[Imc-uk-features] Feature Proposal: 'Clean' Coal On Trial

Fri Jan 11 03:00:37 PST 2008

Hiya,

I'd like to propose a feature were working on for Notts Indymedia to be 
published on the UK startpage when it goes up first thing Monday morning.

https://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/NottsFeaturePage30

Some background: " On Monday the court case will start against the 11 
activists who part-shut down operations at Ratcliffe On Soar 
powerstation, here in Notts. The court case is set to last for about 3 
days and it will be the first time that the defence of necessity in 
relation to climate change will be been used in a court of law. The 
defendants are calling in an expert witness; a climate scientist, and 
Royal Society Research Fellow, to prove to the court the scale and 
imminence of the threat that climate change poses. "

Anyways, we think this of wider relevance, thus the proposal.

Cheers, Wietse

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text version (html below)
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Title: 'Clean' Coal On Trial

Image: https://www.indymedia.org.uk/images/2007/04/367755.jpg

Abstract:

The trail of the eleven climate change activists who disrupted 
operations at Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station on April 10th 2007 has 
started today at Nottingham Bridewell Magistrates Court. They have 
pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated trespass and arguing that it 
was necessary to take such action in order to prevent the imminent 
threat that climate change poses to the human population. They are 
arguing that the threat of climate change on human life is so imminent & 
serious that it is a proportionate and reasonable response to commit 
aggravated trespass to try to reduce carbon emissions from England's 2nd 
largest CO2 emmiter, Ratcliffe on Soar power station.

This is the first time that the defence of necessity in relation to 
climate change has been used in a court of law. The defendants will call 
an expert witness; a climate scientist, and Royal Society Research 
Fellow, to prove to the court the scale and imminence of the threat that 
climate change poses.

Previous feature: Climate Activists Bring Powerstation Operations To A Halt

Audio: Concerned about Climate Change? Spring Into Action Now! - an 
audio piece

Links: E.On | Eastside Climate Action | Indymedia Climate Chaos page | 
Wikipedia on Ratcliffe On Soar | Ratcliffe On Soar (photo portrait by 
Alan Lodge).

Body:

On 10th April 11 activists walked into Ratcliffe on Soar Power Station. 
Production at the plant was halted when they locked themselves to the 
conveyer belts, stopping the supply of coal to the plant for over 3 
hours. The accused all protest their innocence to the charges of 
aggrevated tresspass. One of the activists said; "I believe this action 
was a reasonable and proportionate response to the threat of 
catastrophic climate change and that this action was to prevent a 
greater crime occuring."

According to one contributor, the action did not only seriously affect 
production at Ratcliffe but put pressure on the whole grid; "To an 
extent production could have increased elsewhere to cover the shortage 
but not immediately to great affect. This was about stopping coal from 
being burnt but also electricity from being produced in this way 
altogether. The activists came very close to shutting Rattcliffe down 
for 48 hours; EON nearly had to fire the whole furnace back up. If this 
shortage had persisted, the grid would have been vulnerable to further 
such actions. It is estimated that the action at Rattcliffe stopped the 
burning of 5,000 tonnes of coal, eqivalent to preventing 9,000 tonnes of 
CO2 being emitted. A low impact lifestyle could release as little as 1 
tonne of CO2 per year. Meaning that each of the activists could have 
offset their emissions for up to the next 1,000 years!"

The action at Ratcliffe took place as part of a wider week of activities 
around the issue of climate change in Nottingham called 'Spring Into 
Action'. It showcased practical solutions to climate change. From 
workshops on bike maintenance, local food production, community compost 
projects and strawbale building to concerts and performances, it was an 
action packed week. It also acted as a showcase for existing projects in 
Nottingham including Country Parks, allotment projects and the 
Attenborough Nature Reserve. A lot of the events took place at a 
for-the-occasion occupied former lace factory, also known as the J.B. 
Spray factory in the area of Radford. 'Spring into Action' was organised 
by Eastside Climate Action, a group made up of local people and groups 
inspired by the Camp for Climate Action. The week was all about 
inspiring, educating and empowering people to start making changes in 
their own lives and demonstrating practical alternatives, local projects 
and local campaigns in action. "It is about changing our lifestyles, but 
also inspiring collective action to create the wider social change that 
is needed to deal with climate change. Climate change is the greatest 
threat humanity has ever faced, and we are already feeling its effects. 
Change is coming whether we like it or not. We need to make these 
changes sustainable and equitable." according to one of the organisers. 
Read this feature article for reports from Spring Into Action.

============
html version
============

Title: 'Clean' Coal On Trial

Image: https://www.indymedia.org.uk/images/2007/04/367755.jpg

Abstract:

The trail of the eleven climate change activists who disrupted 
operations at Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station on April 10th 2007 has 
started today at Nottingham Bridewell Magistrates Court. They have 
pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated trespass and arguing that it 
was necessary to take such action in order to prevent the imminent 
threat that climate change poses to the human population. They are 
arguing that the threat of climate change on human life is so imminent & 
serious that it is a proportionate and reasonable response to commit 
aggravated trespass to try to reduce carbon emissions from England's 2nd 
largest CO2 emmiter, Ratcliffe on Soar power station.

