Hi everyone. This blog was created because several people have said there is a need for a place where we can have discussions about what we should do next, in advance of the national gathering on Nov 3-4.
In order to see what people have written, you need to click on the link at the top, where it says 'Climate Camp - Where Next?'. To add your thoughts, just scroll to the bottom and hit the 'comment' link.
(I know this isn't the nicest website ever created, but it seemed more important to do something quick than to do something really nice!)
Please only use this space for writings about this topic - if people post writings on other topics this blog will simply become less useful as a tool for us to discuss what we should do next as a national group / movement.
Also this blog is really intended for people who were at the Climate Camp and/or had some involvement in it, or want to in future - so by all means tell people about it on email lists, but don't advertise it on the web generally.
See you in Oxford!
51 comments:
What next Proposal: Climate Change - Any Solutions?
Well done us for this year's Climate Camp. Well deserved holidays have
been had, what next then? Here is my idea for next year, centering on the
theme of "solutions, mitigation, adaptation". Some of it will happen
whether or not any of you think it's a good idea, so here it is as a point
of informationa s well as discussion:
The Permaculture Association (PAB) is holding a convergence once ever y
two years. The next one is due next year, traditionally on the first
weekend of September. The last convergence ran over nearly a week and
included a three-day summer school in midweek.
Something similar could be held this year, maybe as a joint event between
"climate camp", CAT (Centre for Alternative Technology), and the PAB. CAT
have just produced their first ZeroCarbonBitain report (as seen in the
plenary on Saturday camp hight), as a strategy proposal to get to zero net
emission in the foreseeable future. They are intending to update the
report annually, and are looking for input into this process. They seem
quite aware that there is a need for a social/political dimension to the
transformation they suggest. Which is where we can bring our perspective
in & compare it with our allies in the permaculture network, while getting
clued up about technological possibilities (or impossibilities) and
discuss their ecological and social implications.
The format could be a summer school in the week running up to the
permaculture convergence. How many days - three, five? What would the
timetable look like?
A possibility in the run-up to this would be a permaculture course for
experienced, new and potential activists which would also have the purpose
of preparing the site. In other words, an opportunity to learn useful
practical and design skills, apply design thinking to network building and
activism in general, feed some of the activist network's experience into
the permaculture network, and hang out together in a probably beautiful
place somewhere in northern England (not a squatted one, sorry!)
All this could tie in nicely with regional events, mass actions, action
weeks or months, and hobnobing with other allies at the same time, before,
concurrently or after. That could also make up for any perceived lack of
actions in this proposal, apart from the fact that nothing stops us from
suggesting the possibility of post-event actions for those who have been
inspired.
Apart from going through our own fuzzy decision making process, all this
would obviously have to be proposed to the PAB and CAT. The chances of
them being interested are good.
If any think this could be fun, or have any constructive criticism, get in
touch! especially if you could imagine helping to make this happen.
Where next for radical climate action?
This document tries to offer a realistic assessment of our situation in the weeks after the 2007 Camp for Climate Action. 1 It asks what things need to happen for us to maybe prevent a 2°c global temperature rise. We see no use in pointing fingers or blame-storming the fact that some of these things haven't happened so far.
The list is not exhaustive. We've kept it down to things we think are needed (but are not themselves enough) for a successful movement to stop global climate catastrophe. That is, unless all of these happen, we're fucked. Sadly, doing them all won't automatically save us – they're necessary, but not sufficient.
Honest assessment
The Climate Camp was a huge success. The Climate Camp has been a failure. Both of these statements are true.
Evaluated on its own terms, it is hard to see the achievements of the camp as anything but a phenomenal success:
* It happened , despite considerable opposition from BAA and the Met, who would clearly have preferred it not to.
* Lots of people came, including many who haven't been to any of 'our' events before.
* There was a refreshingly diverse range of direct actions, focusing on a wide variety of targets.
* It gained widespread public support.
* It was a worldwide media-story, and got more (and more positive) mainstream press-coverage than we have come to expect.
So why the doubts?
Firstly, we need to ask just how much of an achievement the successes listed above were. We think that many – perhaps most – of the positives were to be expected.2
Secondly, although neither of us was at the camp, the media reports made it seem like a giant lobbying effort – a sort of 'Friends of the Earth with added d-locks and dreadlocks'. Obviously the mass media couldn't and wouldn't recognise and report an autonomous event that rejected the ideology of their bosses if it bit them on the arse. But we've also heard from people who were at the camp that there was remarkably little discussion of politics, in the broadest sense; that lots of people came with the belief that the answers lie in new technologies and governmental solutions – and left without this view being challenged. If this is true, then one of the fundamental messages of the camp – that solutions need to come from people and communities, not from governments and corporations – is not coming through as strongly as it needs to.3 We cannot afford to miss this opportunity – not only to put our case for the urgency of radical social change, but also to take action to bring it closer to reality.
Pushing at an open door
Part of the reason why the public were relatively 'on-side' – and why much of the press coverage was friendly – is that so much of what we have to say is uncontroversial. Hardly any mainstream politicians or journalists would agree with us that the G8 is a completely illegitimate body. But the view that global carbon emissions must be drastically reduced is becoming a mainstream position. As one of the particularly brilliant banners on the day of action put it: ' we are armed ... only with peer reviewed science.'
Even the science correspondent of the Daily Mail admitted (through gritted teeth) the strength of our argument.4 Now only the lunatic denialists and contrarians5 try to dispute the strength of the arguments.6
'We're all environmentalists now'
This situation represents a massive opportunity for us. As the idea that we need an equitable reduction in global carbon emissions by at least 60% globally (and therefore much more in the West) gains credibility, there will be more and more chances for the different solutions that come from within 'our' movement to be heard. But it's not only an opportunity – it's also a reason to be very worried. 'Our' ideas are gaining currency because the situation is monumentally urgent. If we don't get this right – and quickly enough – then we're fucked.
This is why our favourite of the many brilliant actions were the 'red herring' visits to the carbon offset companies. The Guardian's ultra-defensiveness in reporting this story tells us all we need to know.7 Many companies that rely on their customer-profile are frantically spray-painting themselves green. No-one wants to be labelled an environmental bad-guy.
'Damn, that was fun'
Some post-camp euphoria is necessary – but can be dangerous if it blinds us. Let's celebrate the achievements we've made, and then evaluate them strategically. Where do we need to be, and how quickly? If we move too slowly – or in the wrong directions – our task will get even more difficult.
As a result of the camp, we are stronger than we were before. But are we progressing at the rate we need to? Say I need to catch a train that leaves in 20 minutes. I'm 2 miles away from the station. After 10 minutes, I've covered half a mile. I'm closer to where I need to be, but if I keep walking at the same speed, I'll miss the train. Because I've been walking too slowly, my task is now even more difficult than it was when I began. I need to speed up – or perhaps get in a taxi. But it would have been much easier and more sustainable if I'd got on a bike at the start.
Where are we coming from?
From the beginning the aim was that the 2006 Climate Camp wasn't to be the end of the story. It was to kick-start a much wider growth in direct action against climate change, capital, and the state. After the October 2006 post-Climate Camp gathering in Manchester, many of us were disappointed. It seemed that the only decision of note taken by the meeting was to hold a meeting to organise another camp in the summer of 2007. Some people met on various occasions to try to begin work on developing some of the other aspects of a network that we need. Some of this has happened: the Toolkit for Climate Action was put together, and it's great.8
But the Climate Camp isn't yet part of the bigger movement that it needs to be. For the moment, it seems to exist for its own sake, as the sole visible presence of a more radical voice within the broader 'green movement'. Much more needs to happen.
So what's our big idea?
We've spent the couple of pages avoiding saying what this is. Partly because we don't know. But we think we can identify some of the things that we don't know, but need to. We can't have a strategy until we know what else is going on. We know roughly the sort of emissions cuts we need. There are some good ideas floating around as to how they ought to be shared out. We also know that if we – either as a pair or as a movement – try to act alone, without looking at potential allies (both strategic and tactical), then we and the planet are toast. But there are lots more things we need to find out – and/or share more widely among our movement.
1.
States of play
What are local authorities and regional development agencies doing? What is the UK State doing? What are other states doing? What proposals are on the table internationally? What level cuts in CO2 emissions do they envisage, and how do they intend to implement them? How do they envisage dealing with the likely consequences of their course of actions – whether the short(er)-term social and economic effects of emissions-cuts, or the long(er)-term need to deal with the consequences of climate-change – or some combination of the two?9 How do the interests of various armed forces fit with those of governments?
2.
Capital punishment/capital redemption?
Some businesses, for a variety of reasons, actually want more regulation than a so-called Labour government wants to enforce! The Confederation of British Industry is not the be-all and end-all of what capitalism thinks. Capital relies on regulation for a lot of its profits... Many insurance and investment companies are moving quickly. Business-asusual is not in the medium- and long-term interests of shareholders. Some companies (BP, for example10 ) strategise on a 50-year basis. On which points is capital agreed? Where does it disagree? What are its different fears? Where is it planning? What is it planning? What are the fault lines, and how can we exploit them?
3.
What does our low-energy society look like?
What can we do, worldwide, with carbon emissions of 340kg/person/ year?11 Which industries stay, if any? Which have to go? How are they organised and structured? What lifestyle do we (want to) have, and what do we have to do in order to sustain it?
4.
Civil society/NGOs
What are the current demands of both environmental and development NGOs, in Britain, other industrial economies, and the global south? Which directions are they heading in? Who are they listening to? Can common causes or focuses can be found? (How) can we work with them without our movement and politics being co-opted and/or diluted?
5.
What does the 'general public' think?
Of climate change, of 'us' the direct action movement? Why don't they get active in 'our' stuff? What can we learn from, for example, the people organising and attending marches about climate change in Oxford and Tewkesbury? What do we have to offer them?
Ways forward?
For better or worse, very few, if any, of these discussions took place at the Climate Camp 2007. It may be (at least one of the authors believes that it is) the case that the the Climate Camp would not have been the best place to have some of these discussions. But either way, the absence of this research and these discussions is a huge problem. If we want a future worth having, we need to come up with at least rough answers to these questions, and quickly, so as to plan our next steps.
So, at long last, we've two suggestions to make.
1. We must educate ourselves and each other. For each of the five headings above (and more) there's research to be done, findings to share. There are lots of ways we might do this, from leaflets and web-pages to roadshows and presentations at meetings and gatherings. At the very least the information could go up on the Network for Climate Action website, but face-to-face meetings would be more useful.
2. We use the information to act. Simply collecting it will not be enough. To set ourselves medium- and long-term goals that are both achievable and strategic – that is, to decide which actions are the most likely to lead towards the aversion of climate-related catastrophe – we need to evaluate the results of our investigations. This means
* considering the likely responses to our actions from the state, NGOs, media, civil society, capital – remembering always the tensions and splits within each.
* choosing actions that bring other social agents closer to our politics (this does not mean diluting our politics to make them closer to those of others).
* acting in ways that strengthen us and our allies, while weakening our enemies.
* always working in ways that will build our capacities – whether this means our numbers, our media profile, our physical and/or tactical strength, or whatever. We must learn to skill-share more effectively.
* perhaps most importantly, ensuring that all our actions move us towards an equitable, low-carbon society.12
This involves collective thought and discussion. We've often shied away from this sort of discussion in favour of practical organising: the practicalities have often been much more immediate and urgent, and more theoretical discussion is difficult and potentially divisive. It is often perceived as a waste of time that could have been spent doing something useful. All too often it has been a waste of time.
But it needn't be.
Admittedly, it will probably always be difficult, but we didn't sign up to try and prevent ecological catastrophe simply because the activists have all the best drugs, sex and music. Did we?
Discussion of strategy and tactics do highlight our differences more than our common ground. But this can be an advantage: these sorts of discussions help the holders of apparently unfashionable or minority opinions to identify each other and come together.
In smaller affinity groups we can set our own priorities based on our shared views, and then come together for larger projects. We're much more likely to be able to work together more closely and with more trust after identifying and talking about the issues on which we disagree.
Most of us have had the pleasure of 'dog chasing tail' ideological debates that seem to go on for ever without achieving anything, let alone being resolved. We think this is partly due to a lack of clarity as to why we're having the discussions. Debating in order to proclaim ourselves ideologically pure, casting out heretics, and then applauding ourselves while the planet burns is perhaps not the most constructive way forward. But discussion oriented towards practical action will inform our actions. We can then decide when to work with others who share our priorities, even if not every last bullet point of our analysis.
What is to be done?
We should ensure that whatever planning meetings for future projects – and it's imperative that there are future projects – incorporate time for discussion. If this means that we have to move forward slightly more slowly with these projects, then so be it: it will strengthen us in the medium to long term.
The projects should not take a back seat – far from it, given the urgency with which we need to escalate action – but we should not allow the urgency of the situation to stop us reflecting together.
Three modest proposals
* We continue to meet as some sort of network (however defined).
* Our meetings emphasise the importance of information-sharing and collective discussion.
* Whatever practical projects we are organise go hand-in-hand with a commitment to educate ourselves.
Responses/comments/objections/critiques/corrections/arguments/ discussions all welcome: please send to wherenext@aktivix.org
Anti-copyright: print, copy, change and distribute at will. For ease of printing, it is also available for download as a PDF (in both A5 booklet and A4 formats).
