Environment / Climate Change

posted 30 September 2008: By Barry Wigmore: Oil and gas reserves under the Arctic ice cap could trigger a polar war, it is claimed. Russia, Denmark, Norway, Canada and the U.S. all have interests in large tracts of the region, under which lie untapped energy resources. With the ice caps melting, access to the reserves will be easier, sparking a rush for ownership, says Jane’s International Defence Review. more

from email, 23 September 2008: For nearly twenty years anyone concerned about climate change has been worried about the millions and millions of tonnes of frozen methane locked in the permafrost slowly melting and being released into the atmosphere. It was seen as a nightmare scenario, known as a positive feedback mechanism, where the more the Arctic melted the more methane would be released. As methane is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide, its release into the atmosphere would cause much greater rates of climate change and warming and hence more methane release... Well now it seems that nightmare is becoming a reality.  more

from if, corporate media, 13 September 2008: Radical environmentalist Kevin Tucker took the stage at Mercyhurst College two years ago to sound his call for a world freed from civilization. Today, he is scheduled to take a seat before a different kind of Erie audience -- a federal grand jury. The 28-year-old former Pennsylvania resident said he has been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury that is investigating a series of arsons and other politically motivated acts of sabotage and vandalism in the Erie area in 2002 and 2003. more

Since late 2000 there has been an on-going attempt by multinationals like Shell and the Irish state to devastate a remote coastal area of county Mayo with a toxic refinery and a high pressure production gas pipeline. Since then there has been an ongoing struggle to keep Shell out of Mayo. Pickets, blockades, benefit gigs, demonstrations and speaking tours have been happening all over Ireland, the UK and beyond. Here are some articles from external newswires filtered for the keywords: Rossport, Corrib, Shell, Mayo, Glengad, Maura, Harrington. more

from various sources, 8 September 2008: On Saturday 6th September two hundred activists made it to Ledbury, Herefordshire, for the Carnival Against Vivisection in solidarity with political prisoner Sean Kirtley. The day of action was called by various groups in resistance to the imprisoning of peaceful campaigners under SOCPA legislation, and as a stand for the animals suffering inside vivisection laboratories. more

from no2010, 22 August 2008: from The Edmonton Journal - Canadian officials surveying the Beijing Olympics must be paying special attention to the myriad protests and criticisms -- some overdrawn and overwrought -- that have dogged China before and during the Games. If they are wise, our observers should fight the temptation to feel smugly superior... And while Canada has considerable bragging rights compared with China in the areas of free speech, democracy, religious freedom and other fundamental liberties, we are not without our shiny spots. One of the most threadbare is the perceived -- and real -- environmental baggage associated with Alberta's oilsands, like it or not.  more

from various sources, 21 August 2008: Dave Douglass, former NUM Yorkshire Area Executive member, writes this report of his visit to the so called Climate Camp +++ In August, me and Arthur Scargill enter another big field to fight the corner for the miners and coal our industry and cause. Last time it was that field at Orgreave, this time it’s the Climate Camp at Kingsnorth Power Station and instead of thousands of cops there’s thousands of eco-warriors who now believe coal is killing the planet and want to stop all new coal stations. more

from email, 14 August 2008: The Autonomous camp (part of the Climate Camps movement) is now taking place in Lévis (Québec), nearby the future site for the methane port. This is a letter sent to the other Climate Camps now in action. This is a letter to all who care. more

from email, updated 19 August 2008: The climate camp will be a place for us to educate ourselves, and to talk about different relationships between society and nature. The point is to develop positions and strategies of and for an emerging climate movement. By organising this camp, we’re beginning to look for ways to resist the CO2-economy and the general climate of social repression – also in our everyday lives – including small and large disobedient actions. Parallel to our camp, but in the same location, there will also be an anti-racist camp, targeting, amongst others, Hamburg’s charter-deportation airport. Both camps’ preparatory processes are being coordinated so as to best bring out their respective and mutual potentials. more

from imc-uk, 09.08.2008: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Saturday 09/08/08: The Climate Camp at Kingsnorth was celebrating today as protesters succeeded in breaching the perimeter fence and inner 10,000 volt electric fence to enter the power station site despite the best efforts of 26 police forces with over 1,500 police.

The day started early with a flotilla of boats – the Blue group - sailing towards Kingsnorth in the sun. Over twenty crafts made their way up the Medway to converge on the coal loading jetty. Three people occupied the ledge above the power station's water inlet tunnel while a banner proclaiming 'CO2AL: Starter Gun for Climate Chaos' was hung from Darnet Fort on an island in the Medway directly opposite the power station. more

from email, 7 August 2008: Social War Not Climate Chaos! Starting Tuesday, daily meetings at the Scottish Barrio from 5-7 PM will explore how the climate crisis, a facet of the more general latest crisis in capitalism itself, can be used to build a new kind of autonomous social movement constituted as a material force...a force capable of confronting and ultimately halting capitalism. These meetings are not on the official climate camp workshop list, of course. more

from infoshop, 23 April 2008: Perhaps Andrea Todd deserves a little credit. She was, after all, attempting to write an article about someone who lies for a living. Getting true, accurate information from such a source can be difficult at best, impossible at worst. Which, of course, makes the subject matter of the article on page 266 of Elle Magazine's May issue inherently problematic to begin with. more

from email, 20 April 2008: May 1st, international workers day, has traditionally been a day to challenge the capitalist system and a celebration of solidarity and workers' struggle for a more just social system. On this day we are calling on people to make the link between capitalism, economic growth, climate change and social struggle. more

from email, 11 April 2008: The weekend of the 19th to 20th April will see two national student climate gatherings take place at the London Action Resource Centre. The first for Climate Camp, and the second for the Student Climate Project. Please forward this message far and wide and persuade all to come along. You don't have to be a student, and crash space is available! more

from oilsandstruth, 5 April 2008: "With oil prices surpassing $100 per barrel, talk of extracting the black gold wherever it can be found in Utah and elsewhere is raising red flags for environmental groups. The most recent complaint came this week from 26 conservation groups that accuse the Bush administration of rushing to develop oil shale and tar sands and endangering communities and 2 million acres of wild lands in three states, including Utah..." more