removal to citizens shutting down Chevron’s refinery in Richmond, CA. The question is: What are you going to do to raise the stakes on April 1st?
Judge Withdraws Peabody’s Coal-Mining Permit
January 26th, 2010
Black Mesa, AZ – A Department of Interior Administrative Law Judge withdrew Peabody Coal Company’s Life of Mine permit for operations (Black Mesa Complex) on Black Mesa, AZ, handing a major victory to tribal and environmental organizations who appealed the permit decision in January. The permit had been granted on December 22nd 2008 by the Department of Interior’s Office of Surface Mining (OSM) in one of several fossil-fuel friendly 11th hour decisions by the Bush Administration.
According Judge Robert G. Holt, “OSM violated NEPA [National Environmental Protection Act] by not preparing a supplemental draft EIS [Environmental Impact Statement] when Peabody changed the proposed action. As a result, the Final EIS did not consider a reasonable range of alternatives to the new proposed action, described the wrong environmental baseline, and did not achieve the informed decision-making and meaningful public comment required by NEPA. Because of the defective Final EIS, OSM’s decision to issue a revised permit to Peabody must be vacated and remanded to OSM for further action.”
Wahleah Johns, co-director of Black Mesa Water Coalition, one of the petitioners in the appeal, issued the following statement: “As a community member of Black Mesa I am grateful for Judge Holt’s decision. For 40 years our sacred homelands and people have borne the brunt of coal mining impacts, from relocation to depletion of our only drinking water source. This ruling is an important step towards restorative justice for Indigenous communities who have suffered at the hands of multinational companies like Peabody Energy. This decision is also precedent-setting for all other communities who struggle with the complexities of NEPA laws and OSM procedures in regards to environmental protection. However, we also cannot ignore that irreversible damage of coal mining industries continues on the land, water, air, people and all living things.”
http://www.blackmesawatercoalition.org/
Tree Sit Halts the Blasting in southern West Virginia
January 21st, 2010
“Coal River Mountain was the last mountain around here that hasn’t been touched and they could’ve been using it for windmills…But Massey wants to get that coal. It seems like they just don’t care about the populace. Just the land and their checkbook.” – Richard Bradford MARFORK, W.Va. – Protestors associated with Climate Ground Zero and Mountain Justice halted blasting on Coal River Mountain today with a three-person tree-sit. David Aaron Smith, 23, Amber Nitchman, 19 and Eric Blevins, 28 are on platforms approximately 60 feet up two tulip poplar trees and one oak tree. They are located next to where Massey Energy is blasting to build an access road to the Brushy Fork Impoundment on its Bee Tree Strip Mine. Their banners state: “Save Coal River Mtn.,” “EPA Stop the Blasting” and “Windmills Not Toxic Spills.” Read the rest of this entry »
Christmas Elves deliver coal to Queensland Premier in climate protest
December 27th, 2009
Christmas Elves and Farmers delivered 2 sacks of coal and 300 Christmas Cards from Brisbane residents to Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh on the 21st December protesting further coal mining expansion in nature refuges and farmland.
Toowoomba Farmer and Friends of Felton spokesperson Rob McCreath was at the event, and says that without action from the Government, both his farm and the entire Felton valley will soon be destroyed by coal mining.
“This is an emergency. The Queensland Government must act now to protect farmland and the environment from destruction by mining,” said Mr McCreath.
“Bligh deserves nothing but coal in her stocking this Christmas, for allowing coal mining to expand into nature refuges and our best farmland and for ignoring the climate impacts of this dirty industry,” said Friends of the Earth spokesperson Bradley Smith.
The protesters sang christmas carols with a pointed message on coal and climate in the Foyer of the Executive Building.
“The Premier has an opportunity to take real action on climate change, right now, this Christmas. Just protect our good farmland and nature refuges from the rapidly expanding coal industry,” implored Mr Smith.
“We want to know why the Queensland Government continues to put coal mining first when it is destroying our agricultural resources, our biodiversity and our climate,” Mr Smith said.
Full report at Six Degrees: Coal spills in Executive Building as Elves, Farmers confront Bligh over farmland
Other recent Australian climate actions in response to the failure of the COP15 climate negatiations include:
- forty climate activists closing down the rail line into the world’s biggest coal port at Newcastle on Sunday December 20 for seven and a half hours. Newcastle is located on the east coast of Australia about 100km north of Sydney, and is the largest coal port in the world. (Indybay: Australia: Activists take Climate action by Blockading Coal Port)
- immediately following the end of the climate talks in Copenhagen, Friends of the Earth activists took to the streets and bridges of Brisbane, denouncing the failure of the negotiations and imploring community members to take action. (Six Degrees: Copenhagen Failure: Brisbane Demands Action)
Rising Tide protest stops coal trains near Sandgate
December 21st, 2009
Australia Risingtide:
9am, Sunday 20th December 2009, Newcastle Australia:
Forty climate activists have closed down the rail line into the world’s biggest coal port this morning, protesting the failure of the UN climate talks in Copenhagen to produce a just, effective, and legally binding treaty.
Twenty five of the diverse group – aged from 19 to 86 years and including a Buddhist priest, and an elected local councillor – are occupying a rail bridge in Newcastle, Australia, and refusing to leave. They have hung large banners reading “Greed wrecked Copenhagen: Now it’s up to us all”, and “You could have done something great.”