This is the first time that the defence of necessity in relation to 
climate change has been used in a court of law. The defendants will call 
an expert witness; a climate scientist, and Royal Society Research 
Fellow, to prove to the court the scale and imminence of the threat that 
climate change poses.

Previous feature: <a 
href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/04/367623.html">Climate Activists 
Bring Powerstation Operations To A Halt</a>

From the newswire: <a 
href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2008/01/388953.html">Climate change on 
Trial!</a> | <a 
href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/12/387173.html">E.ON irony & 
hypocrisy in market square</a> | <a 
href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/11/385940.html">Climate activists 
in court - report</a> | <a 
href="http://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/11/385351.html">Climate 
Change On Trial: Call for support demo</a> | <a 
href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/10/382836.html">Evening Post 
depicts Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station as 'cutting edge technology'</a> 
| <a href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/08/378228.html">E-on climate 
greenwash in Market Square</a> | <a 
href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/05/371263.html">Rattcliffe 11 to 
face courts</a> | <a 
href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/05/369762.html">Activists needle 
shareholders over E.ON nuclear power</a> | <a 
href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/04/367878.html">Climate change 
activists target power station - photos from inside</a> | Photo reports 
from the action: <a 
href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/04/367757.html">[1]</a> | <a 
href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/04/367736.html">[2]</a> | <a 
href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/04/367714.html">[3]</a> | <a 
href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/04/367679.html">[4]</a> | <a 
href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/04/367658.html">[5]</a>

Audio: <a 
href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/04/368441.html">Concerned about 
Climate Change? Spring Into Action Now! - an audio piece</a>

Links: <a href="http://www.eon.com/">E.On</a> | <a 
href="http://www.eastsideclimateaction.org.uk/">Eastside Climate 
Action</a> | <a href="/en/topics/climate/">Indymedia Climate Chaos 
page</a> | <a 
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratcliffe-on-Soar_Power_Station">Wikipedia 
on Ratcliffe On Soar</a> | <a 
href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/04/367757.html">Ratcliffe On 
Soar</a> (photo portrait by Alan Lodge).

Body:

On 10th April 11 activists walked into Ratcliffe on Soar Power Station. 
Production at the plant was halted when they locked themselves to the 
conveyer belts, stopping the supply of coal to the plant for over 3 
hours. The accused all protest their innocence to the charges of 
aggrevated tresspass. One of the activists said; "I believe this 
action was a reasonable and proportionate response to the threat of 
catastrophic climate change and that this action was to prevent a 
greater crime occuring."

According to <a 
href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/05/371263.html">one 
contributor</a>, the action did not only seriously affect production at 
Ratcliffe but put pressure on the whole grid; "To an extent 
production could have increased elsewhere to cover the shortage but not 
immediately to great affect. This was about stopping coal from being 
burnt but also electricity from being produced in this way altogether. 
The activists came very close to shutting Rattcliffe down for 48 hours; 
EON nearly had to fire the whole furnace back up. If this shortage had 
persisted, the grid would have been vulnerable to further such actions. 
It is estimated that the action at Rattcliffe stopped the burning of 
5,000 tonnes of coal, eqivalent to preventing 9,000 tonnes of CO2 being 
emitted. A low impact lifestyle could release as little as 1 tonne of 
CO2 per year. Meaning that each of the activists could have offset their 
emissions for up to the next 1,000 years!"

The action at Ratcliffe took place as part of a wider week of activities 
around the issue of climate change in Nottingham called 'Spring Into 
Action'. It showcased practical solutions to climate change. From 
workshops on bike maintenance, local food production, community compost 
projects and strawbale building to concerts and performances, it was an 
action packed week. It also acted as a showcase for existing projects in 
Nottingham including Country Parks, allotment projects and the 
Attenborough Nature Reserve. A lot of the events took place at a 
for-the-occasion occupied former lace factory, also known as the J.B. 
Spray factory in the area of Radford. 'Spring into Action' was organised 
by <a href="http://eastsideclimateaction.org.uk">Eastside Climate 
Action</a>, a group made up of local people and groups inspired by the 
<a href="http://www.climatecamp.org.uk">Camp for Climate Action</a>. The 
week was all about inspiring, educating and empowering people to start 
making changes in their own lives and demonstrating practical 
alternatives, local projects and local campaigns in action. "It is 
about changing our lifestyles, but also inspiring collective action to 
create the wider social change that is needed to deal with climate 
change. Climate change is the greatest threat humanity has ever faced, 
and we are already feeling its effects. Change is coming whether we like 
it or not. We need to make these changes sustainable and equitable." 
according to one of the organisers. Read <a 
href="/en/regions/nottinghamshire/2007/04/367046.html">this feature 
article</a> for reports from Spring Into Action.