No to the Criminalisation of Dissent!

Workers' Daily Internet Edition: Article Index :

No to the Criminalisation of Dissent!

The People Will Not Be Silenced on Climate Change

Camp for Climate Action 2007 a Resounding Success!

The Camp for Climate Action 2007

Using "Climate Change" to Pay the Rich – It Must Stop!

The actions of the police at the Heathrow Climate Camp have shown how it is the state which is the violent party. After the injunction sought by BAA against the protest was thrown out by the courts, nevertheless the police acted as though the protesters were the problem and were the criminals in this matter. Freedom of assembly and freedom of speech came under assault on the arbitrary grounds of what is acceptable to those in authority.

Furthermore, the issues of global warming and the irresponsibility of those in authority that the Climate Camp and other actions were taking a stand over is by no means a sideline matter. Global warming is a serious danger that faces humanity at this time. It is outrageous that those taking action conscious of their social responsibility should be made the target of police attack and brutality and that their protest and dissent from the prevailing outlook of the state should be criminalised.

These actions by the police are part and parcel of the authorities defining what is "civilised" and acceptable. This is done in order to try and limit protest and dissent to an empty letter, and to attempt to render it impotent. Such actions organised by the state attempt to block the power of the people’s movements to alter the course of events and what those in authority decree. It is further an attempt to make the issue not the criminal irresponsibility of those in power, but the "behaviour" of the protesters.

As the events at the Climate Camp have shown, the people are not going to be intimidated or deflected from their just stands through such violence and attempts at criminalisation. The movement for a different world, one in which the interests of human beings are put at the centre of considerations and mechanisms are in place to empower the people as the decision-makers, is gaining momentum, whether or not the state authorities choose to use force and violence, and in defiance of them. It is evident that it is precisely this different world and the people’s initiative that the state criminals and warmongers fear. In this respect, the attempts to tear down and cordon off the tented protest in Parliament Square against the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and the crimes of the warmongers represent the same fear.

The police must not be allowed to act with impunity, and the movement against social irresponsibility is determined that this shall not be so. It is also the case that this movement is defying the police violence and taking a stand against the criminalisation of protest and dissent. It is this movement which can and must prevail!

The Climate Change Camp at Heathrow Airport ran from August 12 to August 21. Other venues such as the BAA and BP headquarters, and the Airbus factory in Broughton, Flintshire, were also the target of protests.

The importance of discussing and acting on the matter of climate change was being pre-empted by an attack on protesters, in the form of new measures which aim to stop environment activists from protesting. The British airport authority attempted moves to have anybody from 15 environment organisations arrested for being in the airport or if they were on the Piccadilly line and sections of the M25 and M4 motorway. This attack on civil liberties however has not halted or silenced the 5,000 strong protesters who took part in direct actions across Britain.

Starting at the end of July, BAA served injunctions on four protesters, members of the various organisations such as Plane Stupid, No Third Runway Action Group, Heathrow Campaign Group, and umbrella organisations including RSPB, the National Trust and others. Members of all groups would be banned from setting up camp in the area of Heathrow. The protesters would be allowed to converge at three protest points around the airport. They would not be allowed to use sirens claxons or megaphones, or go within 100 metres of the airport. The issue for the protesters is not only one of what they are fighting for but an issue that they should be free to fight for it. One of the organisers stated that he was "stunned" and at the breadth of the injunction. "It seems that having totally lost the argument on climate change they are resorting to bullying tactics. It is by far the biggest crackdown on civil liberties we have seen in terms of peaceful protest."

The airport has become a target as the new proposed third runway would see the rise in flights from 430,000 a year to 800,000. This would have a huge impact on carbon emissions. The protests are also geared towards the corporations who profit unjustly from the aviation industry .This plan for a third runway would also leave people in the area’s surrounding Heathrow with a "huge rumble" going over their homes. This will also have serious ramifications for the village of Sipson and part or Harmondsworth which would both cease to exist, destroying valuable parts of the people’s heritage.

Despite BAA’s attempts to curb the actions protests, the actions went ahead as planned, with full vigour. Demonstrations were held all over the country.