1. When we first set out to write this piece together, we weren't sure whether it should be a critique of the directions the Climate Camp has taken or a contribution to a constructive discussion as to what our priorities should be. While a variation on 'Against the Institution(alization) of (the Idea of) the Climate Camp' might be more fun to write, and perhaps generate more fuss, we suspect that it would ultimately be less helpful. For various reasons, neither of us was at the 2007 camp: as such our response to it is a result mostly of observations from the outside. But we also suspect that this distance might allow us to see from afar things that could be missed from closer up. [back]
2. This is not to say that those involved didn't pull off a huge task; they obviously did. It is also not to deny that things could have gone much, much worse. [back]
3. The piece (written by neither of us) that follows this one makes this case brilliantly. [back]
4. 'Normally, ecoprotesters get my hackles up,' begins Michael Hanlon. His piece, 'The eco-warriors of Heathrow are right to fight against expansion' (Daily Mail, August 16) concludes 'They may be revolting, but in this case they are also right.' See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=475634. [back]
5. We don't think they should be allowed to get away with labelling themselves sceptics, because the tradition of scepticism is honourable, and they are not. Indeed, this works both ways: see http://www.spiked-online.com/Printable/0000000CA8B8.htm for an attempt by one fuckwit to claim that 'climate scepticism' should be viewed as an honourable tradition. Some of the deniers are demonstrably in the pay of oil companies. The motives of some others – such as those of the former RCP/Living Marxism cadre who now run Spiked – are less easy to discern. [back]
6. Of course, many of the best-intentioned journalists (who often have no training in science) believe that being 'fair and balanced' involves giving equal prominence to both 'sides' of an argument, regardless of the merit of the ideas under discussion or the financial interests involved in their promotion. It's a bit like putting David Irving on-air to provide 'balance' to any story about the Holocaust. [back]
7. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/20/climatechange.activists. The Guardian Media Group gets its fishy offsets from 'through a partnership with Climate Care': more details from the horse's mouth available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/values/socialaudit/environment/story/0,,1931355,00.html. [back]
8. Downloadable at the Network for Climate Action website. [back]
9. This includes bureaucracies as well as supposedly democratically elected politicians (the former have perhaps a greater stake in maintaining the system, since they can't count on being out of office within 10 years – and you can bet that various high-ranking civil servants will have thought up some sort of plan). [back]
10. So someone told one of us in a pub once. [back]
11. This figure, from http://www.carbonequity.info/docs/election07.html, is based on a presumed global population of 8.9 billion in 2050, and is estimated as the highest with which we can keep within a 2°c global temperature-rise.[back]
12. For example, we would probably decide that while (land- and sea-based) public transport releases a large amount of CO2, our aim isn't to shut it down, but rather to increase it, make it more efficient, and lower the cost to the user. Or since the manufacture of chemical fertilisers accounts for 1% of global carbon emissions, the authors would rather to see it stopped altogether than made 20% more efficient.
Hi folks, my name is matt with Rising Tide North America. We had our
meetings recently and came up with a proposal for the climate camps. We
propose that we do attemtp to have them at the same time, and that time be
somewhere in the last two weeks of July. I know that the Australians
already said July would be best for them. August will be tough for US
folks because there are other major protests planned for the upcoming
political conventions.
The second part of the proposal is that there be a global day of action,
so that countries/regions who cannot pull together a climate camp can
still raise some hell with us. We thought this would be especially
important for getting majority world nations on board since the whole
climate camp concept is a bit of a first world phenomenon. In particular
we talked about plugging into the People's Global Action network to call
for the day of action. What do folks think?
thanks, matt
Hello there! The post-Climate Camp national gathering is a month away. There is info about the gathering at www.climatecamp.org.uk/nextmeeting.php. If you have any questions about the venue, food, access, accomodation, etc., please email oxford@climatecamp.org.uk. If you have any questions about the agenda, the content of the meeting or how it will be run, or if you can help facilitate/take minutes/run the welcome desk, please email meetings@climatecamp.org.uk.
To make the gathering as useful and inspiring as possible, we are asking people what they want the gathering to be like. Below there is a very preliminary list of items we might put on the agenda - please let us know if this looks good to you, and if you have any ideas or suggested improvements.
The gathering will run Sat 11-6 and Sun 10-5.
SOME POSSIBLE AGENDA ITEMS
1. Introduction to the meeting and going through the agenda
2. Short explanation of how the meeting will work (hand-signals, consensus decision-making)
3. Short (5-10 min) history of Climate Camp, and how it was organised
4. Feedback from neighbourhoods/regions (a lot of neighbourhoods have had debrief meetings, and they might want to share some of the main points they discussed in these meetings?)
5. Feedback from working groups: what did they do, what skills and resources were needed? How much time was needed? How can we make sure that the skills gained and the lessons learned in the past 2 years don't get lost? Are people who were involved in the 2007 process up for being involved in a future process that might happen? Hopefully after this session we will have a better view of what skills we have available to us within our group, and we will also have a better understanding of what was required (skills, resources, hours put in) to make a project like the Climate Camp happen.
6. Update on legal stuff going on - are the police being sued? And also finding out how people who were injured or arrested at the Climate Camp are doing.
7. Climate science refresher (5-10 mins)
8. The state of play worldwide update (30 min)
- What governments are doing worldwide (Kyoto, EU-ETS, etc)
- What corporations are doing worldwide (Oil companies, Banks, the aviation industry, the transport industry...)
- NGO's
- Grassroots reactions worldwide: Climate Convergences in the US, planned Climate Camps in Germany and Australia next year, majority world??
9. The state of play in the UK update (5-10 min)
- What are government, corporations, NGO's, and others getting up to?
10. What should we do next as a national group/movement?. This discussion is the main point of the gathering (is it?) so I'm suggesting we could spend 4 hours on it in all - perhaps dividing this into 2 parts, one one Saturday and one on Sunday, so people would have some time to think about it in between.
11. Open session: this session would not planned in advance. Instead, space on the timetable would be left open so that if ideas/topics came up that people really wanted to talk about, they could be discussed here. This could be done as one big discussion or lots of smaller group discussions. It would be nice if we could allocate quite a lot of time to this (maybe two 90 minute sessions?) so that people would have space to discuss all the amazing ideas they come up with!
12. Skillshare session (120 min). Possibilities include: 12 volt electrics, how to do media, facilitation and consensus decision-making, computer security... obviously this could only happen if people were willing to run the skillshares, so please let us know if you could do this. Also let us know what skillshares you would like to see!
13. Regional networking: people are grouped according to where they live, and have a chance to talk to each-other about what they are doing locally, or what they would like to be doing! I don't know if this session is needed as many groups are having regular meetings anyway - let me know!
14. Legal meeting, to run concurrently with other stuff. Some arrestees are
requesting such a meeting at the gathering to talk with each other and
support each other; also the meeting could discuss potential civil
actions.
Thanks for those contributions which I'll read later but I strongly support a non-squatted site, allowing law-enforcement to concentrate on the real criminals, the illegal poluters. The legal team should aim to actually prosecute the illegal pollution in a radical way - advocates for nature, which cannot stand in court.
We need help from larger masses of young people by means of increasingly corporate blogs and networks such as this.
Shorter 1-3 night camps are more accessible structures, though the loos should still be nice and private.
where next? world-wide!
Centre for Alternative Technology is cool and an affordable camp would be ideal.
Nottinghamshire (freight, pharma, farming) to New Orleans the land of dreams). I believe New Orleans (a.k.a. NO) also hosts a container port and is a short sail to the famous beaches of Miami. Where global JUSTICE is desperately needed. One direct action academic had an idea for online cooperation to replace wasteful transport.
There is some good stuff here. The 'where next' post was interesting in that it highlighted the need for a strong political element to discussions, and the need for more research. One journalist was quoted by Monbiot as saying the camp was populated by people with PhDs. I am doing PhD research at the moment on how it is a tiny elite gets to decide what level of warming is safe (2 degrees, 3 degrees etc). Perhaps we can try and pool research on the topic being done at the various universities around the country/world. I did think there was a lot of political discussion at the camp and I think that needs to continue, and some sort of a vision of what we are for, as well as what we are against, is needed. My politics are anarchist and I felt that such views were broadly shared by the camp attendees and indeed was the political vision informing the camp. That discussion needs to continue and be developed further.
Can this discussion board be broken down into sub topics to make life easier?
Chris
there's too much blurb.
somthing real needs to be done.
facts on the POISONS on the shelves in the supermarkets, packaged as cleaning products.
then publish a handout that can be given out all over the country on the same day at the same hour at all the supermarkets.
a short sharp campaign that can be repeated, every saturday maybe, for one hour, at a random hour so that we're not swept away.
then, the big one, preparing for a possible court case and prepare for the big publicity, because those two celebrities whose names we don't know and who most of us wouldn't recognise at a party, changed the face of the world with their mcdonalds case and opened the way for the beginnng of the end of that ugly bad health business.
now the big one: lets target the pharmaceutical companies where they are most obviously killing us, where they are most protected.
government? what have they done to protect us and our environment? killed the puffins and plague us with licences for household products that need to be BANNED.
HIGHLIGHTS OF 'CLIMATE CAMP - WHERE NEXT?' DISCUSSION - Cambridge, 6 October 2007
- We want to engage the masses - the climate camp didn't really do this - how can we engage people, what format of event should we use?
- We could have 2 separate camps - one for education (which would be very friendly and inviting) and one for direct action.
- Direct action is what we do best - why not have just a weekend of direct action, all over the country, without having a camp?
- It would be good to have more focus on sharing practical skills related to the practicalities of the camp - show people what we know about the 'how to' of sustainable living. Practical workshops. (This idea got a lot of support!)
- Take to the streets - education and action - Climate Camp roadshow.
- Link actions to outcomes - policy change - targetting particular policies we want to change. We do actions for reasons - what are those reasons? What do we want to see change?
- Dec 8 campaign.
- 'Globalisation' as the next target: shipping, growth economy, advertising, consumerism.
- Doesn't necessarily have to be about carbon emissions - complex issues need complex responses.
- Freeze airport expansion.
- Should we have a complex focus, or one specific focus?
- Climate Camp tied up a lot of people and their skills for a long period of time.
- Mainstream media vs independent media - which should get more focus? Quality of message vs. quantity of message.
- Public outreach - the problem that having loads of police can be very alienating.
- Urgent situation - we need another camp soon!
- Weekends of action - convergence centres - decentralised.
- Challenge the green rhetoric of our leaders - invite the parties, the mayor of London, etc., to our events.
- Localised, small-scale, intimate recruitment
- A weekend of hardcore action and then a week of camp which is not spikey - very friendly, practical workshops, how-to, etc.
> ecstasy: I strongly support a
> non-squatted site, allowing
> law-enforcement to concentrate
> on the real criminals, the illegal
> poluters.
First, I don't think we've agreed that we'll have a camp next year at all yet, anyhow.
Second, I'm happy with a squatted site. Squatting is not illegal! I think the state repression we received highlights the police's political role as agents of the capitalist system. I also think it helped show new protestors that the state's role in this debate is not neutral. Squatting land challenges the core idea of capitalism -- the sanctity of private property, and the inability of non-owners to influence how it is used -- a problem central to fighting corporate-controlled climate change.
Third, I disagree with the idea that the police would be concentrating on "the real criminals the illegal poluters[sic]". BAA et al are working within existing laws designed to protect the interests of the ruling classes. If they weren't hassling protestors they'd be ASBOing working class kids, not prosecuting ecocidal corporations!
The pigs will be there whether or not the site is squatted. The Earth is a common treasury not a private garden. Let's act in accordance with the type of world we'd like to see, not let the vagaries of possible police repression set our agenda.
Katie suggested that there should be 120 minutes devoted to skillsharing at the gathering. I think that this is a waste of valuable time.
While I think skillsharing is incredibly important and something we all should be doing, devoting 2 hours to it during this weekend seems a waste of time. I think there will be A LOT of people at this gathering, and they are all there to discuss where next. We almost certainly will NOT have enough time to do this well enough anyway without devoting 2 hours to something unrelated.
Anonymous said: "I think the state repression we received highlights the police's political role as agents of the capitalist system.".
This is what turns my stomach about this. For a start, we don't live in a capitalist system. It's monopolist (land owners!).
This sort of language and the "socialist revolution" banners on the marches are what has climate camp perceived in the way that the wealthy would want it - a way that alienates those we want to engage. The vast majority of people are not wealthy, but they do like the market system. They want a fair system, not revolutionary-jargon.
To me, the point of the camp is to demonstrate that a different way of life: more local, more inclusive and more equal, is possible.
I've been meaning to get down to this for some time, and so this might
turn into quite a long list. I think that all these proposals need
considering, but I'm not sure I could say I was equally enthused by all
of them, nor even hazard a guess as to which ones other people will like
the most.
Its 6 proposals, its long and its taken over an hour to write, plus 2 months of thinking and scheming, so please bare with me. If this is not the format or method people need to submit proposals in, please can someone explain what I should be doing instead!
Yours,
Graham
1 - Radical/Carnival Bloc/Presence in December 8th March
Whether its a specific bloc on the march, possibly with some kind of
theme (and lots of colour!), or a concerted attempt to get out into the
crowd and open discussions with people, something should happen during
the march. It needs to be aimed at communicating a clear press-worthy
message, but also attractive to other protesters, and perhaps followed
with a meeting during the following week for Londoners who want to
explore more effective ways to go beyond route marches.
Despite the potential numbers on the march (50k-100k) we have the
numbers to do something visible and effective, and we have the Climate
Camp identity which almost everyone present will already know about. If
we simply boycott the march, we leave people to simply return next year
and do it all again, or get disillusioned. What we do needn't be so
radical that it was arrestable, but needs to convey a message saying "we
don't just shout about it, we go and do it as well".
Last year, People & Planet organised a student carnival which took a
separate route to Trafalgar Square in London, which was far more
colourful and entertaining for most of those taking part, and for the
press. No similar event has been announced. This was also a somewhat
divisive move on a day when unity and cross-pollination were necessary.
Recent events on Stop the War marches (especially the tearing down of
the Parliament Square fence) show that many people go on these marches
who are fresh, motivated and prepared to go further the march allows,
especially students, but also others. Lets go find them!
2 - Week of Action coinciding with World Social Forum call-out for
actions and discussions for another possible world during the week of
the World Economic Forum; week ending Saturday 26th January, 2007.
If we want to see Climate Action at the heart of the Movement of Movements, as I believe we should, then to set a week of actions, possibly with some themed days within it, to coincide with this major world wide week of actions seems to make sense. It will maintain momentum, people can do what they want locally, but will have some kind of motivation for getting on with something, and it will be 3.5 months since the last day of action.
3 - Day of Action against Corporate Climate Criminals
If the above isn't desirable, or if people don't want a whole week of actions, lets call a day of local actions, possibly in that last week of January, or at a time of our own choosing. Days of Action provide excellent impetus for local groups to focus on taking an action, however spectacular/radical or not, and spacing them well can ensure momentum remains, while giving people a chance to do things locally and of their own choosing.
4 - Action training and skill share weekends nationwide, possibly as a tour, possibly focused on one month. Based on Spring into Action!
My favoured flavour of this proposal is to have March 2008 as "Spring into Action! month", as it will provide 5 whole weekends, giving regional 'neighbourhood' groups a chance to organise weekends in multiple cities. They needn't be residential, but should combine sessions on how to make compost loos, etc. with direct action training, and groups can choose if they want to follow through with an action on the Monday after.