Tags: action, Australia, blockade, civil disobedience, climate, coal, COP15, Copenhagen, direct action, politics, protest, Rising Tide, Rudd, train |
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Report: Climate Day of Action in Phoenix
December 1st, 2009
We had a glorious day of events out here today, starting off with a march
of under ten people carrying banners and drums from Civic Space Park
through downtown Phoenix, stopping outside of about five banks to protest
coal plants, including three of the top financeers of coal power: JP
Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America. From there, we marched to
the offices of APS and their parent corporation, Pinnacle West. We rallied
at that point for a while and did a banner drop denouncing APS involvement
in coal mining at Black Mesa. Next, we marched back to Chase Bank and
occupied it, bringing our banners and drums in with us. After about five
minutes of chanting anti-coal slogans and calling them out for funding a
coal plant in Springerville and financial affiliation with APS, we were
asked to leave by security and were profiled as we left. Finally, we
marched back to Civic Space Park. To check out our pictures, go to:
http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r116/IantheVedge/
Later on, there was a protest and rally against Arpaio as he spoke at ASU
Downtown. A large group of people occupied the lobby of the Journalism
Building, chanting, banging drums and overall bringing the ruckus while a
smaller group of students sang an anti-Arpaio version of Bohemian Rhapsody
(Immigrant Rhapsody). Even the Haymarket Squares played a few jams in the
lobby! Its a great day in Phoenix when you get to occupy two buildings
and still take them by surprise.
Victory and Solidarity,
U-Lock
This post was submitted by Garyn.
U.S.: Concerned citizens block shipment of generator to Cliffside Coal Plant.
November 30th, 2009
Greenville, SC Two protestors have locked themselves to the 1.5 million pound generator destined for Duke Energy’s Cliffside coal plant in Rutherford County, North Carolina. Protestors are vowing to prevent the generator, which has been traveling across South Carolina on a 300 foot trailer, from reaching the coal plant. “Our nation has no choice, we must stop burning coal. The only choice that we can make is whether we do that in time to still have breathable air, drinkable water, a livable climate, and standing mountains,†said, Catherine Anne. Protestors also draped a large banner from the top of the generator reading, “Stop Cliffside.â€
The controversial Cliffside coal plant would emit over 6 million tons of carbon dioxide ever year in addition to toxic levels of heavy metals such as mercury, greatly exacerbating global warming and our abysmal air quality. Duke Energy is seeking to raise electricity rates in order to pay for the construction of Cliffside at a time when record numbers of families are struggling to put food on the table due to the recession.
This act of civil disobedience comes a week before world leaders meet in Copenhagen to hash out a global climate agreement. “Any agreement made in Copenhagen will be meaningless if the US continues to build coal plants such as Cliffside. It is time to tear down coal plants, not construct new ones,†said Rachel Scarano. There are currently 43 coal plants proposed or under construction in the US, though over 100 others have been canceled due to widespread protests.
Since it was first proposed, there has been massive opposition to Cliffside. In the past year and a half over 60 people have been arrested protesting the plant, and they vow to continue the fight. “Since politicians and corporations refuse to take serious action to stop climate change, citizens must step in to shut down coal plants,†said Attila Nemecz. The protest was organized by Asheville Rising Tide and Croatan Earth First! and is part of a national day of action with dozens of protests around the country including Chicago, New York City, Washington DC, and San Francisco.
Directions to site: From I-85 in Greenville, exit onto US 25/ White Horse Rd. Go South on 25 for 2 miles. Left at Augusta Rd. Protest is .5 miles down the road on right.
Press Contact: Liz Veazey 919-627-7324 ashevillerisingtide@gmail.com
Onsite Contact: Attila Nemecz 919-889-1261www.asheville.risingtidenorthamerica.org
Is there any real chance of averting the climate crisis?
November 29th, 2009
Nasa’s James Hansen was the first to point out the perils of climate change
to the US Congress. Here, he begins a heated debate with experts from around
the world, from China to the threatened Maldives, and argues that our leaders
must be shaken out of their complacency. But will they show enough courage at next
week’s Copenhagen summit to take the first steps to saving the planet?
James Hansen
The Observer,
Sunday 29 November 2009
Absolutely. It is possible – if we give politicians a cold, hard slap in the face.
The fraudulence of the Copenhagen approach – “goals” for emission reductions, “offsets”
that render ironclad goals almost meaningless, the ineffectual “cap-and-trade”
mechanism – must be exposed. We must rebel against such politics as usual.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: 350, cap-and-trade, CO2, coal, COP15, Copenhagen, environmental justice, EPA, government, James Hansen, politics, protest, science, UN, UNFCCC |
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Caravan of Support at Big Mountain, November 21-28
November 22nd, 2009
Caravan in Support of Communities On The Front Lines Of Resistance at Big Mountain, Black Mesa, AZ.
November 21-28, 2009
The caravan is full. It is not fair to all the others organizing or to the families for people jump on at the last minute. Please consider coming out this winter or spring or for next year’s caravan. If you’ve already been in touch with us, ok. Thank you for your support!
Greetings from Black Mesa Indigenous Support,
We are excited to inform you that a caravan of work crews isl once again converging from across the country in support of residents of the Big Mountain regions of Black Mesa. On behalf of their peoples, their sacred ancestral lands and future generations, these communities continue to carry out a staunch resistance to the efforts of the US Government, which is acting in the interests of the Peabody Coal Company, to devastate whole communities and ecosystems and greatly de-stabilize our planet’s climate for the profit of an elite few.
By assisting with direct, on-land projects you are helping families stay on their ancestral homelands in resistance to an illegal occupation. These courageous communities serve as the very blockade to coal mining! More than 14,000 Dine’ people have been forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands due to spin created by the U.S government & Peabody Coal, under the guise of the so-called “Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute.†Families are now in their THIRD DECADE resisting this travesty and, as you can imagine, many residents are very elderly and winters can be rough. With their guidance, the aim of this caravan is to honor the elders and to generate support in the form of direct, on-land support: chopping and hauling firewood, doing minor repair work, offering holistic health care, and sheep-herding before the approaching cold winter months arrive.