The protests

• Five protesters blockaded the entrance to Sizewell A and Sizewell B nuclear power plants. After protesters locked themselves into concrete blocks weighing up to 100kg, they were forcibly removed by internal civil nuclear police. Melanie Harrison who works for the CND said that they (police) dragged her across the floor while she screamed, "You’re going to break my arm."
• 15 protesters occupied the Oxford head quarters of Climate Care, the company who run British airways carbon offsetting scheme. Dressed as red herrings the protesters entered offices and delivered a report called "The Carbon Neutral Myth", produced by Carbon Trade Watch. They had a two-hour roundtable discussion with the managing director and other senior staff.
• Other demonstrations took place in London. Ten protesters, also dressed as red herrings, distributed leaflets at the offices of the Carbon Neutral Company in King's Cross, which campaigners accuse of misleading consumers into believing that carbon offsetting is an effective means of tackling carbon emissions. In St James's Square, seven protesters were arrested and taken to Charing Cross police station after gluing themselves to two entrances of BP's head office. They had treacle poured over their bodies to symbolise oil being wasted by the petroleum industry.
• 20 campaigners demonstrated at the offices of Bridgepoint Capital, the private equity firm that bought Leeds-Bradford International Airport for £145.5m in May. Dressed in Yorkshire flat-caps, and armed with baskets of Yorkshire puddings that they distributed to staff, the protesters spent 45 minutes chanting under a banner that read "Yorkshire's flooding, ya daft puddings!".
• After the clashes with police on Sunday, in which at least four people were injured by violent police, the protests climaxed in the blockade of BAA’s offices at Heathrow. The protesters forced the closure of these offices for 24 hours.

So why were these draconian measures attacking people’s civil liberties being pursued, and why were the police so violently protecting these companies? The aviation industry and the corporations behind it are part of the whole monopoly agenda to make maximum profit at the expense of the workforce and indeed the environment on which we rely. BAA attempted to justify its moves to curb the protests by stating it that it did not want the demonstrators to cause "unlawful disruption". This is not credible when in fact this injunction was an attempt to impinge on the protesters’ right to assert their voice. This right is part of the struggle to not only protest, but to be part of the whole collective of society in which decisions are made based on implementing change through a democratic process, which must be created. In this offensive against the people who have asserted their right to oppose this parasitic feeding, the police on behalf of the authorities show where they stand in relation to the people versus the monopolies. One can see this Labour government as one that upholds the "values" of these corporate entities to exploit and plunder the worlds resources.

With climate change becoming a reality in the shape of the floods in Yorkshire and elsewhere, the working class and people must hold these corporations to account, and the demonstrations are a good starting point. The working class and people must uphold and fully support the right to protest, and organise within this movement, to empower people to take up the role of decision makers, to create a society from the grass roots to the top where we own the resources and decide on the basis of human need what happens to those resources. The working class and people must confront the crisis of climate change! It is they who have solutions!

The Camp for Climate Action, http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/

The 24 hours of direct action against climate change which began on Sunday 19th August at noon has culminated in a flurry of direct actions throughout England. As previously stated, none of the actions were intended to disrupt passengers, but instead, targeted the corporations who profit from climate chaos. Meanwhile, the mass siege of BAA national headquarters has forced its closure for the day.

During the week there have been over 71 arrests and a dozen actions, covering a broad range of issues.

Find below details of all the actions throughout the week...

Sunday the 19th and Monday the 20th August

Carbon offset companies were occupied by protesters dressed as red herrings. Fifteen have occupied the offices of Climate Care in Oxford. Ten have leafleted the offices of the Carbon Neutral Company in London. Carbon offsetting is a scheme allowing companies and consumers to pay in order to supposedly neutralize their carbon emissions. 'Carbon offsets are ineffective, based on dubious science and lead people to believe they are helping when they are not - the concept and the practice are a con,' said Sophie Nathan, who is taking part in the Carbon Neutral Company action.

