Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Manchester Climate Change Activists Blockade Domestic Flights

10.10.2007 15:25 | Climate Chaos

Activists from Manchester Climate Action and Manchester Plane Stupid blockaded the security check-in of terminal 3 of Manchester Airport.

Passengers were denied access to the departure lounge by seven activists locked together using arm-tube devices. Two banners were unfurled reading, “Manchester City Council...supporting climate chaos” and “Domestic flights cost the Earth”. Other protesters leafleted passengers with information about aviation and climate change as well as handing out train timetables for route destinations.

Video | Photos | Press release

thunbmail
thunbmail


Additions

interesting this one....

10.10.2007 21:50

hi - not good.

It is interesting to get people's opinions on this. I didnt' see the media coverage on TV but I thought the press coverage of it brought up some interesting points. And actually got across the points that they were trying to make.

 http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1018817_airport_hit_by_green_protest
 http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1287361,00.html

I think that's the general idea. I don't think you can realistically do actions like that without pissing off the public. It's a bit like Petrol station blockades as well. Maybe not popular but worth doing. Or should we only be doing protests where everyone is on your side? (er No Fuel Tax Blockades maybe)

Also, it does start bring the debate back to what people have to do to change their lifestyles to reduce emmissions rather than just blaming the State, BAA and BA (who are also legitimate targets - don't get me wrong).

mickfuzz


Comments

Hide the following 12 comments

bad action

10.10.2007 15:34

this was not a good action. members of the public were pissed off, news media was poorly handled and the message did not get out

big big error all round

sorry to be so neg but timme for realism here

not good


Thanks for posting a news item (at last)

10.10.2007 17:13

Just a quick message to say thanks for posting a news item on the Manchester page.
The last one was dated 27-06-2007!

Dominic


Aviation-bashing

11.10.2007 17:38

Has anyone noticed that "climate change" has become the new "global warming"? And that aviation is singlehandedly going to be responsible for raining doom upon us, instead of, for example, the Chernobyl-type incidents or chlorofluorocarbons of years gone by? Aviation is merely an easy target, and campaigns such as Plane Stupid are really ignoring more important issues, and more relevant causes of potential climate change.

So, aircraft emissions account for 13% of the UK's carbon footprint. Looking at the bigger picture, which is what these campaigns fail to grasp, worldwide aviation contributes a whole 1% of the total carbon output. Shipping contributes double. Why don't you go and blockade Dover and Rotterdam? A fully loaded modern aircraft is not the fuel-guzzling beast it is portrayed, and per person-kilometre, is comparable with driving the same distance. Sure, a bus or train may be more efficient, but unless fully loaded, this would certainly not be the case.

Andrew Hill


discourse

11.10.2007 20:03

Good point about shipping being a bigger issue world wide. That said in the UK Aviation is the biggest problem and Manchester Airport was chosen for a reason. Manchester is supposed to be a 'Green City' the council pride themselves on it. The activists are all Manchester folk, part of a grass roots movement called Manchester Climate action, hence the Manc remitt.
Manchester peoples taxes pay for the airport(MAG Plc.) which is heavily subsidised by us as well due to the fact that aviation fuel is not taxed. Thats a double hit.
Thanks for bringing up the shipping issue Im going to look into it. It was good to hear something constructive about this action.
'We must become the change we wish to see in society' Gandhi

Gayle
mail e-mail: odonovangayle@yahoo.co.uk


yeah, whatever, Mr Climate Sceptic

12.10.2007 00:04

your figures for aviation's contribution to global and UK emissions are grossly underestimated, based on out-of-date industry info. Old tactics.

But with this new line of sowing doubt through saying shipping is worse (that I have noticed here and on other internet forums), you sound just like an industry troll.

sensitive nose


debatable

12.10.2007 08:26

Really? Where do you get your figures, or do you just believe what you are told?

Andrew Hill


you first

12.10.2007 10:21

No chance of me spending my time doing research about where the true figures come from till at least you've done the same - you can't shit stir/throw your scepticism in without justifying yourself first - as I'll not be getting paid to do spend the time checking it out. I've got better things to do than come to this thread (ah the power of distraction, as I'm sure you know).

sensitive nose


sorry but this won't win any friends

14.10.2007 11:20

This won't raise awarness about aviation causing climate change. Causing disruption to ordinary people going about their buisness just will make people see these activists as trouble makers trying to tell people how to live their lives.