It would be good to see some coordination for this, for instance demonstrators/speakers giving the same workshop in different cities, and some kind of national publicity/press work alongside the regional stuff. If people liaise between each other, it should be possible to reduce the work for each individual weekend by sharing the load.
We could do a combined leaflet and have Greenpeace, FOE, etc insert it, and a poster/magazine ad for national publications, like Red Pepper (cash being therefore an issue).
My understanding is that several cities are considering this already, so the question is "can we roll it out nationwide and can we give it an identity which can be promoted at a national level without destroying the original concept of a city-wide weekend of action and green-living training?"
5 - Hold 3 regional camps next year, focusing on three different industries with the clear message "we're not just anti-coal, anti-aviation, etc."
Holding three camps at the same time as other camps around the world, reducing the size of each individual UK-located camp (3 x 1000 seems achievable) would allow us to broaden the message. This would also reduce people's travel distances and help us tap three different local issues. It would also strengthen our movement by giving us something ambitious post-Heathrow and ensure we continue to increase our capacity for putting on these events. Yes, some work would treble but others would only slightly increase, and we could include more people in the development of the camps. For instance, the number of kitchens would not shoot up, and they wouldn't have to travel hundreds of miles.
This would mean keeping national gatherings to 2-3 in the rest of the year, while holding monthly gatherings for the super-regions which aim to host camps. It would also mean major changes to the way we coordinate and the way we select sites (for instance, what if everyone chose coal or airports?).
This could also mean giving the Scottish or Welsh their autonomy back!
6 - Hold some kind of European spokes gathering, one-off, invite spokes for all possible camps next year, allocate some travel funds to sending a few trusted spokespeople to the meeting, demand that they report back at a national gathering and at regional meetings.
Spokes would be expected to present goings on in their region/country, and to have some ability to negotiate a date for the main actions of as many camps as is feasible, allowing everyone worldwide to plan camps across that date if they wish. This presents lots of issues, but the potential to give us a really clear European Call-out for Camps to take place, though this would mean it would have to happen fairly soon.
Hey folks,
A few things to add:
I don’t fully agree with the assessment in the second comment above - there was LOADS of political discussion at the camp, and all that any visitor to the camp had to do to find some radical climate change analysis was pick up a copy of the Welcome booklet! Meanwhile, although most of the mass media did their best to present us as just a bunch of anti-aviation lobbyists, we still managed to get some coverage of the bigger issue stuff out there (economic growth vs. the climate, grassroots vs. corporate solutions), especially on TV and radio. Not as much as we’d like, it’s true, and we could definitely do loads better, but to get these issues covered at all in the corporate media is quite an achievement.
However, I do agree that we need some time at the gathering to talk more explicitly about our political strategy. Where do we fit into the wider picture of climate change campaigning, in the UK and internationally? If we are genuinely trying to “build a movement” rather than just organise events and actions, then what can we learn from other social movements past and present? Do we need to start thinking about forming coalitions and alliances, for example with trade unions, social justice campaigners or NGOs?
I think a session on this topic would be really valuable, and I know a few people (including myself) who’d be up for putting something together. It should include feedback from the strategy weekend we held back in May, and be well-structured, perhaps including a few proposals for discussion which could be suggested and circulated in advance; this could include one fairly uncontroversial (!?) statement of our basic aims to get initial agreement on, followed by a few other strategy proposals and ideas. It should happen before we get into detailed “what next?” discussion about future camps and days of action – we should try to get a clearer idea of why we’re doing things before we talk about what we’re going to do!
Any thoughts on this? Does it sound like a useful exercise or a complete nightmare? Or both?
Danny x
UPDATE ON INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE CAMPS BEING PLANNED FOR 2008
Hi,
I plan to give an update at the nov meetings in Oxford of what's
going on Internationally, I'm in touch with all the collectives
mentioned below and will get final updates before the 3rd.
The quick summery is that the 3 US camps, one in Australia, one in
Germany are trying to co-ordiante camp dates - and would like us too.
It is looking like July.
Another proposal that was put is that if we can't all have
simultaneous camps (or 'events/actions/whatever') maybe we can have a
month of camps/action, in July.
- details blow:
--------
In the UK local groups are having debrief meetings from the Heathrow
camp and there is a national debrief/what next meeting in early
November to decide on next years plan.
In Germany organising is underway for a climate camp camp in 2008.
There is a mailing-list, with over 90 people already, a call-out and
the beginnings of a web-site. It sounds like they are looking in
dates mainly in July. A first meeting is planned for the same weekend
as the UK meet up in November. There will be someone from the German
collective at the UK meeting in November.
Germany:http://www.klimacamp.org/
Activists in Australia have begun organising a Climate Camp for the
the middle of July 2008 to shut down the world's biggest coal port in
Newcastle, NSW. Their dates are planned for July & coincide with
another large gathering in Newcastle.. and as it takes 1-4 days to
travel between cities there I don't think these dates will be very
flexible. - I hope to have a more specific date for the nov meeting.
Australia: www.climatecamp.org.au
After a successful camps on both coasts of North America this August,
there are plans to have three camps in 2008, One of the West Coast,
One in the South-East and one in the North-East. They hope to co-
ordinate.
North America http://www.climateconvergence.org/
A group of Kiwis at the UK climate camp are starting plans for an
Aotearoa (New Zealand) climate camp next year, or possibly getting a
ship together to head over to the Newcastle camp. There is an elist,
its very quiet.
A good place or good places to hold Climate Camp next year?
Contraction and convergence, as Aubrey Meyer says needs simultaneous global co-operation. In the link bellow he explains why the Simultaneous Policy (Simpol) could well achieve such social change as well as facilitates the implementation of Contraction and Convergence. See Climate Change Forum in the House Of Commons- page 3-4.
http://www.simpol.org.uk/Pages/PDF/simpolsummer07.pdf
See a recent article of Simpol campaigning in Brighton-
http://www.theargus.co.uk/goinggreen/features/display.var.1769890.0.a_simple_guide_to_simpol.php
And
www.simpol.org.uk and www.simpol.org for an explanation of Simpol.
I hold Simpol-street-stalls and they are a very effective way of bringing encouragement to passers by who more often than not recognise the need for global co-operation to solve global problems such as climate change. I say to people, “If there was a method that could enable people all over the world to pull together to drive governments to co-operate with each other to solve global problems such as war poverty and environmental destruction, do you think most people would join it.” Many agree that they would and then sign up as Simpol Adopters there and then thereby driving their MP and candidates to sign the Simpol Pledge.
Climate camp in my mind should involve 10 days of camping out in your own high street/or targeted towns and cities holding Simpol/Global Justice/Climate Camp (in no order of importance) Street Stalls. People holding the stalls can explain to people- climate change data, Contraction and Convergence, the need for global co-operation and inviting them to Adopt Simpol.
Climate Camp/Simpol/Global Justice Groups Street Stall could be-
1 Immediately open to all to join in on. They will be non-exclusive (climate camps most hubristic attribute by way of subculture.) With street stalls people can take an hour off from work and join in.
2 It would give direct power to the people via the Simpol voting strategy and by the recognition of the problem of “destructive competition between nations/ nations must maintain competitiveness to attract foreign investment for jobs.”
3 Street stalls signify that we can and must all take responsibility to drive change. Without common co-operation we will continue to suffer minority driven destructive competition.
4 Street stalls will not be huddled away from the media. They would be a constant 10 day reminder
4(1) that could continue once the 10 day event had passed.
5 People in their own high streets can discuss climate change, its solution and problems of solving it. Tony Blair “the blunt truth about climate change is that no country will want to sacrifice its economy to solve this problem.”
5 Simpol highlights the cause of global problems- that of destructive competition. Globalisation is inevitable; what we need to globalise is peace, justice, sustainability and prosperity. Simpol shows that policy that is well within reach of individual governments i.e. policy which does not engender “suffering a competitive disadvantage”, (such as most policies being “Asked” by FOE, many of which are still not being met) can be acted on now due to the recognition of the fact that such policies will not engender such a loss. With Simpol, governments agree to co-operate with other governments to simultaneously implement the Global Justice Movements most stringent demands such as contraction and convergence, make all trade fair, ban all WMD, end war as a means of conflict resolution etc etc thus solving global problems via the coherent and achievable co-operative, non-adversarial, “learn, accept, forgive, adjust and improve” strategy. Simpol is a parallel strategy to run alongside other campaigns. Simpol can unite the global justice movement offering a holistic solution. Together we are strong!!
6 Street stalls mean that we have the power to create change without having to march and disrupt. This often causes public opinion to go against our cause. We are seen as different, a subculture, and this is to be avoided at all costs. The global justice movement must not be seen to be elitist, which I would argue, we are; mostly white, middle classed, privileged people pointing the finger at others making them feel bad and slip into denial.
7 Climate Camp/Simpol/Global Justice Street Stalls can set up all over the world. Climate change is a global issue and therefore needs a global solution which needs to be grassroots driven. It is redundant without this.
8 Relatively few Adopters are needed to get MPs to sign the Pledge.
With mass global action by way of Simpol/Global Justice Movement/Climate Camp Street Stall method, relatively few adopters are needed to drive politicians to sign the Simpol Pledge. This holds true globally as most political parties follow a narrow band of business friendly policies so as to be “attractive to foreign investment for jobs.” It could be the fastest grassroots method of getting implemented the most stringent policies necessary to solve global climate change. We could be a fast growing minority, inviting the majority to take part and in a way that they are already used to.
8 Climate Camp/Global Justice/Simpol Street Stalls cannot be stopped by local authorities in most countries.
9 I have heard from a person who claims to have inside details of the new IPCC report which explains that we have already gone past 2 parts per square million. If this is true, grassroots led global co-operation will be extremely necessary less we succumb to the “problem, reaction, solution” method of implementation of autocratic rule. Grassroots global co-operation is necessary to soften the blow of global catastrophe whether people agree or not on the evidence for man made climate change, solar climate change or both.
11. Climate camp/Simpol Stall would also highlight homelessness and poverty (also caused by destructive competition) as a cause of climate change as we would sleep out in the street or have to stay awake for the constant vigil.
12. Simpol is Social Change. My stall experience has shown me that people welcome Simpol as a strategy whereby they can co-operate as equals with other people around the world to solve global problems. This engenders a positive outlook i.e. social change and positivity encourages action and action on every level including local and national.
13- The street stalls could open up high streets as Speaker’s Corners. We need to debate out in the open, away from censorship.
We can really reach a lot of people this way and it need never end- until we achieve our aims of global co-operation- even then freedom requires responsibility- the meetings would never end. This is all I do and I get fantastic results.
See you in Oxford-
As has been said already: the aim was that the 2006 Climate Camp wasn't to be the end of the story. It was to kick-start a much wider growth in direct action against climate change, capital, and the state.
However it was not the End of the Story.
I would say that the 2007 camp was bigger and better. It was definitely more daring! It has had a global impact and has I hope united and given fresh impetus to the whole anti-globalisation/ climate movement. Another World is Possible and all that!
Is now is the time to move on though? I do not want to see Climate Camp becoming an institution. However, what is the most effective way forward.
I like Danny's suggestion of a session on our political strategy. Where do we fit into the wider picture of climate change campaigning, in the UK and internationally?
There are strong self-motivated and effective local groups (e.g. Bristol) but there are other groups that probably still need to be 'activated'. It may be that big regional camps are needed to help and encourage these people.
Do we want to get massive press coverage ? Is this the most effective way of initiating the change we need. If the answer is yes we may need to have one big camp. However the media may get tired of us.
A big camp will have the problem of the police definitely getting wise to us, as will the Government. However this would also be trhe case for regional camps.
We need to think about big(?) climate criminals to target for what ever camp scenario we have.
We are told that US folk and Ozzies are planning camps in July.
We do not necessarily want to follow them, when they are following us! This conjurs up images of running in circles and tails.However, the media coverage around the world could be huge.
It may be that the Transition Town/ Culture movement is our best bet for getting people to take control and doing DIY. How can the DA movement complement this?
It may be that after all is said and done that we should carry on doing what we are doing well. But the media will grow weary of us if we keep on repeating our selves each year so our impact will fall. We will not always have corporations that shoot themselves in the foot so easily as BAA.
I like the cross fertilisation ideas such as Tomas' one for linking up with PAB and CAT. (many of the activists in Mid Wales for Climate Action are connected with CAT)
I agree that we need some sort of a vision of what we are for, as well as what we are against.
I like the idea that Karen had of targeting supermarkets all over the country on the same day at the same hour.
We do need to find ways of engaging with the masses without just sending them into dis-empowering denial about the whole thing.
I agree with skillsharer about the agenda and again think there is not really time to have what could well be a fairly useless skill-sharing session.
Some sort of DA stuff at the Climate Demo on the 8th might be effective. I think this is probably best left as affinity group actions rather than trying to coordinate it too much. Maybe a bloc as Graham suggests too.
Weeks or days of action provide excellent impetus for local groups to focus on taking an action, however spectacular/radical or not, and spacing them well can ensure momentum remains, while giving people a chance to do things locally and of their own choosing. We could conrinue where the RT RBS action left off and have more co-ordinated days of action.
I am supportive of the idea of having three camps at the same time as other camps around the world.
Reducing the size of each individual UK-located camp (3 x 1000 seems achievable) would allow us to broaden the message. This would also reduce people's travel distances and help us tap three different local issues. It keeps the ball rolling whilst avoiding the getting into a rut issue.
Simpol may be an answer but how does Simpol fit in with our beliefs and aims etc? How does the concept of Anarchy fit with Simpol and how entrenched is the concept of Anarchy in the Network?
Could Barnaby lead a workshop or some thing on this during the gathering?
See you in Oxford
Moth
I've a feeling successive camps, as appears to be happening, may result in gradually
diminshing responses from the establishment media.....the only way we will have as
much media exposure in 2008 is with as much international interaction as
possible....therefore we
really need this timing of climate action camps with, like, Oz, U.S., Chile,
etc.....in my opinion it's the biggest thing to go for.
So that's my thing for the agenda in Oxford.
Dave in Edinburgh
6uUVS3 Your blog is great. Articles is interesting!
ICoKTQ Please write anything else!
PROPOSAL: Spring Into Action Month
Some of you may remember hearing of (or being part of) a weekend in
Nottingham early this year, aimed at ordinary locals, called Spring Into
Action, and designed to teach sustainable living and direct action
skills in an urban setting, followed by a Day of Action when they
invaded the grounds of a power station. As a stand alone this was great,
and it is brilliant to hear that several cities are talking about taking
on this idea - weekends of radical education on sustainability and
action that don’t need people to travel or camp or anything like that.