Five protesters are in a concrete lock-on outside Sizewell A and B nuclear power stations. Their banner declares, 'Nuclear power is not the answer to climate chaos.' Twelve protesters have superglued themselves to the entrance at BP headquarters. They are highlighting BPs essential role in the aviation industry. Protester Stanley Owen said 'We cannot sustain infinite growth on a planet with finite resources.' Eighteen protesters occupied the office of the owners of Leeds airport, Bridgepoint Capital, on Warwick Street in London.

In Harmondsworth village a group of 500, consisting of locals as well as climate camp participants, gathered to listen John McDonnell Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington. He told the government that the third runway will not be built:

'Even with the latest, more efficient aircraft, the climate change imperative demands that air travel growth be severely curtailed. The government can no longer have its cake and eat it. If it's genuinely serious about climate change it must show meaningful leadership to rein in aviation expansion.'

Protesters wore copies of the Tyndall Report on their hands during the mass action, carrying a banner reading, 'We are armed....only with peer-reviewed science'.

Late on Sunday evening, BA World Cargo depot was blockaded for about four and a half hours by eight protestors locked to each-other.

Saturday 18 August

Children and their parents blockade the World Freight Centre at Heathrow in protest at the damage to the climate caused by unnecessarily flying food around the world.

60 people occupy Carmel Agrexco's Heathrow warehouse in Hayes, where produce is air freighted in from territories occupied by Israel, highlighting the issues of food miles and the unjust and unlawful distribution of natural resources in the Middle East.

Friday 17 August

The doors of six London travel agencies are chained shut and plastered with signs saying 'Closed, gone to the Climate Camp.' Ten people occupy the office of private charter company XL, which has a contract with the Home Office to deport rejected asylum seekers, exposing the connection between climate change and forced migration.

Activists superglue themselves to the front doors of the Department for Transport's London headquarters. A tourist spontaneously joins the protest by chaining himself to the doors.

Thursday 16 August

Farnborough and Biggin Hill airports, both exclusively used by private executive jets, are blockaded by two teams of climate activists in disgust at the obscenity of the super-rich using planes as a taxi service.

Wednesday 13 August

A group of activists set up a climate camp on the wing of an Airbus A380 on its way to be assembled in France, pledging to stay until government ministers come up with a 'safe' aviation policy.

 

After this year's camp

 

The Camp for Climate Action is not enough on its own - it is just the beginning.

Only a diverse and decentralised social movement can drive the sorts of changes needed to tackle climate change; creating alternatives and standing up to the obstacles in the way.

Following the climate camp there will be several regional gatherings. Details will be posted on this site. They are likely to take place about one month after the camp and to be hosted in the North, South, East and West of the UK. They will be times to reflect, to meet others and to plan future action.

Future meeting dates already set:

London - Saturday 8th September 2pm at The Upper Room, 8 Greenland Street, NW1 - 1 min from Camden Town tube, contact 07814061324.

Leeds- 16th September - all day at the Common Place in leeds.

The Climate Camp won't stop climate change... but it is part of a growing action movement that can!

Climate action resource pack: ideas and aids for direct action, from the Network for Climate Action.

Call of the organisers prior to the Camp

We hope that the camp will be many things to many people, from exploring what the problems are, and the changes and challenges we face, to gain the skills we will need as we prepare for a future that burns less energy. We’ll also be joining forces with Heathrow residents fighting the third runway, linking a critical local battle to the need for systemic change. And finally we’ll be taking direct action to turn things round, and create lasting communities of resistance.

The camp is not just about pointing fingers – though we have to identify who and what is making the problem worse. It’s not just about rehearsing disaster scenarios – though we have to understand what "business as usual" really means. It’s not just about creating a spectacle to entertain ourselves – though we have to be able to dance even as we resist and debate. What the camp is really about is doing what we need to do to tackle climate change.

Of course these days everyone agrees that reducing carbon dioxide emissions is necessary, but are they serious? If governments and corporations were serious about climate change they wouldn’t be threatening us with terrorism laws and Orwellian injunctions. And of course nobody really believes their idea that we can buy our way out of the climate crisis by all being green consumers. Imagine a planet of 6 billion Toyota Prius eco-cars. We simply can’t have an endlessly expanding economy on a planet that’s not getting any bigger!