Anyway the climate camp protestors said they wern't about causing trouble for ordinary airport passengers and just about protesting against the airports themselves. Seems this goes against that as this protest is all about causing trouble for passengers.

Dan Factor
mail e-mail: danfactor@lycos.com


Validity of the action

20.10.2007 20:24

Shipping is far more efficient in terms of CO2 output, and more importantly fulfills much more important human needs than aviation. That is indisputable. The growth of aviation, especially short haul aviation, is a provocative symbol and symptom of our society's decadent disregard for the planet.

The only criticism I have of this action, was that it couldn't be targeted more specifically at say, businessmen and other overly frequent/unnecessary flyers, instead of holiday-making working class people - who I think deserve gentle persuasion not to fly rather than direct action. But generally I think this sort of action is valid.

anon


and another thing...

24.10.2007 16:27

Maybe it wasn't meant to win friends - that's one part of what we need to do, and actions that unfortunately will likely piss some off are another.

They weren't ordinary people - they were people who were flying specifically to London or Glasgow from Manchester (check out the train times and prices if you need, to figure how daft and offensive this is). No "working class holiday-makers", if these people even exist as they do in many of your heads (see someone's comments here or another thread about working with such communities and aviation not being relevant).

Going about their business? Their business trashing the planet for future generations - I think it's my business too.

The climate camp this last year near Heathrow had specific conditions and parameters set - if you check out the aims of the camp, on the website, you'll find this doesn't go against it, but if people wanted to they could - it's not a party line and it's not the climate camp.

old news


indisputable?

23.11.2007 11:11

"Shipping is far more efficient in terms of CO2 output, and more importantly fulfills much more important human needs than aviation. That is indisputable"

more important needs such as?

- getting all the playstations to the west in time for christmas?

- millions of SUV's shipped

-tropical hardwoods shipped

-oil shipped

-sweatshop made clothes shipped

In fact, in a capitalist world we don't "need" 90% of the rubbish produced and consumed and a lot of it is shipped, add on the carbon footprint of all of those goods, on top of the shipping itself. and there is your problem.

Which is why many of us are saying aviation is the wrong target for climate activists.

Fly posters


Just stop it!

25.11.2007 09:58

The message is simple: if we want to stop climate change, we need to just STOP!

Here’s my five-point plan to save the planet from climate change:

A ban on all motorised transport

We must only travel using human-powered vehicles. It’s a small world - and it will feel like it when travelling more than 20 miles becomes impractical.


A ban on all petro-chemical, poison-spraying agriculture

All food should be locally grown and organic. Given that moving food any great distance without lorries will be extremely difficult, this will be a necessity anyway. Spreading insecticides and fertilisers to try to grow more stuff and to stop other creatures from eating it is simply unnatural. Let Gaia decide if we eat or not.


A ban on all space heating

In a properly insulated house, you should be able to keep warm just be eating, exercising and wrapping-up warm. So why do we need all those stupid, planet-scorching heaters? You will, of course, need heat for cooking. Lentils would be inedible otherwise, and that simply wouldn’t be practical.


Restrictions on health care

Hospitals, medicines, vaccinations all put a dreadful strain on the planet because they only encourage people to live longer than they would otherwise do if nature took its course. As a result, a number of important organisms have been all but wiped out; smallpox is a good example. The longer people hang around on this mortal coil, the more of them there are to feed, clothe, educate, transport. If we must have medical care, I would introduce a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ system.

The best way to reduce the nation’s carbon footprint is to have fewer footprints. Point 3 should really help with the old people, but we may need to consider enforced euthanasia at some point.


Reducing the number of children born

As I’ve noted before, having children is one of my biggest regrets, a selfish decision with negative consequences for the fragile web of life. I constantly remind my children that they are a terrible drain on the planet. Sometimes they cry. I think it’s good that they share Gaia’s pain.

Following on from point 4, I would only allow one child per couple - good idea, China! But I’d go further than the Chinese have. I would only permit some, carefully selected couples to have a child - which would be taken at an early age to be raised in special eco-villages where they would learn to be the protectors of the planet - the Green Guards (another idea I’ve borrowed, sort of, from China). Current efforts to indoctrinate our children at school by force-feeding them green propaganda are very worthy but they really don’t go far enough.
Ultimately, the world’s population must be reduced - by 5.9 billion. But the 100million left, devoid of cars, planes, heaters and fertilisers will be a much smaller burden on the planet. What a happy place it will be!

Andy


Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech