BACK ON NOVEMBER 5th, the last of the 17 climate change campaigners climbed down from their moral high ground, atop the middle coolant tower of E.D.F. ‘s new West Burton B gas turbine station. After a week-long protest camp, the chimney sweeps abseiled down into the loving arms of Nottinghamshire police, and have been bailed on ‘suspicion’ of aggravated trespass, alongside five others. Whilst up in the clouds, they used their 300ft-high platform to carry a range of amenities like solar panels, a portable toilet and a rope walkway between the towers, flown-up ingeniously by kite!
The whole stunt was designed to spark off debate on carbon emissions – the modern environmentalist’s favourite sticking point – and mock the recent ‘coalition’ row on wind farms: LibDems want all power to come from green sources by 2030, but Tories don’t want to force any more wind farms on communities – not nuclear, or fossil fuel stations, mind; the plebs can bloody well have them and enjoy it!
Despite more immediate concerns like debts and work stress, it’s a fair bet that most decent people are concerned about climate change, and hope for greener and more efficient energy. As a country, the U.K. is falling far behind the rest of Europe – Germany gets 25% of its electricity from renewables, Spain is on 33%, and we’re floundering on 9%, despite having some of the best wind resources in the world. Meanwhile, natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy have more than doubled in frequency since 1980, as a result of climate change – and will only get worse unless we can shift away from dirty fuel.
The group’s main spokesperson, Ewa Jasiewicz, had this to say: “This was the first time activists have managed to successfully shut down a power station, and the longest occupation of a power station the U.K. has ever seen. We got our message out about how reckless and ridiculous George Osborne’s proposed ‘dash for gas’ is out to thousands of people. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved – but it’s only the start of the battle for our energy future.”
Before they came down, they tweeted out a whole gallery of beautiful photos of dawn and sunset from on high. If you have a camera, budding photographer aspirations, and a beef with your local power plant, then maybe this is a job opportunity for you!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/nov/05/no-dash-for-gas-end-occupation
