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Solidarity for the Coal Conspiracy 114

115 and counting | 16.04.2009 13:33 | COP15 Climate Summit 2009 | Climate Chaos | Energy Crisis | Social Struggles

Arrested for conspiracy, 114 people alleged to have been planning to shut down E-On's massive Ratcliffe coal fired power station have apparently found themselves voiceless, advised not to issue any statements to the media or friends. Unrelated groups however have been stepping into the void to express support for the alleged action and remind people that taking direct action to cut greenhouse emissions is something we should all be doing. Groups such as Rising Tide, Plane Stupid, Climate Rush, the Camp for Climate Action and others have already issued such statements and no doubt it would be great if a diverse range of groups did likewise.

The media have found themselves with nothing much beyond police statements to flesh out this story and so much of the media coverage has been angled around civil liberties rather than climate change. This is not much of a civil liberties issue - not if the allegations are true. If true then the police simply carried out an extremely successful surveillance operation leading to efficient and timely arrests - preventing an action which would have kept a power station offline for perhaps a week and tying up around a hundred activists in a lengthy conspiracy case. Those involved would probably have wanted people to be talking about climate change rather than policing. Having grassroot organisation and NGO's come forward to express support for the need to take direct action to stop CO2 emissions might help turn the story around a little, linking this to past and future actions as well as the approaching COP15 summit in Copenhagen.

Making statements of support or doing effective direct action against climate criminals would be a good way to offer solidarity and continue media coverage and public interest. One possible idea would be for people to get together as groups of 114 and hand themselves in at police stations in front of assembled media, announcing that these people share an intention to cut CO2 emissions and have talked about and planned to take action in pursuit of such cuts. Such a stunt, especially if repeat around the country, may increase political pressure and enable the media to continue to talk about the alleged plan to shut down one of the countries biggest coal stations and the governments irresponsible plans to build even more such power stations at a time when we should be switching away from fossil fuels.

115 and counting

Comments

Hide the following 10 comments

Another thing people can do

16.04.2009 13:44

Avoid posting speculation on indymedia or elsewhere, or trying to engage anyone they think might have been involved in any kind of discussion about the alleged plans, how it might have been organized nor what may have gone wrong.

Instead of churning out uninformed and possibly dangerous comments, people could spend some time reading and extending the advice on  http://activistsecurity.org/

116


Love it, count me in

16.04.2009 13:46

I'd be up for a being one of a bunch of people handing myself in for conspiring to save the world from cataclysmic climate chaos, anyone want to join me?

117


A growing movement against climate change

16.04.2009 14:15

I live in a pretty remote rural area but I think this is a great idea, a nice fluffy low risk action pretty much anyone can do so I'll see if I can drum up interest in my village.

118


More to join in solidarity

16.04.2009 15:25

Count me in too and I recon I can get quite a few in my community to hand themselves in!

love

119


More the merrier.

16.04.2009 17:28

I'm up for it too. I conspired with over 1,000 people last year to shut down Kingsnorth power station and I continue to conspire with others to put pressure on the government to change it's shortsighted energy policies and ensure my children have a future on this planet (which probably makes me a terrorist).

This idea is great and something I can realistically do (I doubt I could climb a power station chimney nor get child care nor time off work).

If somebody knows about facebook and twitter stuff then perhaps they could start to promote this idea beyond indymedia where the real people live.

120


Lets be clear here

16.04.2009 18:20

I also think this sounds like it could be good but think we need to be clear what is proposed. It seems to me that this is less of a direct practical expression of solidarity as such and more or a way to press home to the media and the government etc that there is a growing movement of people who feel that urgent action is needed now to tackle climate change and that if the government is currently unwilling or unable to do what is required then people will take maters into their own hands.

By saying I have conspired to shut down a power station I am saying not only that I support those accused of planning such an act but also saying that there are many more willing to do the same. As the previous posted pointed out, over 1,500 people at the climate camp last summer also conspired to shut down a power station and we are not going away.

121 and counting

121


Time critical

16.04.2009 22:00

I'm guessing this needs to be done pretty quick to make this work. How about the first wave next monday? Is that realistic or possible?

122


How Stupid Are You?

16.04.2009 23:44

The Police themselves have said that this has been an intelligence led operation so turning up on mass to hand yourselves in at a police station might not be the best idea.

247


@247 stupid who

17.04.2009 07:21

There have been similar stunts before and the cops have never actually arrested those who handed themselves in and wouldn't do so in this case either. They would have no evidence beyond a weak confession which had been clearly given as part of a media stunt. Of course the cops might use such a stunt for intelligence gathering but it would tell them very little they didn't already know or could quickly establish from digital surveillance of public mailing lists, facebook etc.

Obviously they'd be some people who'd best no attend such events, like people who have always been completely off the radar and yet planning major covert actions against energy infrastructure, but such people are probably extremely rare.

in telly gents


simple as

19.04.2009 00:10

Easy and timely, we'd be stupid not to jump at the chance. The time is right and the pieces all fall into place so lets make it happen.

123


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