You Must Be Choking! - Day of Action Against Drax Power Station
imc-uk-features | 31.08.2006 23:00 | Climate Camp 2006 | Climate Chaos | Ecology
Actions against Drax Power Station started early on Thursday morning (31st of August) and continued all day, with the Drax perimeter being breached several times. Up to 600 campaigners against climate change participated in the Reclaim Power mass action. Four main blocs gathered at the centre of the Climate Camp before splitting off into different groups, with some heading towards Drax across fields to avoid police road blocks [Early report | Photos 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Videos 1 | 2 | Protestors Audio Interview]
Meanwhile, other smaller actions had already begun - just after 4.30am seven activists occupied a Drax lighting tower. Later nearby roads were blocked by different affinity groups and another Drax lighting tower was also occupied with a banner reading "No Future For You". More perimeter penetrations occured as more groups arrived at the fence to be met with police in riot gear, horses and dogs. The total number of arrests on the day's actions was 38 people, some of whom were violently attacked by police.
In the early hours of Friday 1st of September the actions around Drax continued. Reports came in of people attempting to breach the perimeter of the fence overnight. On the other hand, the Legal Team informed that all of the 38 people arested in yesterday's mass action were released throughout the day, some of which having spent about 28 hours in police custody. There was also one confirmed arrest that took place on Friday morning. Two more arrests took place on Saturday 2nd September near the field were the Climate Camp was taking place.
For full details, see the full timeline of events and individual reports that have been posted to IMC-UK Climate Camp page.
Reports: First reports | Police Prevent Essential Supplies From Reaching Activists | Police quotes | Searching for 'weapons' | Farmer attacks Drax Protesters with Tractor (including photos) | Kids Block at Climate Camp | Fireworks from inside Drax | On the Ground: Suicide farmers found in Yorkshire | Photographer arrested over 'weapon' near Drax | Police Obstruction of Media around Climate Camp and Drax | Police hipocrisy at Drax | 3 hour lock on shuts down machine inside Drax | Climate Camp site restored to how it was found | Personal Experience of the Camp | Operation HASH report back | Wellbeing@Climate Camp | Indymedia at the Camp for Climate Action 2006: Report & Personal View.
Mainstream press: List of articles | Radio 4 coverage [ 1 | 2 ] | Reuters inaccurancies on climate camp reporting.
imc-uk-features
Additions
Climate Camp site restored to how it was found
08.09.2006 11:18
All straw, human waste and food scraps have gone to a local organic farm to be composted. All metal, glass, card and plastic has been recycled locally and the pallettes have been recycled or given to locals. The compost loos have been packed ready for re-use and most plumbing, tools etc and stored ready for future events. The site has been thoroughly litter picked but very little was left (apart from random clothes and stuff!) The only evidence we were there is some vehicle tracks around the gate.
Thankyou to everyone who came and helped, be it washing-up one bowl or moving wheelie bins full of shit for days.
The camp is not over, we need to pay off our debts and plan how we work togetehr in the future. Check the Climate Camp website for details on how to donate or come to the next gathering in October.
climate camper
Comments
Hide the following 23 comments
Solidarity from down south.
31.08.2006 13:49
Gemstone
e-mail:
gemstone_88@fastmail.fm
Proud to be an enemy of the state..
31.08.2006 16:27
Dawit Smallmoney
e-mail:
spiritualkids@hotmail.com
Well done You lot
31.08.2006 16:44
I nearly jumped van + walked back from the M18 on way south, weds with my kit, Keep at it +
POWER TO YOU ALL
Marcus
Dirty Oiler
31.08.2006 19:43
Also it appears a dirty oil fired unit was put on by national grid, possibly to cover losses caused by your actions.
Also how much carbon has been generated by the countless police vans driving from all parts of the country to watch over you all.
Dirty Oiler
hardly our fault
31.08.2006 20:48
Finaly... it is crazy to try to pin responsibilty for the stupid over the top policing of the protests on the protesters. There are only 500 people at the camp and the police know that so why bring in cops from eight forces plus the British Transport police? Anyway, those vehicles and their emissons are nothing compared to the emissons from Drax and similar power stations. And they are nothing compared to the loses inherent in the national grid.
n
Best eco action in years!
01.09.2006 12:08
Well played everyone from all connected with PowerToThePeople. A real success story!
Power To The People
Homepage:
http://www.powertothepeople.org.uk
RE Dirty Oiler
01.09.2006 12:58
Drax has the most effective FGD plant of any power station in the country.
re Dirty Oiler
Oil Fired
01.09.2006 17:17
Pieter@Drax
Yes we did get in!