I would like to propose that we turn this into a nation-wide initiative.
Each city’s plans would remain autonomous; no city has to take part if
they don’t want to, and each city would have to sort its own weekend.
However, some national publicity could be achieved through sharing an
identity, as well as sharing of trainers/speakers to plug gaps in local
expertise, and hopefully it would encourage more cities to come on
board, and for neighbourhood groups to plan weekends in two or more
cities. The suggested time scale would be March 2008, as this provides
us with 5 weekends across which to spread the different events.
The advantages to each city would be publicity, mutual support from
other groups, impetus to get started in the first place, on top of the
usefulness of a weekend of this kind: a gateway for local people to get
involved, a launch pad for further action, a way to communicate to
others about future plans, and a chance to make contacts which can be
developed later, both with individuals and groups. In theory, supporting
each other should make the whole process of pulling off a weekend much
easier.
Obviously the key aim is to bring more people into the movement through
something which feels reputable, familiar (From the people who brought
you Climate Camp...) and empowering, as part of wider activities for the
network.
At a national level, this would mean some kind of coordination working
group, which might only need exist as an email list, and for networking
group to take on creation of national publicity and its usage. For
instance, we got inserts into WDM, Greenpeace and other mail-outs; why
can’t we do this again?
At a local level, this needs people who live in the same cities to agree
to work on a weekend, picking the dates, booking/squatting the venue,
deciding if they want a day of action or not, and doing local
networking, such as publicity, finding trainers and so forth.
Without wanting to endlessly recreate a brilliant event organised
locally, by people who knew the local community, I think this is the
kind of activity Camp for Climate Action needs to initiate and support,
and that we have the networks to make it a success, and furthermore,
that in the context of other activities, such as future camps, this can
contribute to making the movement a success. Please carefully consider
supporting this proposal.
Brief Notes from the 2nd Yorkshire Neighbourhood Meeting.
The meeting was aimed at refining ideas for people to take to the Oxford
Gathering, and as such, wasn't about consensus or about defining
Yorkshire's proposals.
Messages we need to send:
1. Positive Advantages adjusting to a post Carbon society.
2. Fight the ghetto which activists always fall into.
3. Direction demands: attacking a very specific tenet of capitalism,
demonstrating an alternative.
4. How do we differentiate ourselves, without cutting people out of
the picture?
Themes/Sub-Issues:
* Housing: Taking and holding land very successful, why not create
occupied eco-village? Needs more development, but has lots of mileage.
Key idea being to invade land prepared for housing development, and
build our own eco-home. Would stop development of bad-homes, while
taking land and creating something new and visible. Would have to be a
liveable house.
* Coal/Gas - No new exploration of fossil fuel expansion! Social
movement to keep them underground.
* Biofuels/Wider Corporate Agenda.
Barriers to change - how do we tackle these?
* Consumer patterns
* Lobbying power of fossil fuel industry
* Capitalism/Expansionism
Activities for the next year
Must be a series of different things, not too many repeats, many new
ideas and definitely more inclusive than Glasto-style camping!
December 8th National Climate March:
* Speaker on the platform at Grosvenor Square. Needs heavy
discussion at gathering. Needs to be an ordinary person, optimist,
speech needs to be accountable. Or just lobby Monbiot/better person.
Find out ASAP if the list is fixed! Needs to be anti-corporation.
* Hand-outs, must be dead exciting! Coordination required. Give
everyone something to read about CfCA message, why its different,
publicises something in the future.
* Puppet! Like the Faslane Dragon. Ostrich?
Others:
* DOA - liked, but musn’t be the only thing we do.
* Spring Into Action month, linked to big/Summer proposal, gateway
to movement, must be advertised thoroughly, needs to be something people
will attend, not just support. National coordination. Contacts followed
through, especially with people with relevant skills.
--
Thanks to author.
Hi,
I speak as someone who attended the Climate Camp and also the Earth First Gathering this year, but who has operated for some years now as part of the Animal Rights movement, particularly supporting SHAC and SPEAK.
At this year's Animal Rights Gathering in Kent, I gave a workshop on the necessity for links between the rapidly growing Eco Action movement, as particularly exemplified by the Climate Camp, and the Animal Rights movement. We are, after all, each seeking the same end, defence of the Earth and all Life.
At the AR Gathering there was general consensus that we entirely welcome and support the emerging movement toward Direct Action that protects the Earth that is home to all Life. It was agreed that the Animal Rights movement would support next year's Climate Camp by having an Animal Rights neighbourhood. (After all you already have our Vegan caterers, "Veggies" as well as "Anarchist Teapot"!)
Having read this blog, I am concerned to see that there is not general consensus that there should be a third national Climate Camp next year. We feel that it is entirely essential that the growing momentum of what you are doing should not be lost. As the person who has been delegated by the Animal Rights movement to develop links between us, I would appreciate your advice as to how I should seek to become part of the planning process for next year's Camp.
For the Earth and all Life!
Matt: the best way to get involved in planning what we do next is to come to the national meeting next weekend in Oxford. There's information about it at: www.climatecamp.org.uk/nextmeeting.php
Good job!
Please write anything else!
Good job!
Hi,
Moving to a new home this week, but will do my best to be there this weekend. There is so much to be done, and ever less time in which to do it.
For the Earth and all Life!
Wonderful blog.
actually, that's brilliant. Thank you. I'm going to pass that on to a couple of people.
Following on from Moths comments–
“Simpol may be an answer but how does Simpol fit in with our beliefs and aims etc? How does the concept of Anarchy fit with Simpol and how entrenched is the concept of Anarchy in the Network?
Could Barnaby lead a workshop or some thing on this during the gathering?”
See you in Oxford
Moth
I would like to ask people what they consider Anarchy to be. For me, it as that which gives free reign to behaviour which works in harmony within the Laws of Nature; behaviour which effect ones surroundings for ones own long term evolutionary benefit; a recognition that everything is interconnected and one; it is abiding by the law of Cause and Effect and therefore co-operating, locally, nationally and globally for the good of all. Anarchy is individual and collective responsibility. It is recognising wholes within wholes, it is holistic change.
I would like to put forward we hold stalls for local, national and global co-operative solutions to climate change. We can camp out for ten days in our own local streets (watch out for the people from the Job Centre Plus Extra, no more than 16 hours volunteering for a registered charity a week), make music, play hackysac, do the stalls, many, many stalls all over the country. I will gladly do workshops for Simpol at the meeting in Oxford. I will also make a U-tube clip doing the stall explaining Simpol to people.
Climate change initiatives should embrace holistic solutions as climate change is killing people and global cooperation will be needed to solve the fall out less we succumb to “problem reaction solution-autocracy.” Perhaps an umbrella organisation or focal point for each level of co-operation, individual, local, national and global could be compiled to be distributed and from which people can be informed, join in and act upon.
I propose each stall should involve-
1. Individual- info resources on how to live green and ethically, CAT, Green Directories (e.g. Brighton Peace and Environment Centre)
2. local co-operation (Transition Towns, The Eco-Op Ltd (for info on Eco-Op see- thepyramidofco-operationblog.spot.com , the co-operative model, voting greenest, Simpol Adopters Groups discussing global policy, peace/justice groups)
3. national co-operation (voting green/ethical and for Simpol Pledged candidates, Unlock Democracy/Local Works, joining climate protest groups/ peace/justice/fair trade groups)
4. global co-operation (Simpol, Contraction and Convergence, global climate action/ global justice/peace groups the global co-operative movement, the ICA).
Brief Notes from the 2nd Yorkshire Neighbourhood Meeting and additions added by Barnaby.
The meeting was aimed at refining ideas for people to take to the Oxford
Gathering, and as such, wasn't about consensus or about defining
Yorkshire's proposals.
Messages we need to send:
1. Positive Advantages adjusting to a post Carbon society.
Nothing evolves without conflict. Humanity needs a common enemy to unite. Climate change is that. This to me is the greatest benefit to be gained. From climate change we can unite to solve all our problems of war, poverty environmental destruction and corporatocracy.
2. Fight the ghetto which activists always fall into.
Street stalls are open to all and by no means fall into a category of subculture or notions of us and them. Pamphleteering and street speaking is a traditional method of call to arms. Street stalls need never discontinue and we can invigorate open and free public speaking. Speaker’s Corners.
3. Direction demands: attacking a very specific tenet of capitalism,
demonstrating an alternative.
Grassroots global governance (not government- so as to be future proof from any possibility of being co-opted by minority groups acting for pure self interest) by way of Simpol is a very achievable method to solve all our global problems, create social change for co-operation- recognising that every one and everything is interconnected, unity in diversity. Via the Simpol method, existing justice campaigns can be strengthened and have their most stringent demands met and in a short time line as only relatively few votes are needed to effect change. We them welcome all on board.
4. How do we differentiate ourselves, without cutting people out of
the picture?
I do not understand this point. Why should we differentiate ourselves at all? Are we better people because we are activists? Unless I am missing the point, this is not an idea I subscribe to and it is not an idea at all that would encourage others to physically join us and surely that is our main purpose. We are not separate from anyone else and we should encourage popular action by offering methods that most people feel comfortable with to join in on. This to me is not chaining ourselves to things but by looking for more sophisticated methods, creating something new, a new global co-operative democracy which strengthens and invigorates local and also national democracy. (it is inevitable that there will one day exist a form of global governance as we need to make global agreements on many things, so unless we want autocracy, we the people had better get in their first and make it for ourselves and for the co-operating majority.) Simpol is to me the most sublime strategy which can empower us all (including empowering and uniting the global co-operative enterprise industry). A strategy that people will feel comfortable to join in on, to then be able to see a future of global co-operation whereby our problems can be solved, creating an atmosphere of positivity and empowerment, inspiring more action to start the process of solution NOW in its most stringent necessary form. We can only inspire change by example and by relating to those we wish to join us. Also, we need to be thankful of our problems so that we can find solutions to them.
Themes/Sub-Issues:
Land to take-
• Your own high street.
Barriers to change - how do we tackle these?
• Consumer patterns
• Lobbying power of fossil fuel industry
• Capitalism/Expansionism
• # Destructive Competition (between nation states to attract global capital for jobs, between businesses, fractional reserve banking system requires perpetual growth)
• # Non Holistic, splintered, adversarial solutions which do not embrace and transend current methods.
December 8th National Climate March:
• Many Simpol stalls on wheels. Thousands of new Simpol Adopters. Hundreds of MPs signing the Simpol Pledge, political parties making it party policy, to become government policy and law in short period of time. Revolution!!! More stringent measures implanted now due to recognition of destructive competition and first mover competitive disadvantage.
Speaker on the platform at Grosvenor Square. Needs heavy
discussion at gathering. Needs to be an ordinary person, optimist,
speech needs to be accountable. Or just lobby Monbiot/better person.
• I would be happy to speak on the need for global cooperation to solve this problem. Also that the government should take a lead to implement sufficiently tough policy demanded by the global justice movement that would still not engender the suffering of a competitive disadvantage and which could booster the economy. i.e. 3% per year reduction of emissions including, aircraft, shipping, bio-fuels.
Find out ASAP if the list is fixed! Needs to be anti-corporation.
• Can we make corporations become cooperatives? A policy put forward by Simpol Adopters is for corporations to become stakeholder governed. This paves the way for them to become co-operatives.
* Hand-outs, must be dead exciting! Coordination required. Give
everyone something to read about CfCA message, why its different,
publicises something in the future.
• Hand outs should emphasise grassroots driven global cooperation to solve global problems. Why Contraction and Convergence and Simpol are necessary and how we the people can drive global cooperation to implement C and C. Sign up here, fill in this letter to your MP telling them of you new selective Simpol Pledged only voting strategy.
* Puppet! Like the Faslane Dragon. Ostrich?
• Huge planet Earth with a symbol of cooperation, people holding hands round it perhaps, skipping like snoopy at dinner time?
Others:
* DOA - liked, but musn’t be the only thing we do.
• Everyday of mass signing up to vote only for MPs that have signed the Simpol Pledge. Action demanding governments to recognise policies that are well within their ability to implement, policies that would not render them suffering a first mover disadvantage. No more excuses such as “well what about China, Australia and America”, this is global cooperation, we all act.
* Spring Into Action month, linked to big/Summer proposal, gateway
to movement, must be advertised thoroughly, needs to be something people
will attend, not just support. National coordination. Contacts followed
through, especially with people with relevant skills.
• “Something people attend, not just support.” What about something people attend and act on collectively too?
I would like to invite you to have a look at John Bunzl’s new book, People Centred Global Governance where he looks at what anarchy meant to people such a Schumacher (Small Is Beautiful) in chapter 4, the global justice movement. The book can be found at www.simpol.org site, under books and resources.
I would also like to invite you to-
What's Wrong with the Global Justice Movement?
Global Justice Strategy Forum
Saturday, 24th November 9.00am to 3.00pm
Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL
Open to the public - free admission* - Tube: Holborn
While global activists cheerfully proclaimed 'victory' over globalisation after shutting down the WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle in 1999, nearly 10 years on it has to be admitted that the free-market juggernaught has comprehensively swept the global justice movement aside.
Despite numerous protests, the World Social Forum, Make Poverty History, Live 8 and the support of a string of high-profile rock-stars, we should acknowledge that, while we've done a great job in raising public awareness of global problems, by and large our efforts to obtain adequate action by governments have failed. It's not that we've failed to get ANY government action; it's that it remains far too little compared to the really decisive moves needed if global warming, let alone other issues, are to be properly addressed.
Something is deeply wrong with our movement's strategy - meanwhile the planet burns. Isn't it time we admitted this failure and discussed it openly and honestly? If you're fed up with hearing only about global problems and want to hear about and work on practical and coherent solutions, be they local, national or global, then this forum is for you!
The Forum is being hosted by Simpol-UK and will open with a Forum Focus at which all attendees will have an opportunity to frame the debate and identify the key issues to which our panel of invited speakers will be asked to respond. The Forum will finish with a further opportunity for cross-fertilising the reactions and ideas of all present, crystallising the most promising solutions, while identifying any key issues which may need to be dealt with at a future Strategy Forum.
* Admission is free but to ensure sufficient space, you must reserve your seat by emailing Diana Trimble at dtrimble@simpol.org by no later than Friday 9th November.
Speakers:
Charles Secrett, former director, Friends of the Earth UK
Colin Hines, activist, author and former economist for Greenpeace
Aubrey Meyer, director, The Global Commons Institute http://www.gci.org.uk
David Wasdell, director, the Meridian Programme http://www.meridian.org.uk
John Bunzl, founder, the Simultaneous Policy http://www.simpol.org
Note: The Forum will be followed at 3.30 pm by Simpol-UK's Annual General Meeting.
"I thought your proposal was an elegant idea of how change could occur. It reflects the core ideas of how to create consensus around change. This is the biggest challenge that we have"
Ed Mayo. Former Executive Director, New Economics Foundation
"Your idea for a simultaneous policy is excellent. … Lets hope that people start to listen to this important message."
Helena Norberg-Hodge Member of the International Forum on Globalisation and Director of the International Society for Ecology & Culture
"It’s ambitious and provocative. Can it work? Certainly worth a serious try."
Noam Chomsky
"…the basic concept is excellent. … Let me know what develops!"
Jakob von Uexkull Founder and Chairman - Right Livelihood Award Foundation
"The Simultaneous Policy is a creative proposal to accelerate progress toward a sustainable global economy. Many movements and grassroots globalists working for these goals can coalesce around such innovative initiatives"
Hazel Henderson Author of 'Beyond Globalization: Shaping a Sustainable Global Economy'
"Bunzl is, I feel, the first writer on the ‘sustainable society’ to advance beyond rhetoric and grapple with the problem of how such a society might be achieved."
Dr. Aidan Rankin ‘New European’ (European Business Review) - UK.
"I agree with the case your organization is making about the failure of anti-globalization forces to propose effective alternatives to the status quo. I believe your organization's proposals are an important step forward. They address the real problems we face with proposals that deserve to be taken seriously. I hope that many of those who took important first steps in Seattle, Washington and Quebec City will now take the second step and take either the ISPO programme, or any alternatives they wish to propose, into the political arena. Anti-globalization demonstrators have the attention of the world. If they wish to hold that attention, and start to make an impact on policy, they must now follow the ISPO's lead and propose workable alternatives to the status quo."
Prof. Christopher Leo - Dept. of Politics, University of Winnipeg, Canada.
"Simultaneous Policy is a most promising strategy for discovering and establishing a more equitable, efficient and sustainable economic order."
Shann Turnbull Author of "Democratizing the Wealth of Nations"
"The concept of Simultaneous Policy (SP) is a wonderful way of implementing cooperation which is the new law of human survival in the globalized world. With it goes moral education inducing a new system of values to satisfy the requirements of the New Age."
Dr. Farhang Sefidvash Coordinator, the Research Centre for Global Governance
"Working from an East-West perspective in which the interdependency of Buddhism combines with the economics of E.F. Schumacher, Bunzl argues for a program of restoring social control over the blind destructiveness of corporate globalisation by simultaneous government policies across world borders. The need for simultaneity of sovereign state action is an important new dimension of a debate affecting all planetary life."
John McMurtry Author of "The Cancer Stage of Capitalism"
"With his concept of Simultaneous Policy, John Bunzl delivers an important piece in the puzzle that governments around the world can use to resolve the pressures of increasingly integrated markets. ... It is, perhaps, one of the few workable solutions to bridging the sustainability gap."
Matthias Hoepfl Politische Oekologie, Munich, Germany.
"This is an important book about a potentially very important idea - the Simultaneous Policy. The author asks the question: how can the world get beyond the escalating problems of global competition to a framework of global co-operation? As we have seen with single issues such as arms control, it is hard for an individual country to justify making the first move. This is where SP comes in. It provides a rallying point for those who would like to see the vicious circle broken and a new world system inaugurated."
The Scientific and Medical Network Review.
"From my vantage point as an evolution biologist, Simultaneous Policy is an idea whose time has come and an imperative if we are to evolve humanity from its juvenile competitive stage to its cooperative species maturity. A wonderful "no risk" strategy for finding agreement on important issues in building global community!"
Elisabet Sahtouris, Ph.D. - author of EarthDance: Living Systems in Evolution.
"…the SP proposal is a practical means of moving toward global governance. It should be an effective means of achieving cooperation where any individual government that behaves cooperatively will be disadvantaged until all other governments also do so. …I wish you the best of luck with your important work."
John Stewart Author of 'Evolution's Arrow: the direction of evolution and the future of humanity.'
"…provocative and potentially transformative. There are ideas here that could change the world."
Prof. Charles Derber Dept. of Sociology, Boston College, MA, USA.
PROPOSAL: Target the *root* cause of inaction - absence of democracy
In short, I believe that we need to target the failings that are becoming all to clear in the US, and pretty obvious in the UK: that political power can be bought by those with a cheque book.
Some people's solution is to abolish wealth, and have a socialist revolutions.
I say that it's easier than that, and more effective to have a DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION.
One approach for direct action would be to target ALL ELECTIONS IN THE UK (bye-elections each week, and the next LOCAL ELECTIONS IN MAY).
The action should be to totally disrupt the elections in order to highlight:
- That politicians are in the pockets of large donors, and nothing has been done despite the "loans for honours" scandal
- That in our "first past the post" system, we get policies that are in the narrow interests of swing voters in marginal seats, rather than in the long term interests of all of us.
WE NEED TO RECLAIM DEMOCRATIC POWER FOR THE PEOPLE.
When we do, then we will be able to get politicians to act in our interests, not their short term interests.
“WE NEED TO RECLAIM DEMOCRATIC POWER FOR THE PEOPLE.”
If we want to this to happen then it needs to be by popular consent. To get popular consent we need to offer an alternative to corporatocracy as well as highlight its corruptness. Simpol is a method that you use can to reclaim democratic power for the people in a way that most people can join in on and in a way that most people are used to. It is invigorating democracy- Greek for “People Rule.”
I must also apologise where I mention chaining ones self to things as being less sophisticated than other methods to bring about change. (That is in, all be it, “pseudo” democratic systems, not a more autocratic ones where public protest is completely outlawed.) Non violent direct action is a valid and necessary way to highlight injustice and demand change; however it is a method that does differentiate the activist from the non activist in a way that does not encourage the non activist to become an activist. Simpol stalls invite people to act to vote only for politicians who agree to implement OUR policies and it highlights the truth, that more and more people and MPs agree that it is destructive competition between nations to be attractive to foreign investment for jobs that is the cause of unfair trade, climate change inaction and war; that we need a global framework to solve this and these problems and it needs to be DRIVEN by we global community.
On a national level a system similar to Simpol is going through its 3rd motion in parliament, it is called Local Works/Unlock Democracy. It is again bottom up democracy.
Valid points Barnaby, and I'd still say that there's nothing like chaining yourself to something to get publicity. Perhaps Simpol ought to try a lock on!
One thing that I missed off of my list was putting local people back in control of local matters (e.g. Supermarket expansion).
The list should read:
The action should be to totally disrupt the elections in order to highlight:
- That politicians are in the pockets of large donors, and nothing has been done despite the "loans for honours" scandal
- That in our "first past the post" system, we get policies that are in the narrow interests of swing voters in marginal seats, rather than in the long term interests of all of us.
- That local government is pointless there is no ability for local people to shape their future. We need local democracy to enable local solutions.
Hi there,
Just hoping in the newsflash that the NZ climate camp can be brought to
peoples attention.
No set plans/dates yet but meetings are being organised and it has been
inspired by the UK Climate Camps.
There is a great website.
www.climatecamp.org.nz
Sorry no one can be there to share this, but most of the kiwis from previous
camps are planning their trips back to NZ overland.
Have a great weekend.
Kiwi climate campers
rMHCma Good job!
Magnific!
Not long to Oxford now. I was wondering how the proposals would shape up, It's not like last year when there was a erly consencus forming for Heathrow.
The difficulty seems to me to be balancing the attractiveness for partipants with a 'cause' or dare I say it an 'enemy' with limiting the support and influence of our action in the wider world.
One more thing before I get to my proposal, no matter what the decision. Let's have more information supporting our reasons on the web for all to see, as well as an easy and balanced source for journos.
Supermarket distribution hubs. a visible yet so far unseen symbol and lynch pin of much that is causing climate change. We and the media will probably get a good view of the vast scale of the transportation involved, or people will see shortages on the shelves and possibly realize the fragility of our food supply chain. There is also less of a 'security risk' than Heathrow, or, if there is a 'security risk' then, as before, we draw attention to the fragility of the system. Win, Win as far as I can see.
I'm having a hard time finding out about distribution centres, It would only be effective if there they are unable to morve thier supply chain around. The wy they did that at drax was a bit of blow as far as imagary was concerned
Hi,
Climate Camp has been an enormously inspiring event for me both at Drax and at Heathrow. Drax gave us a great start and confidence; Heathrow was a big leap forward and challenging in all sorts of ways but it worked because it was absolutely the right climate focus. No other target could have hit the mark as well or moved the public debate further and away from techno-fix solutions.
We now need to think really careful about the focus of next year camp or camps (some people want to have 2-3 regional ones). Rather than thinking which target is most popular, what we have focussed on so
far, let's see what the greatest and most overlooked threats in terms of climate change are and where we can make the greatest difference. Also, let's think
which issues are really important in terms of global climate justice, since we all want and need to be part of global grassroots campaigning.
In this context, with peak oil having passed or being imminent, bioenergy is now turning into a major cause of accelerated global warming. Biofuels are the fastest growing reason for deforestation in the Amazon and now after three consecutive years of drought, wildfires suggest that a tipping point of dieback and collapse may be imminent. If the drought continues (caused primarily by forest clearance for plantations) then megafires could trigger collapse releasing in just a few years 120 Gt carbon. This is 15 times the annual global fossil fuel emissions of 8GtC. Energy companies are looking for land as their new oil reserve - there are calls for converting 400 milliion hectares of land in Africa to
monocultures for mainly the North's energy needs, 80 million hectares in the Amazon basin, 50 million
hectares in India, 26 million hectares in Indonesia, etc. This is a land-grab on a historically unprecedented scale. Ecosystems are essential for regulating the global climate and they are nbeing wiped out by the new biofuel business partnerships, climate collapse is likely to happen much faster than with fossil fuels alone.
Many grassroots organisations from the global South have condemned biofuels as sacrificing their environment, food sovereignty and social justice to grow fuel for our cars - this is one of the worst cases of climate injustice.
The biofuel industry is made up of business partnerships of oil companies, agribusiness, biotech firms, car manufacturers and venture capitalists - this is the first corporate alliance of its kind and it is generating many tens of billions of investment.
Without a massive opposition and a strong movement, this corporate alliance will cause social and environmental disruption which will quickly become irreversible. How can the UK climate movement mobilise against this on an adequate scale, whilst continuing to push for the massive cuts in fossil fuel emissions and the social and economic changes on which we depend? We need to fully address those questions before choosing the target(s) and strategy which will best engage society.
Best, Deepak
hi there
just heard about this blog. cookie from the global camp convergence list told us about it.
I haven't read all the stuff et, but I'm glad to read from you Deepak! Read your report from Colombia recently aswell.
I agree very much with what you're saying.
Cookie suggested I post this bit of email exchange on the global list on this blog. It's about the question of how to network closer to PGA (People's Global Action) and movements from the "global South" in general.
I wish us productive meetings this week end.
cheerio
Luciano
www.cinerebelde.org
filmmaker of Reclaim Power
the email:
...)
well, I did send an email to the PGA european meeting that was happening in Thessaloniki / Greece, and sent a copy to this list. There wasn't much reaction unfortunately, except a short reply saying the dates for the next PGA european conference are not set yet.
A few words about PGA (People's Global Ation):
I think there is a bit of a myth that evolved around the PGA network. It's quite loose by now. The last global conference dates was back in 2001 in Bolivia! There are networks in Europa, the US, Asia and different parts of the globe, but contact is not as intense as it used to be.
There used to be a so called global convenors, which were organisations that had the legitimacy of calling for a meeting or proposing global days of action etc. Continental meetings have most legitimacy to call for anything. They unfortunately happen very seldom....
The PGA works bottom up. There is no such thing as a PGA institution, only organisations within the network.
Like I said in my previous email, what we need is a more concrete idea of what we want to approach PGA with. Just a call for a global day/week/month of action? The whole thing to happen under PGA hallmarks?
In fact we - as climate camps - can issue a call and call it "PGA inspired" if we adopt the hallmarks for instance.
I think what it takes, is to first get a common call or statement from the different climate camps/convergences involved so far, which would reflect common political aims and announce actions that will truly take place with dates, contacts and everything.
If we manage to issue such a call, then I think we can get it endorsed by the PGA networks that are still active and have meetings before this summer 2008.
If we want to get more voices from "Global South" organisations involved in this process, and endorse our call for instance, then we need to approach them directly. This will be quite interesting because for that we will have to address the issue of climate change much more from their perspective, in fact we will have to take their demands back into the belly of the beast.
Let me give you an example to illustrate what I'm trying to convey:
One of the burning issues directly related to climate change which movements in "southern countries" are addressing right now is the issue of agrofuels, because it is affecting them very directly. Via Campesina would be a great organisation to network with as they regroup many large farmer's movements.
Another example are the Black Communities from Colombia. A very inspiring and large movement with a history that goes back to resistance against slavery. They are currently starting a campaign against the violent implementation of palm oil monocultures on their land. The campaign is together with CENSAT (Friends of the Earth Colombia - much more radical than FoE groups in Europe). They will be touring around Europe in November /December, they are looking for contacts internationally and want to join forces with groups like us. If our camps address the issue of agrofuels, I am sure they would be ready to work with us, endorse our call, do actions back home, send delegates to the different camps etc.
Same goes for other organisations in Brasil or Indonesia.
And probably also for other issues. Australians may want to network with folx from the disappearing pacific islands for instance; bring them to the camp and get them to endorse our call etc.
The closer we network with such movements and communities that are directly affected by the climate and energy crisis, the more legitimacy and strength we will be able to develop both the actions and movements in the wealthy industrialised countries, as the movements and comunities in the "global south".
This was exactly what PGA did, and one of the key elements that sparked the global justice movement worldwide.
The camp at Drax 2006 could for instance have had a much closer relation with communities in resistance from places where the coal mines are. This is the link I tried to do in the film "Reclaim Power" with the Wayuu communities in Venezuela, as S who had been there brought the issue up in the camp.
I think direct networking with a bottom up approach is the way to go about. In fact this is the way PGA is meant to work. It'll probably be more effective than approaching the pretty loose pga network.
Let's talk about these issues this week end at the meetings in Germany and UK at least. It'd be great to get more feedback on this list about these thoughts.
It'd be great if every camp meeting happening could address a few words
I included a few link at the bottom.
See some of you in Kassel.
la lucha sigue
Luciano
PGA history:
http://europe.pgaconference.org/en/pga/pga_history
Climate News: Bogota And Bristol
http://www.bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=26994
http://www.bristol.indymedia.org/attachments/oct2007/claire_biofuels.pdf
Proposals for the Oxford gathering
1) Day/Weekend of mass action in summer
Organise and publicise a focused day or weekend of actions on climate
criminals in a central location. This would bring people together in action
from all over the country including new people, could have a massive impact on
industry and would certainly make headlines. And it would be a lot less work
to organise a whole camp.
2) A summer gathering of climate activists
a) That, instead of a full-blown camp, we come together for a summer gathering
of people involved in climate action, but in a smaller format than the camp
and more focused on developing our strategy and plans for future
actions/campaigns.
b) To save duplication of effort this could be combined with/take place at the
same site as the Earth First! gathering. The Earth First! gathering is an
annual get-to-gether of a loose network of people taking direct action
against ecological destruction. It has lots of workshops on action skills as
well as strategy discussions. A lot of people involved in climate camp are
also part of the Earth First! network and a lot of aims/tactics are the same.
It's being organised anyway and we could have a few dedicated marquees.
3) Skills and resource-sharing
Setting up ways of sharing skills and resources between local groups and also
new people who want to get involved in taking action on climate change. This
could be done via a resource-sharing website and printed materials. It could
include info on climate change, how-tos for climate action, leaflets,
posters, contact details for groups around the country. It could build on the
Toolkit for Climate Action (pizzabox thing handed out at the camp)
4) Carry on our network and keep it accessible for new people/groups to become
involved in climate action.
The last two years we focused around organising camps and saw each other once
a month. There were communication structures, a networking group and people
answering email queries. We need to develop ways to carry this on, even if we
don't have a central camp. Maybe through quarterly gatherings, working groups
that carry on networking/publicity, helping putting people in touch with each
other, organising days of actions etc.
Hi people!
Glad to hear you are working on the climate camp stuff and glad to get in contact with people I have met before!
I can briefly tell that there are some plans for a kind of Camp in Mehuin, Chile. It would be during January 2008 and the Camp will be a part of a wider campaign in Defense of the Sea, as the people of Mehuin name their struggle against a forest and pulp company. I will be there and I see good possibilities to connect somehow that camp with the rest of the camps planed so far. ( I am sending a piece of information about the conflict in Mehuin that I could rapidly pick from the internet and so you can get more background about it. The situation right now is quite complicated since the company is literally offering millions of dollars in order to defeat the resistance there).
In relation with the Camp in Sweden, I have been speaking to some people about that idea and it seems to be interest in the thing.
Good luck with the meeting in Germany!
Chau,
C.
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- Chile: The people of Mehuin again oppose the Celco pulp company
The coastal village of Mehuin is located in the Northeastern zone of the Province of Valdivia, on the borders of the ninth and tenth regions of Chile. It is a small bay, fed by the river Lingue, and surrounded by the mountains of the coastal cordillera. It has a population of approximately 1,700 people, but co-inhabits with 13 communities comprising some 3,000 Mapuche-Lafkenche indigenous peoples who come down to the village to sell their products and to get supplies. Some very well defined sectors also exist in Mehuin, with their own cultural characteristics. One of these is that of the artisan fisher-folk who inhabit the sector of the village known as ?la Caleta?, near the Lingue River, where most of the daily life of the village takes place.
Some 10 years ago, the Chilean Pulp Company, Celco S.A. began to carry out some secret studies with the idea of installing a mill and building a pipeline to take 900 litres per second of liquid industrial effluents to the bay. The project was approved in May 1996 and the environmental resolution granted Celco the possibility of choosing between two alternatives for its effluents: dumping them in the river and installing a more modern system or, dumping them in the sea some 35 kilometres away.
For the company, the cheapest alternative was to dump its effluents in the sea, but there they came across opposition to the project from the community of Mehuin. Right from the start the people of Mehuin opposed the implementation of the necessary studies, convinced that they would only ensure the approval and implementation of the project and consequently pollute the sea. A campaign was organized to reject the use of the sea as a dump for polluting chemicals, known as NO TO THE PIPELINE.
Faced by this opposition, Celco reacted with the same arguments that had been used in other conflicts in the country. The first thing was to impose the project as something already decided by the authorities and to try to frighten the community by telling them that opposition was a crime. Abuse of power and authoritarianism were used as strong and valid tools by the company. The second step was to convince people of the benefits of the project, discrediting any argument or group opposing it, particularly environmental groups that were accused of being terrorists and manipulators. The third step was to offer money, an easy task for a project investing US$ 1,400 million. A new school was offered, working implements to the fisher-folk, even a wharf to cover the pipeline as it entered the sea. The company also offered money for some of the leaders if the conflict was ended. Furthermore, Celco relied on the power of some of the media aligned with the company and the Valdivian local newspaper became the strongest defender of the project.
The government attempted to impose the project as a decision taken by technical teams and any opposition by the community had to be made in the framework of existing legislation. For the government, what was important was to reaffirm its policy of economic growth and this meant supporting all private investments and the forestry/pulp model was part of this process.
Celco attempted entry by land and by sea into MehuÃn in order to carry out the studies, but found an organized community that had managed to make a major part of public opinion aware of the issue. The Government?s action was laid open to the country and part of the international community, which looked on with concern at what was going on in the environmental and indigenous conflicts and that was able to witness the strong repression carried out in some Mapuche areas. Faced with imminent defeat, the company and the Government negotiated a way out of the conflict: to approve the project with the initial alternative proposed in the first project, that of discharging effluents into the River Cruces using a more modern treatment that would ensure minimal pollution.
However, shortly after the pulp mill started its activities, the Valdivians started smelling dreadful odours, which led to a series of complaints. Worse still, a silent threat descended down the River Cruces. It was a chemical mixture comprising heavy metals, sulphates and organochloride compounds, fed daily by one million litres of liquid industrial waste, flooding the waters of the Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary (30 kilometres down river from the pulp mill), causing the death and migration of thousands of black-necked swans.
The environmental crisis was brought to the attention of thousands of inhabitants of the province and of the country. After months of mobilisations, the then President of Chile, Ricardo Lagos, suggested the ?solution? to the crisis: dumping the effluents from Celco into the sea.
Once again, ? having won the first hand over the country?s most powerful economic group and over the idea of national development which, in a simplistic way, considers that the country?s growth requires the sacrifice of a few, although this may imply the death of some of the country?s small ecosystems ? the inhabitants of Mehuin are ready for resistance. Their objective is still that of avoiding pollution of their waters and thus saving their sole source of subsistence. They are convinced that the submission of an Environmental Impact Assessment by a large economic corporation such as Celco, is enough to achieve its approval, and therefore they are prepared to prevent it being implemented in their area. The principle of prevention and the possibility of reversing a decision taken by the authorities using mechanisms of citizen participation are nil. Historically, only 4 per cent of the projects submitted to that management instrument have been rejected and of those approved, only 25 % are submitted to very minor control. It is therefore not overbold to conclude that Environmental Impact Assessments only contain declarations of intention that in most cases will not be fulfilled.
It is in this context that the community of MehuÃn awoke on 17 August with the siren set off by the observers on the hills, announcing the arrival of the vessels to the place where Celco was to start its studies. Two tugs hired by the company arrived in the proximity of Punta Chanchán, escorted by the patrol vessels ?Chiloé? and ?Antofagasta? of the Chilean Navy and a warship, with over one hundred marines on board and among them, some hooded men and zodiac boats, ready for action.
Twenty minutes later the fisher-folk?s boats had arrived at the site to face this threat. Thirty more launches from Queule, at the south of the Ninth Region also arrived, opposing the pipeline. The public agents shot at the fisher-folk?s boats on several occasions, all of which has been duly recorded on film. In the afternoon, following the staunch opposition of the fisher-folk, the two tugboats retreated to the north and the Navy ships returned to Corral and Valdivia.
Chile, Sweden, NZ, Australia, Germany, US. I think it would be foolish not to emphasize the international nature of Climate camp with an international issue. this is not the time to lose momentum
Dear Climate Campers,
We are a small group of working activists who over the years have provided essential back up and support services for the Eco Warriors and other peace and environmental campaign groups, organisations, and charities and individuals.
We work quietly behind the scenes and although everybody knows who we are nobody takes a lot of notice of us and we never get featured in any media publicity, which is the way we prefer to work.
Our services involve helping provide pro bono legal assistance with court cases, organising fund raising and media attention when appropriate, filming events for legal purposes, liaising with the police, and organising discreet security at protests with former military service personnel sympathetic to the environmental cause.
We also rescue and repair vehicles free of charge for activists in trouble, do electrical and plumbing work for the sites, and help with computer resources and advanced eco friendly technology including renewable energies and alternative fuels.
Our most recent public appearance was in helping with the planning and security including police, ex military, and media protection for the Children's Revolution at the Camp for Climate Action at Heathrow in August 2007.
There has been much discussion about what the climate camp should do next.
We would like to suggest that serious climate campers who can offer to help with positive projects should consider joining the working Eco Warriors in a long term project to help save the three threatened villages of Sipson Harmondsworth and Harlington, and hopefully start the process of saving the human race from extinction as well.
The right thing to do is not always the best thing to do but in this case it looks as if they are one and the same thing.
We do realise that not everybody will be able to make a total commitment to this campaign, but we would like them all to know what we are planning to do and that they are all welcome to participate if they would like to.
Some of our friends are preparing to move quietly into the threatened villages near Heathrow to help with whatever needs to be done to resist the building of the third runway, and we would like to suggest that the Camp for Climate Action could consider spreading the word to encourage more activists to do the same.
It would be a shame if the climate camp in 2007 should turn out to have been just a token part time action without any follow up or long term support for the local people.
It would seem to be important to follow through with what the Camp for Climate Action appeared to be promising the local residents in the way of real help with their campaign and to focus on the most urgent threat to the environment in Britain at the moment.
There is only so much that we can do ourselves as we are involved full time with our day to day work with the Environmental Movement in the London area.
If we are to get fully involved with the campaign in the villages near Heathrow Airport as we would like to we will need a site for the Earth Fair Consumer Revolt and for our work with repairing activists' vehicles and for the environmental technology projects.
Hopefully the climate camp will be able to do the forward scouting and help to open the door for these things to happen by liaising once again with the local residents and by finding suitable locations for what needs to be done there.
Obviously protest sites will be squatted at some time in the future but what we are proposing is to move into the area before the final show down and work with local people on putting some positive ideas into action in the hope that this will avert the final catastrophe.
There is bound to be at least one local farmer or property owner willing to let us use a piece of land or an empty building for the projects being suggested.
Our efforts so far have not succeeded in finding anything and we are now asking the Camp for Climate Action if they would be willing to help.
At the moment we are circulating the following message from the tribe known as the Eco Warriors who were involved with the road protests in the 1990s, about their offer to continue helping the local campaign to stop the third runway at Heathrow Airport.
We are trying to make sure that it gets to as many people as possible so we are asking if you would be kind enough to pass it on to anyone who needs to know.
The full text is available at http:nothirdrunway.blogspot.com and it can be downloaded and passed around.
Hoping to hear from you again soon,
Jubal Harshaw.
The Earth Aid Environmental Campaign.
Email: earthaidcampaign@yahoo.co.uk
Telephone: 07964226736. Skype: Earth Aid.
Website: http:nothirdrunway.blogspot.com
WILL THE CHILDREN'S REVOLUTION SAVE THE HUMAN RACE FROM EXTINCTION?
Proposals for the Eco Warriors to try to save humanity from extinction in a global warming catastrophe by lending support to a Children's Revolution in the villages near Heathrow Airport that are being threatened with demolition to make way for the planned third runway have been circulated by the Earth Aid Environmental Campaign.
An appeal has been issued for all the environmental campaigners in Britain to come together urgently and work with the local people in the Sipson Harmondsworth and Harlington villages to create a futuristic high tech eco-village to set an example of the way forward to ensure the survival of future generations.
The Children of the Eco Warriors joined forces with children from the threatened villages during the kids' bloc Children's Revolution march at the Camp for Climate Action near Heathrow in August 2007.
Although they were completely surrounded by police on foot and on horseback the fearless children chanted “No third runway” as they marched all the way to the BAA car park where they joined their fathers who were fighting it out with the riot police.
In spite of massive worldwide publicity about the threat of runaway global warming and climate change and the catastrophic consequences to humanity of expanding Heathrow Airport, the Camp for Climate Action failed to stop the decision to build the third runway and a sixth terminal.
The planned third runway at Heathrow Airport will completely destroy the villages of Sipson and Harmondsworth and virtually wipe out the village of Harlington as well.
More than 700 homes will be demolished along with woodlands and natural wildlife habitats and ancient churches and listed monuments and buildings hundreds of years old, and a huge area of historic Britain will be obliterated forever and thousands of people will be forcibly evicted from their homes.
There has never been such destruction in Britain in modern times and the battle to stop the third runway and save the Heathrow villages will probably be the biggest environmental protest campaign ever seen on the Earth.
Many environmental activists are calling for a Revolution in Britain to replace the government with a new political and economic system based on local action and environmentalism and environmental economics.
In his forthcoming book “Sipson: A Village Under Threat” local historian Philip Sherwood writes: “The latest proposal estimates that 700 houses would have to be demolished but this is a serious distortion of the true position.
“It relates only to the houses directly affected by the development and takes no heed of those just outside the airport boundary that would be made uninhabitable.
“In 1992 a previous plan for a third runway made the more realistic estimate that 3000 homes would have to be destroyed and if air pollution considerations are taken into account the figure is nearer to 10,000.
“The scale of the destruction is so enormous that one can only wonder at the state of mind of those who can even contemplate destroying whole communities and forcibly evicting the villagers just to improve the profitability of the aviation industry.”
During the road protests in the 1990s there was always the question of what should the environmental activists be doing while they were waiting for the bulldozers to arrive to destroy everything they were so desperately trying to protect.
As well as digging tunnels and building tree houses in preparation for the final show-down with their Alien enemies the Eco warriors also planted nature reserves with trees and flowers and vegetables in a last ditch attempt to try to save woodlands and forests from being concreted over by new roads and motorways and airport runways.
