Full feedBreezy in Brindisi!
Here's a blog from Julien, one of our climate campaigners - currently occupying a coal smokestack in Italy. He wrote this last night but due to technical difficulties - we're only able to post this now
It's about 7 pm here at the Brindisi power station, which means we've now been occupying this power plant for over 16 hours. The wind has really picked up as well this afternoon. Really gusty and supposed to intensify tonight. Ulk! But, we've settled into our "new home" pretty well - it even seems that we've developed our own spaces for eating, transmitting footage and even a lavatory (but you probably don't want to know too much about that!).
One of our team went up the last few metres to the top of the turrets, the point where the 15 million tonnes of co2 annually is emitted. He described it as "looking into the mouth of hell". It reminded me of how the chief climate scientist of NASA, Dr. James Hansen, recently described coal-fired power stations as "death factories" (just in case
you don't understand the technical, scientific speak typical of boffins).
We're pretty happy with how our actions have gone today. We have taken non-violent direct action at four power stations in Italy, calling on government heads at the G8 meeting to show some climate leadership instead of just coming out with the typical political mumbo jumbo.
Lots of media have been in touch and we're preventing the flow of coal into two of the four power plants. But it's quite clear that the G8 leaders don't feel the heat enough. Today, in their official communique, they called for global warming to be limited to no more than 2 degrees, but with no mention of the cuts in greenhouse pollution that would achieve this. That's like declaring you want to climb Mt Kikimanjaro, taking no equipment with you and then asking a local for a piggy back up. They call themselves leaders?
But we're here for the long haul and we'll be continuing to build the pressure on the G8 leaders. Speaking of which, Greenpeace has just launched a new campaign called YoU-turn the Earth. Have a look at www.greenpeace.org/you-turn and add your voice to those calling for real leadership on climate change.
All the activists are well, but I'm struggling a bit after only 1 hour of sleep. Going to sneak in an hour or two. I've got it easy though compared to the half-dozen activists hanging in a net beneath a smokestack, 70 metres up. I know we take all the necessary safety precautions but still, those folks are brave!
If you're following the action here in Italy, please do drop us a line by commenting here or on our live feed. It's great to hear back from you. And remember, you might not want to do what we're doing today, but please do think about what you would be prepared to do in order to campaign for a safe climate.
The G8 meetings continue tomorrow, and the campaign will only escalate as we near the critical UN meeting in Copenhagen this December. Watch this space!
Cheers,
Julien
[Editor's note: The image is one of our activists, climbing on the smokestack yesterday. I am waiting for photos of Julien to come through and will post one ASAP]
Comments
Substantially, the post is really the freshest on this noteworthy topic. I concur with your conclusions and will eagerly look forward to your coming updates. Just saying thanks will not just be adequate, for the great lucidity in your writing. I will instantly grab your rss feed to stay informed of any updates. Fabulous work and much success in your business endeavors!
Posted by: Whittaker | December 3, 2009 1:02 AM