01.09.2006 18:37
lumsk
indymedia censorship
01.09.2006 20:37
It is very clear what the focus of the demonstration actually IS - closing down coal power so it's not innaccurate. The reports on the 'blockade' of nine against the nuke power station showed that footage has been retained by the authorities. so what does that tell us? they do not want this to be seen even when it is only a meagre nine blockaders - obviously they are afraid of something, what is it?
there have also been some comments questioning how the 'protestors' travelled, hwo they charged their mobile phones. they are good questions. why would any real environmentalist possess a car mobile phone charger if it is not to use in a car? These are legitimate questions - most of us use electricity at some time. Another even important issue is the question of whether these 'environmentalists' use the services of a 'green' electricity provider. this is very easy to do and means that no blockaders are needed at all. if these 'environmentalists' want to do something useful then why not target the people using the electricity from these dirty power stations and campaign for them to choose 'green' electricity? if they just do not like the fact that there is a capitalist solution and prefer an authoritarian solution instead where the state decides where we get our juice from then why not just be honest about it and say they do not like it because it is run by capitalism? I think it is good that they care about the environment, but a more coherent message is needed.
all i can say is that with this censorship the phoney environmentalists have won.
on the issue of war I have looked at the websites and see no obvious statements of official position against any war - in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon. also no mention of the connections with nuke power and depleted uranium used in weaponry, only mention the issue of waste material. so that comment is innaccurate. only blair-friendly messages presented.
The Real Tony Blair
Close drax down???
02.09.2006 14:16
so think about it drax contributes to feeding soup to you tramps and helping to pay for train tickets so you can come and bother a great part of yourshire with a fantastic CLEAN powerstation.
many thanks.
A hardworking normal guy
I'm sick of it
the point
02.09.2006 22:03
kim
the web is a wonderful thing!
03.09.2006 15:42
Looking at the league table on this link its looks like you lot have made fools
out of yourself.
I think a trip over the border might be a an idea. better luck next time.
cheers
oh and by the way..DON'T come back
a bit of research goes a long way
For info
03.09.2006 17:02
It is pretty spectacular viewed up close, and when they say big, they mean BIG!!!
www.draxpower.com for details
Claire
over the border
03.09.2006 17:20
"Looking at the league table on this link its looks like you lot have made fools
out of yourself."
- hardly, I just arrived back in Britain and the first thing I saw in the media was large scale and in depth (at least for the BBC) discussions about Drax, coal fired plants in general and climate change. Even if Drax isn't the main offender the issues have still been highlighted in a way not done before,Well done all involved!
" I think a trip over the border might be a an idea. better luck next time. "
- what a good idea..., we'll look forward to it up here!
peacelover
to poster calling themselves tony blair
03.09.2006 19:19
"why would any real environmentalist possess a car mobile phone charger if it is not to use in a car?"
and the answer is to plug into a 12volt battery system, which has been charged by solar / wind etc - before inverters were so popular a lot of alt energy providers in the field had cigarette lighter attachments, a lot still do in fact.
climate camp people... nice one! - you rocked!
offgridandlovingit
No Clean Coal from Drax
04.09.2006 11:08
Drax and clean coal:
Drax may be 'cleaner' than others in terms of reducing their particle and SO2 emissions. SO2 emissions cause acid rain and are bad for health - we would be foolish to want to increase them! However, their effect on the climate is a COOLING effect. The type of 'clean coal' for which Drax stand means less cooling gases, huge amounts of greenhouse gases. It means more global warming than from old dirty power plants without scrubbers.
Drax and climate change:
Drax was chosen not just because it is the largest single emitter of CO2 in the UK, but also because the operators supported legal action against the EU to make them increase the amount of CO2 industry is allowed to emit. This legal action helped to undermine not just the radical emission cuts which scientists say we must make, but even the Kyoto Protocol and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. Companies which take legal action to stop any meaningful policy to reduce emissions are, I believe, a legitimate target for non-violent direct action.
Almuth Ernsting
Almuth Ernsting
e-mail:
almuth@ernsting.wanadoo.co.uk
re various
05.09.2006 10:52
There were more than 9 people at the nuke blockade (but if there had been just 9, I'd still have said "rock on" for blockading both entrances for the day and linking in the nuke issue).
As to the rest of your comments, The Real Tony Blair, sigh... It's easy to pick holes from an armchair. There was not the intent at the camp to come to consensus on how the world should be - there were many discussions on this and many many other subjects. Before you say 'there wasn't this thing or that', look at the programme on
As to unsupportive comments - actually we had support locally from workers at Drax too, leafletted them and all the houses around, held public meetings, were invited along to the nearest village's gala day, had the local vicar giving positive sermons about us and negative about Drax, and were asked by many to come back next year.
There were multiple targets in the area, not just Drax (which IS the single biggest emitter of CO2 in the UK, and the biggest power station in Europe) - Eggborough & Ferrybridge coal power stations, oil refineries, motorways, peat bogs etc etc.
camper
The reasons why so many police do this job...
05.09.2006 12:56
hum
e-mail:
hum.dinger@vodafone.net
Homepage:
http://www.humdingermusic.co.uk
Did that
05.09.2006 20:14
I was just repeating what the report said. To repeat what I said (apologies to those who are paying attention) - "so there were a grand total of nine blockaders (and twenty people protesting in total)"
"Before you say 'there wasn't this thing or that', look at the programme"
I did. I said I looked at the websites. The point I was making was not about other non-protest activity. The other discussions which could have taken place elsewhere do not change the main focus of the entertainment.
Glad you had a nice party anyway - shame about the farmer.
The Real Tony Blair
Universal Support - ha ha ha ha
06.09.2006 12:43
I live in Barlow and not one of the other residents I spoke to wanted you there.
As for turning the filters up, how would they know unless they were inside the Power Station. Also, how do you know they were burning cleaner coal than usual? Did you see them giving it a bath?
Drax is actually the biggest coal burning Power Station in Europe not the biggest overall.
Blue Moon
RE: The web is a wonderful thing
18.09.2006 13:52
The league table you refer to:
shows us which power stations produce the "dirtiest" energy. Drax Power Station is not the most inefficient in the UK, but it is the biggest. Yes it is true that there are some other stations, on a smaller scale, up in Scotland that emit more carbon per Kwh of electricity produced but they are family cars compared to the 16 wheel truck that is Drax. Drax does more damage then the other power stations because it produces more greenhouse gasses such as CO2.
I don't understand why people think we are on some deluded mission to protect "our" environment. We are trying to save the environment for everyone, including you. Even though it may already be too late we have to at least try and do something. Why would anyone object to that?
Luke P
direct action junkies
07.10.2006 16:42
This camp was about climate change for some, but what I mainly saw was that is was about non-hierarchical drop-out politics and the fact that there had been no other face off opportunity with the police organised this year, so all the fun had at Gleneagles that people wanted to repeat was organised this year over “climate change”. what’s next year? Genetic cloning? Arms? WTO? Same crowd I bet, wow, how credible. All this bunch do is devalue important issues by hijacking them for their own political agenda. And all these lies about what was achieved at Drax, and how it was emitting less smoke during the camp, what a load of utter nonsense. Talk about desperately trying to legitimise intimidation and hypocritical propaganda. Nothing was achieved, if you want to tackle carbon emissions in any real tangible way, you should work out some way to get trees planted in all the languishing green field sites across the UK and how to incentivise the government and farmers to grow trees that absorb the emissions that we all know aren’t going to get cut
Most of the people at thcamp were the hard-core, sanctimons paranoid rent-a-protestors who choose not to be a part of adult society, and won’t therefore work with society to be of any effect whatsoever. Civil disobedience to these people is a cult, not a means that should be respected. Civil disobedience as a hobby means it loses its power when its most needed, and at drax it wasnt.
What did the camp achieve other than add to the problem? 600 coppers turned up because the "media team" announced to the world they were happy to break the law in pursuit of their “beliefs” - sounds a bit like terrorism to me. Hmmm...so the result of that was 600 coppers getting shipped in, that’s lot of fuel burnt right there. Hmm...that’s also a lot of money, billed to the by the ordinary hard-working tax payer (of which this lot aren’t as most of the ones i met are on the dole and dont pay taxes on their earnings..) that enable a society like ours to exist and give you the right to protest. money that could have been invested in climate change research, had you numpties thought of engagement rather than rejection of the real world. This middle-class white armchair anarchism is more indicative of immaturity and lack of political understanding. If you want to see how a society functions without commerce and according to the precepts of anarchy, I suggest you go to iraq and see it in action. If you want to lead a low impact lifestyle like the camp, great, but using it as an excuse to fight corporate/state power through “direct action” under the guise of climate change is just self-serving boll**ks.
Blue Peter