Not only was the environment being destroyed by big business and big government but the constant flood of new developments was also producing more greenhouse gas pollution and increasing the disastrous effects of global warming and climate change.
Almost ten years after the road protests ended the threat to the Earth's environment from the governments and the transnational corporations is worse than ever before, and the environmental destruction that is now being planned all over the world will probably lead to runaway global warming and drive the human race to extinction.
A collective of creative Eco Warriors who are writers and artists and musicians and film makers and mechanics and computer technicians is proposing that the threatened Heathrow villages should declare their independence from Westminster and transform the entire area into a giant futuristic eco-village.
They are suggesting that the local people should form a Revolutionary Council to take control of their own local affairs and make their own laws and create the eco-friendly projects of tomorrow that will help to ensure the survival of future generations.
The Eco Warriors have written the script for a reality TV show entitled “Can You Save the Human Race?” which is supposed to be a psycho drama acted out and filmed by the local people themselves based on the satirical film “Passport to Pimlico” and borrowing ideas from Robert A. Heinlein's brilliant science fiction novel “Stranger in a Strange Land”.
The story line suggests that Aliens have taken over positions of power in governments and corporations on the Earth and they are systematically polluting the atmosphere with greenhouse gases and destroying the planet and turning the humans into their robots and slaves.
The Aliens are planning to expand Heathrow Airport so that they can bring in their motherships for the final Alien Invasion of the Earth, but in the nick of time a new youth movement known as The Martians resists and fights back in self defence against the evil Aliens to save the human race from being driven to extinction.
The following email was sent to the local residents living in the threatened villages near Heathrow Airport by the Earth Aid Environmental Campaign on Christmas Day.
It has also been sent to all the major environmental groups and organisations in Britain and to many public figures claiming to be concerned about global warming and climate change.
The Queen was sent a copy of the email after she said we were all brothers and sisters and she appealed for everyone to help the vulnerable and not turn a blind eye to the disadvantaged in her Christmas speech from Buckingham Palace.
It has also been sent to the Pope who appealed for the world to be delivered from out of the darkness of poverty injustice and war, and it has also been sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams who appealed to the people of the world to protect the sacred environment of the Earth in his Christmas message.
TO THE RESIDENTS OF SIPSON HARMONDSWORTH AND HARLINGTON VILLAGES.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM THE ECO WARRIORS...
Dear Friends,
Somewhere on the Earth there are three small villages that are threatened with being demolished by bulldozers to make way for a third runway to expand the airport nearby.
These villages have been watched closely for more than ten years by a tribe of environmental campaigners known to the news media and the public as the Eco Warriors.
During that time the government and the airline industry have been planning massive airport expansion in Britain whilst simultaneously global warming has been heating up the Earth causing temperatures to rise alarmingly and the polar ice caps to melt and the sea levels to rise.
Towards the end of November 2007 the public consultation for the third runway at Heathrow Airport was announced by a consortium whose members came from the British Airports Authority, the British government, and the trade unions.
They all spoke with one voice and said that another runway was essential to ensure the continued prosperity of the British economy and to provide more jobs for working people.
This was at the same time as thousands of United Nations' scientists were reporting that climate change was accelerating and would result in catastrophic consequences for humanity.
Their stark warning was that unless urgent action was taken very soon to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stop the escalating effects of global warming there would be worldwide flooding in the low lying coastal areas of every country causing mass migrations of hundreds of millions of people.
Many environmentalists believe this has already begun to happen and it is now too late to stop the destruction of the Earth and the extinction of humanity.
The United Nations' scientists have also warned that as a direct result of global warming there will be local wars over oil and food and water and land, and that these conflicts could lead to a global World War Three wiping out the entire human race in a nuclear holocaust.
They have said they believe that as many as three billion people will die from drowning and starvation and disease by the middle of the century as the flood waters continue to rise, and that humanity is facing an Ecological Cataclysm in the very near future.
The United Nations' scientists said at the climate change conference in Bali in December 2007 that every country on the Earth should work together to try to avert the coming humanitarian catastrophe.
Environmental campaigners say that many of the local wars have already begun and that the brutal war with Iraq is a war for oil and the terrible genocide in Darfur is also a war over the increasingly scarce natural resources of the Earth.
A number of other equally eminent and reputable scientists have also warned that global warming is rapidly becoming irreversible and they have predicted that climate change will probably result in making the Earth completely uninhabitable and in driving the human race to extinction this century.
Dr James Hansen of NASA has said that most of the major coastal cities of the world could soon be under water and Professor James Lovelock has said that the entire cities of London and New York will have to be moved to escape from the flooding from the rising seas.
He has also warned that 90% of humanity will be wiped out by the rising temperatures.
Based on what scientists now knew about global warming the human race faced extinction by the end of the 21st century, Professor Peter Barret the Director of the Antarctic Research Center at Victoria university in Wellington New Zealand said in Christchurch in 2004.
After 40 years of study of climate change in the Antarctic Professor Barret predicted the end of human civilisation in the very near future.
The Worldwatch Institute in Washington has said that the present generation of children will be the last on the Earth.
A secret report from the Pentagon to the American White House leaked to the Observer newspaper in 2004 said that worldwide flooding would begin towards the end of 2007 and that there would be a dramatic increase in storms and hurricanes and droughts and famines around the world.
Global warming would result in hundreds of millions of environmental refugees fleeing from their countries as sea levels rose, and this would present a threat to America's national security very soon, the Pentagon warned.
However in spite of the urgency of the global environmental crisis the American government refused to agree to sign up to binding cuts in carbon emissions at the climate change conference in Bali.
The Bush administration is known to have been illegally suppressing the truth about global warming and climate change for many years by censoring scientific reports and trying to silence the scientists when they try to speak out about the dangers of continuing to burn fossil fuels.
Russian scientists have warned that the Gulf Stream could stop completely by 2012 and Siberian temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees will bring a new ice age to Britain and Europe.
A group of Eco Warriors in London is working on plans for a Peoples' reality TV show entitled “Can You Save the Human Race?” about how the local people in the small villages near Heathrow Airport resist and fight back in self defence against the proposed third runway at Heathrow Airport.
The British government and the British Airports Authority are threatening to destroy the ancient heritage and tradition of the villages to build the third runway.
Environmentalists believe that unless aviation expansion is brought to an immediate halt runaway global warming is very likely to spiral out of control and the extinction of all life on Earth will be the inevitable end result.
There have been recent reports from scientists that global warming is speeding up and the rate of temperature rise and the melting of the ice caps and the rising of the sea levels is now three times what it was just two years ago.
Many scientists are now saying that the worst predictions of global warming will occur in the next five years and not in 100 years as previously believed.
A worldwide environmental Revolution against the Alien corporations and the corrupt governments that work for them is the only answer to ensuring the survival of future generations according to most serious environmental activists.
The Eco Warriors have decided to offer all their ideas and the broadcast rights to their reality TV show “Can You Save the Human Race?” as a Christmas gift to the residents of the Sipson and Harmondsworth and Harlington villages which are now at very serious risk of being destroyed forever.
More than a thousand environmental campaigners protested against the plans for the third runway at Heathrow at the Camp for Climate Action in August 2007 and they hoped that this would help stop the expansion of the airport.
But unfortunately the government and the airline industry did not change their minds and instead they proceeded with the public consultation towards the end of November.
Many people believe that the consultation is a sham and that the decision to build the third runway has already been made and that the only way to stop it is to close down the criminal British government and break up the monopoly of the British Airports Authority.
The Eco Warriors are proposing that the local residents should transform the whole of their local area into a futuristic high tech eco-village which could set an example of progressive environmentally friendly direct action to other local areas all over the world.
The threatened Heathrow villages could lead the way forward to helping reverse the disastrous effects of global warming and to ensuring the survival of future generations.
To achieve this it is being suggested that there should be a continuing programme of environmental events and projects in the villages and a basic story line that can be filmed by local people for the reality TV show to be broadcast worldwide regularly via a major international mobile phone network.
If the local people take control of their own local affairs and introduce a new political and economic system of localisation and environmentalism and environmental economics they could possibly succeed in changing the entire course of human history.
This is the proposed script for the reality TV show “Can You Save the Human Race?” which is supposed to be a true story acted out and filmed by the local people themselves as it happens:
The local residents of the three threatened villages Sipson Harmondsworth and Harlington decide to hold an emergency meeting in a local church to discuss what they should do about the corporate and government plans to demolish their villages to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport.
The meeting agrees that there is something very wrong about the way that new road and airport developments are contributing to global warming and climate change by increasing the burning of fossil fuels and that there needs to be a different way of doing things on the Earth to prevent the imminent extinction of humanity.
Nobody wants to do anything illegal but they all want to exercise their democratic rights in a free society and resist the government which many people believe is corrupt, so they consider ways to revolt peacefully and legally.
The residents watch a screening of “Passport to Pimlico” the 1949 satirical British comedy film about how the English traditionally deal with absurd situations, and it shows how a small section of London declares its independence from the rest of Britain.
Wikipedia the free Internet encyclopedia describes the film in a brief synopsis:
“A bomb left over from the Second World War blows up in the Pimlico district of London after some local children roll a tractor tyre down a hole.
“The explosion reveals a buried cellar in which artwork, coins, jewellery, and an ancient parchment document are found.
“Professor Hatton-Jones (Margaret Rutherford) authenticates it as a royal charter that ceded Pimlico to Charles VII ("the Rash") the last Duke of Burgundy when he sought refuge there several centuries ago.
“As the charter had never been revoked Pimlico is legally part of Burgundy.
“Local policeman P.C. Spiller (Philip Stainton) observes: 'Blimey! I'm a foreigner!'
“The British government has no legal jurisdiction and requires the Burgundians to form a committee according to the laws of the long-defunct dukedom before negotiating with them.
“Ancient Burgundian law requires that the Duke himself appoints a council.
“Without one all seems lost - until a young man from Dijon (Paul Dupuis) steps forward and proves that he is the heir to the dukedom.
“He duly forms a governing body.
“One of its members is the shrewd shopkeeper Arthur Pemberton (Stanley Holloway).
“Very quickly Burgundy (followed soon after by the rest of London) realises that it is not subject to post-war rationing and other bureaucratic restrictions, and the district is quickly flooded with entrepreneurs, crooks, and eager shoppers.
“A noisy free-for-all ensues which Spiller the Chief (and only) Constable of Burgundy finds himself unable to handle.
“Then the British authorities close the 'border' with barbed wire.
“Having left England without their passports the bargain hunters have trouble returning home - as one policeman replies to an indignant woman: 'Don't blame me Madam if you choose to go abroad to do your shopping.'
“The Burgundians decide that two can play this game and stop an underground train dead in its tracks. 'The train is now at the Burgundy frontier' explains an agent of the newly formed Customs and Excise department.
“They proceed to ask the passengers if they have anything to declare.
“The infuriated British government retaliates by breaking off negotiations.
“Burgundy is isolated like post-war Berlin and the residents are invited to 'emigrate' to England.
“But the Burgundians are 'a fighting people' and though the children are evacuated the adults stand fast.
“As Mrs Pemberton (Betty Warren) puts it: 'We've always been English and we'll always be English, and it's precisely because we are English that we're sticking up for our right to be Burgundians!'
“Pimlico is cut off from electricity food and water (though there's plenty of gin and crisps).
“The water problem is solved by a covert raid late one night refilling the reservoir with hoses attached to the nearest fire hydrant on the British side of the border.
“Unfortunately the food supply is spoiled when the cellar where it is being stored becomes flooded and it appears that the Burgundians are beaten.
“Just in time three Burgundian youngsters learn about this crisis and toss food across the border setting an example for sympathetic Londoners.
“They begin throwing food parcels across the barrier in an improvised 'airlift' echoing the one that ended the Berlin Blockade.
“Soon others get into the act.
“A helicopter drops a hose to deliver milk.
“Even swine are parachuted in (reputedly) - a reference to the expression 'when pigs fly'.
“Meanwhile the government comes under public pressure to resolve the problem.
“It becomes clear to the bumbling diplomats assigned to find a solution, Gregg (Basil Radford) and Straker (Naunton Wayne), that defeating the Burgundians would be no easy task.
“The sticking point turns out to be the disposition of the unearthed treasure.
“At last the local banker (Raymond Huntley) hits upon a novel solution: 'A Burgundian loan to Britain!'
“With negotiations successfully concluded, an outdoor banquet is prepared to welcome Burgundy back into the fold.
“Just as Big Ben strikes the hour of reunification the Burgundians realise they truly are back in England when the clouds part after a loud clap of thunder and the heat wave is brought to a swift end by a torrential downpour sending everyone scurrying for cover.
“The 1941 song 'I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire' is featured in the film.
“Molly the fishmonger's assistant played by Jane Hylton sings the song to herself at the beginning of the film and then later on aloud to piano accompaniment in the pub while some of the other characters dance to it”.
A lot of other well known comedy actors and actresses performed in the Ealing Studios' film and Sir Winston Churchill appeared as Himself in archive footage from the period.
After watching “Passport to Pimlico” the residents of the Sipson Harmondsworth and Harlington villages decide that under the provisions of the Magna Carta and the British Constitution they also have the legal right to declare their villages to be autonomous and independent from outside political control.
It is proposed that the villages should declare their independence from the British government at Westminster and that the local people should agree to establish a local Revolutionary Council to plan their own future without interference from the politicians and the the big business corporations.
They agree that the plans to demolish their villages must be resisted at all costs and that local action by local people in their own local areas to take control of their own local affairs is the only possible answer to the problems of global warming and climate change.
In their own case the problem of being destroyed by corporations burning insane amounts of fossils fuels has come far sooner than in other areas and now they have to work out how to try to stop the third runway from being built at Heathrow Airport.
The local people decide to combine their three villages into one futuristic high tech eco-village which they name “Extinction!” as a constant reminder to everybody of the Apocalyptic disaster that faces the world if no action is taken soon to combat the Ecological Cataclysm the United Nations' scientists say will result from global warming.
The locals decide that ordinary working people like themselves can and must set an example of the way to transform every local area on the Earth into eco-friendly bio-regions capable of protecting themselves from the very worst effects of global warming and climate change.
The vision of the local residents is to create an eco-village that will be so amazing it will become essential to the future survival of humanity itself.
They agree that the children of tomorrow need all the help they can get from the people of today.
The meeting of the Revolutionary Council of the newly created eco-village “Extinction!” decides to make their own flag and passports and postage stamps and to create their own local Peoples' Bank with their own local currency without interest rates or inflation.