The real battle is about change as its coming whether we like it or not. Capitalism loves a good crisis. The crisis of climate change provides an opportunity to change the world, to sweep away existing barriers to growth and to realise new profits. Markets for carbon and the farce of carbon-offsetting are ingenious new ways to make profits. It’s hard to see them delivering 90% cuts in carbon dioxide emissions before 2050. But easy to see them delivering bumper profits, insane inequality and a PR-disguised drift towards climatic catastrophes.

Mainstream solutions to climate change are no solution at all. Catastrophe beckons unless we get our act together. It’s up to us, the public acting together, to push solutions that fight against climate change and for social justice together, to develop attractive solutions, to adopt different measurements of value, to turn things around. The good news is that most of the changes needed are social, psychological and political. They aren’t about technology. They are questions to be answered by the public, not the expert.

Of course the camp won’t just be a single event, a week in a field – it’s come out of an ever growing movement of diverse people who are alive to the fact that radical changes are essential, and are making them happen. And its up to all of us to work out what happens next.

We hope that you’ll come to the camp. We can choose what the future holds. We have the power right here in our hands. If only we’ll use it.

According to news agencies, European power companies are making billions of euros over and above their previous levels of profit through the measures taken in the European Union which are declared to be combating global warming by cutting emissions of carbon gases.

The electricity generators are given, free of charge, permits to emit millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide which are currently worth around 20 euros a tonne, but are then charging consumers as if they had been made to pay for the permits.

Michael Grubb, Chief Economist at the Carbon Trust and Director of Climate Strategies, calculates that this practice which he says is economically justifiable gives the industry windfall profits of some 20 billion euros (13.5 billion pounds) a year. "It is free money," he told Reuters. "It's how you'd expect companies to behave, but politically and morally it is going to be hard to justify making so much money out of a scheme designed to reduce emissions – with consumers footing the bill."

But Chris Rogers, head of European utilities at Morgan Stanley, says this understates the scale of excess profits because it is based on coal-powered generation and ignores the low carbon generators such as nuclear and wind who nevertheless get the carbon-inflated price for their electricity. "Let's just say that in Phase II of the EU trading scheme the power utilities will still be making very healthy profits. The compact they have to strike with governments is that they will invest this in clean energy," he said.

Under Phase I of the EU's emissions trading scheme running through 2007 smokestack industries including power generators were allocated free permits to emit carbon and allowed to sell any surplus to those who exceeded their ceilings. Under Phase II which runs from 2008 to 2012 ceilings have been reduced and a small percentage will be auctioned, although the vast majority will still be handed out free.

News of the vast windfall profits has generated controversy in the Netherlands and Germany but in Britain the utility companies have repeatedly said that rising energy bills are due to supply problems – notably from Russia. "The power companies have got away with it because the price rises are disguised by rising gas prices and because people don't respond in the short term to higher power prices," said Matt Lockwood of the Institute for Public Policy Research.

Figures from the EU's statistics agency Eurostat suggest that carbon represents about 12 percent of domestic electricity prices in Germany and six percent in Britain. "Carbon allowances have a value even if they are handed out for free," said Cambridge University economist Karsten Neuhoff. "The question should be why give them away for free in the first place," he added.

One of the answers given, according to the news agencies, is that it was a bribe to the power companies to accept the scheme in the first place. Another is as a transition payment for firms which had bought coal-fired power stations which will lose value in a decarbonising world.

Germany's E.ON – the world's biggest utility company – has after a boardroom battle come out in favour of 100 percent auction of emission allowances after 2012. "It is going to be extremely hard for utilities to explain and justify their pricing actions publicly," said Grubb, who judged the scheme a success despite the problems. "But there will be tensions between using these profits in a way the public and politicians find acceptable and how shareholders would like to see them being used," he added.

The rich are using the crisis of global warming to ensure an even greater share of the social product created by the people finds its way into their pockets. It must be stopped!