They also agree to produce their own local revolutionary newspaper and to broadcast the continuing story of their transformation into an eco-friendly super community via their own local radio and television stations and to film their own reality TV show entitled “Can You Save the Human Race?”
The show will be the true story of the local resistance as it fights back against the destruction of their villages and it will also document the local efforts to save the human race from extinction.
It will be filmed by local people and it will help serve as legal evidence for their lawyers in the continuing court battles with the government and the corporations that are hell bent on destroying their homes to build the third runway.
The meeting also decides to try to turn the entire project into an international tourist attraction that will bring scientists and environmentalists and journalists to the area from all over the world to study and report on what is happening there.
In this way they hope to attract massive publicity all over the Earth to their cause which they believe is a common cause with all the People of the World who are also being threatened with losing their homes when the worldwide flooding begins.
The meeting also decides to declare their eco-village to be a conservation area and to leave Nature and the wildlife alone to grow wild and free with a policy originally pioneered in Hampstead and Highgate known as “benign neglect”.
The local people decide to cultivate millions of trees to share with other areas and to plant a rain forest all around their eco-village so they can breed endangered species to help put a stop to the mass extinction of wildlife now occurring all over the Earth.
The village residents decide to use permaculture in all their homes and offices and businesses and to plant trees and flowers and plants and vegetables on all the rooftops in the area to absorb the carbon dioxide in the air and to produce more oxygen and to help feed the birds and animals.
They also decide to collect rain water on their rooftops to save water.
They will also create a local desert and a local beach so that the environmental research and development projects can be carried out by local students in natural surroundings.
Local rivers will be diverted to run through the eco-village to provide fresh water and to enable further research into better drainage and new waterway systems to be undertaken.
The local people also decide to grow their own food and to produce their own dairy products on their own local farms and to become completely self sufficient in all their requirements by manufacturing everything else they need themselves by using new robotic cad-cam computer technology.
They decide to stop using fossil fuels and to use bio fuels instead including recycling used chip fat.
They decide to conduct practical research locally into producing solar power, ground source energy, free energy, wind power, and hydrogen powered fuel cells, and to make their own wind turbines and solar panels so they can generate their own electricity.
They also decide to convert all their vehicles and equipment that use internal combustion engines to water powered engines which will burn hydrogen as fuel produced by hydrolysis at the point of ignition, which is a revolutionary new way of cutting emissions from existing cars and trucks to zero.
The Revolutionary Council of Extinction! also decides to open a local community centre where local residents can meet each other to plan their resistance to the government and the corporations and to bring their unwanted second hand goods to share with each other.
They decide to call this project the Earth Fair Consumer Revolt because it will mean they can stop buying new goods from the corporate owned high street shops and stores because they already have everything they need.
It will also be a practical demonstration of recycling and reusing goods which would otherwise be thrown away in the rubbish dumps creating an environmental hazard as at present.
Earth Fairs could conceivably spring up in every small town and village on the Earth once this idea is properly understood by the world's public.
The new independent eco-village near Heathrow Airport could in fact become so important to ensuring the survival of future generations that it will hopefully be impossible for the government and the corporations to continue to even consider wanting to destroy it.
The idea of creating local self sufficient eco-villages in all the local areas in the world could spread all over Britain and could succeed in making the central government irrelevant and unnecessary to the lives and future of local people everywhere now threatened with global warming catastrophe.
This new revolutionary spirit could mushroom all over the planet and help to save the human race from extinction because in the end only the People of the World will be able to save themselves from the actions of the politicians and the corporate leaders who are destroying them.
The environmental campaigners known as the Eco Warriors are basically a loose knit collective of ordinary working people some of whom are creative artists and writers and musicians and film makers.
We are offering to help the residents of Sipson and Harmondsworth and Harlington to turn their villages into a futuristic high tech eco-village if they would like us to.
We are prepared to move into the area and work on all the proposed projects including organising the Earth Fair Consumer Revolt and providing other practical back up and support to help make the villages self sufficient in all their own needs.
The idea is that with the help of experienced environmental activists the local people can become independent from the government and the big business corporations and will be able to set an example that can be emulated by other small towns and villages all over the planet.
We have the equipment and the expertise to rescue and repair vehicles for the local residents and also to do plumbing and electrical work and to install and help operate computer systems completely free of charge.
We can also provide free practical help and advice with all the rest of the projects designed to discover solutions to the global environmental crisis.
We can also help with court cases and lawyers and media attention when appropriate.
Our lawyers are the best in the world for environmental and human rights cases and we have the email addresses of all the editors in all the international news media organisations when we feel the need for publicity for the cause.
Essentially our offer is to lend support to the local campaign to stop the third runway from being built by sharing our extensive experience with similar environmental projects and campaigns from Twyford Down to the present day.
The Earth Aid Environmental Campaign is a philanthropic organization which can also help put environmental groups needing funding in touch with the foundations that provide money for peace and environmental campaigns.
We are planning to ask Sony to provide all the local people involved with producing and filming the reality TV show “Can You Save the Human Race?” with video cameras and compatible laptops so that the show can be professionally made with the best equipment available.
We also intend asking Hutchison 3G to provide everyone with the latest Skype mobile phones so that the show can be broadcast on the Three mobile network all around the world every day.
This kind of publicity cannot be bought for love or money and these corporations should be pleased to be asked to help take part in what could well become the most important environmental campaign in human history.
Especially since they are still producing unacceptable levels of carbon emissions themselves and it is time that they got involved with helping to save the human race from extinction.
One of our friends is planning to build a factory in the London area to manufacture the latest eco-friendly cars that run on compressed air and thus produce no harmful emissions, and hopefully he will be able to do this in the villages near Heathrow Airport that are threatened with being demolished.
Another member of our group is designing a low energy computer chip that will help to reduce the amount of electricity used by computers around the world.
He is also working on building a conversion kit for internal combustion engines that will enable petrol and diesel vehicles to run on hydrogen produced from water by hydrolysis at the point of ignition.
We also have plans for household micro generation of free energy that will revolutionise the way that electricity is produced and will help to eliminate the use of the destructive coal fired power stations forever and also make nuclear power plants obsolete.
We are also working on a proposed design for a mobile eco-phone that will use the Voice Over Internet Protocol to enable all phone calls to be routed via the Internet which will cut the price of calls to landlines to about a tenth of a penny a minute and the price of mobile calls to about a penny a minute.
The eco-phone will be a combination of a hard drive video camera and a laptop and a mobile phone capable of streaming live video around the world instantly, and hopefully it will become the ultimate tool of choice for environmental campaigners.
We are also working on plans for ordinary people to produce solar power in their own homes by the magnification of the sun's rays and by storing the energy in portable batteries.
Obviously we cannot complete all these projects by ourselves but we are hoping to inspire other people to join in and get involved and to help share their own eco-friendly ideas and projects with all the local people in their own local areas all over the Earth.
The Children of the Eco Warriors may be willing to hold another Children's Revolution event in the Sipson and Harmondsworth and Harlington villages in the summer of 2008.
The crew of the Rinky Dink bicycle powered sound system did express an interest in helping to organise this again after the successful kids' bloc march at the Camp for Climate Action in August 2007.
It is suggested that the local school children could consider having their own Children's Revolution in the local schools where they could learn about renewable energies and permaculture and other subjects essential to an understanding of the problems of global warming and climate change.
As well as watching the film “Passport to Pimlico” local residents might also consider studying Al Gore's film “An Inconvenient Truth” and other educational environmental material as well.
The Children of the Eco Warriors will possibly be leading a Children's Revolution march with their friends and families and their lawyers from the Heathrow villages to parliament to arrest the government some time in the coming summer.
We believe the British government should be put on trial for war crimes and for corruption and for helping the transnational corporations destroy the global environment before they manage to succeed in killing the human race.
There needs to be a new revolutionary system of localisation and environmentalism and environmental economics to replace the outdated capitalist globalisation and the ever increasing destruction of the Earth and all the life on it.
The best possible location for all of these ideas to be put into practice would be in the three little villages that are now being threatened with extinction.
Our report “Can You Save the Human Race?” contains many thousands of pages of scientific evidence that we hope will prove that the governments and the banks and the transnational corporations are responsible for causing global warming.
We are intending to take civil and criminal action in the courts this summer against the US and the UK governments and the oil companies and the rest of the corporations, and we will be asking the judges in Britain and Europe and America to hold them all legally accountable for driving humanity to extinction.
Our lawyers handled the judicial review against the decision to expand Stansted Airport for the local councils and the Stop Stansted Expansion campaign, and they will probably also be involved with handling the judicial review against the plans to expand Heathrow Airport with a third runway.
But in the meantime we should all be aware that there is still plenty of very serious work to be done while the consultation and the public enquiry and the judicial reviews are all running their course, and we should never let our guard down because the politicians and their paymasters are very rich and very powerful.
Under their so-called leadership humanity itself appears to have gone backwards in recent times.
When accepting the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in raising public awareness of global warming Al Gore said that mankind is in fact waging war on the Earth which sounded like a bit of an understatement.
In the Middle East it looks like the Wild West all over again and we all seem to have lost our humanity and become proxy killers for the American government courtesy of our corrupt prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown who have helped the Bush administration commit war crimes and numerous other atrocities.
When terrorists attacked the World Trade Centre in New York the British government sold our country out to the Americans and went to war against Iraq to fight and kill hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians including women and children who have been slaughtered for their oil.
These people had nothing whatever to do with the terrorist attack on America and the war with Iraq is illegal and our government is corrupt and its support for the oil companies and the aviation industry and all the rest of the Alien transnational corporations is also obviously illegal.
George bush has brought great shame on our great nation but our government has shamed us even more and we have shamed ourselves by not speaking out enough and by not taking our own action against them.
Burning the stolen Iraqi oil will help the governments and the oil companies kill the human race which actually gives us the legal right to overthrow the British government in a peaceful Revolution to help ensure our own survival.
The American constitution gives the People the legal right to overthrow their government when it acts against their interests and the British have exactly the same rights under the Magna Carta and the British Constitution.
A peaceful Revolution in Britain could be accomplished by local people taking control of their own local affairs and dismissing the corrupt central government when their services are no longer required.
The kids' bloc Children's Revolution started at the Stirling eco-village during the protests against the G8 summit in Scotland in 2005 and the Children of the Eco Warriors led the march at the first Camp for Climate Action at the Drax power station protest in 2006.
There is a new youth movement emerging on the Earth dedicated to saving the human race from extinction and its most recent incarnation was at the Camp for Climate Action near Sipson village in August 2007.
The legendary Eco Warriors Angel and Sunshine started the anti aviation expansion campaign by squatting Mole Hill Green next to Stansted Airport several years ago and they led the Children's Revolution march on the day of mass direct action at the Heathrow Camp for Climate Action with the banner “The Kids Are Revolting!”
Angel and Sunshine now have a new song entitled “For the Children”:
“What have we done to our Earth?” Angel asks in her song.
“Where is the love for our children?”
As a matter of extreme urgency we should all be declaring a State of Emergency on the Earth and doing everything necessary to try to stop global warming and World War Three to save the human race from being driven to extinction and to ensure the survival of future generations.
Together we can create a futuristic high tech eco-village with zero carbon emissions and a new kind of community that is self sufficient and self sustaining producing its own food and electricity and that is dependent on nobody else other than the local residents themselves.
Could you imagine forging an alliance with the Eco Warriors that results in your villages becoming capable of surviving the extremes of temperature and storms and flooding and hurricanes that global warming is threatening?
Could you imagine the Sipson and Harmondsworth and Harlington villages being able to lead the way forward to a brighter tomorrow and to a better future for all humanity?
Will we be welcome to move into your area and is there a suitable piece of land or are there unused buildings that we will be able to use?
Is it possible we could all work together to help to offer real hope for the survival of all future generations to come?
We are proposing that we should not just be protesting about what we don't want but we should also be making a very positive statement about what we really do want as well, and it's got to be an act of faith and it's got to start somewhere and somebody has got to do it.
The reality TV show “Can You Save the Human Race?” could be a bit like a science fiction time travel story where we fight the evil aliens and change the future of the Earth and save humanity from Ecological Cataclysm.
Our films “The Children Are the Future” and “The Kids Are Revolting!” tell the full story of the Children's Revolution at the Camp for Climate Action at Heathrow in 2007 and they will be edited soon and available on the Internet free of charge.
“The Martians Have Landed” inspired by Robert A Heinlein's classic satirical science fiction novel “Stranger in a Strange Land” will be our next film about the ongoing Children's Revolution and the making of the reality TV show “Can You Save the Human Race?”
The scientific evidence is very clear and the most reputable and eminent scientists in the world are in no doubt whatever that humanity is facing extinction this century unless very urgent action is taken immediately to stop the greenhouse gases caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde: To lose billions of people this century will be a tragedy but to lose the entire human race would be just carelessness.
Or it might be more appropriate to quote the late great John Lennon who inspired his generation to fight back against evil and injustice when he sang: “Come together join the movement take a stand for human rights”.
Let's all come together again soon and see if we can answer Angel's questions for her:
“What have we done to our Earth?”
“Where is the love for our children?”
The answers are simple – we have been plundering the planet and neglecting the children and allowing the politicians to murder people in other countries for their oil, but there has got to be a better way and we have got to find it soon otherwise they will wipe us all out.
There is an evil Alien presence on the Earth that is driving the human race to extinction, and the People of the World are beginning to wake up to what is actually happening to them and to their children and to the precious Earth that is being suffocated to death by greedy monsters.
Let us hope and pray that it is not too late to take some real direct action to resist and fight back in self defence against the greatest threat humanity has ever faced.
“Can You Save the Human Race?” might sound a bit like a game show with a grand prize of a nice new Green Earth for the winning contestants to live on, but in reality it will be the latest incarnation of the alliance of Middle England with the Eco Warriors which started during the road protests of the 1990s.
The road building programme ended but ten years later the menace of new road and airport developments has reared its ugly head once again, and if our government is going to continue to try to kill everybody we might as well all go down together fighting.
This land is our land.
Another World is Possible.
Merry Christmas and a happy New Earth,
Jubal Harshaw.
The Earth Aid Environmental Campaign.
For and on behalf of the ancient tribe known as the Eco Warriors.
Email: earthaidcampaign@yahoo.co.uk
Telephone: 07964226736. Skype: Earth Aid.
Website: http:nothirdrunway.blogspot.com
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