Category: RT Newswire

From Aotearoa (New Zealand) indymedia: http://indymedia.org.nz/index.php

The Save Happy Valley Coalition has begun a blockade of the main rail line
that coal miner Solid Energy uses to transport coal between the West Coast
and Christchurch. There are two people locked into the railway tracks in
prelaid concrete, much like a blockade in 2005, and they have thus far
resisted efforts by police to remove them.

The blockade began around midday, and about 20 protesters clambered over the
first stopped coal train and displayed a 22 metre banner reading "Solid
Energy: Govt Sponsored Climate Chaos".

From their media release: "Solid Energy is ever increasing its production,
leaving decimated ecosystems and waterways in its wake. Already, they are
responsible for annual carbon dioxide emissions approximately equivalent to
New Zealand's entire transport fleet. Saying "no" to new coal mines would be
an easy first step in actually addressing climate change," said Simon
Riddel, one of the activists locked to the tracks.

Update
2.30pm: The blockaders have been declared prisoners, and a police line has
formed around them. Their support person has been arrested for communicating
with prisoners while trying to get water to them.
3:15pm: After about 3 and a half hours, police managed to dig a large enough
hole and drag one of the blockaders through, and have since managed to cut
open the lockbox Three arrests in total..

LONDON – Companies and individuals rushing to go green have been spending millions on “carbon credit” projects that yield few if any environmental benefits.A Financial Times investigation has uncovered widespread failings in the new markets for greenhouse gases, suggesting some organisations are paying for emissions reductions that do not take place.

Others are meanwhile making big profits from carbon trading for very small expenditure and in some cases for clean-ups that they would have made anyway.

The growing political salience of environmental politics has sparked a “green gold rush”, which has seen a dramatic expansion in the number of businesses offering both companies and individuals the chance to go “carbon neutral”, offsetting their own energy use by buying carbon credits that cancel out their contribution to global warming.

The burgeoning regulated market for carbon credits is expected to more than double in size to about $68.2bn by 2010, with the unregulated voluntary sector rising to $4bn in the same period.

The FT investigation found:

Continue reading

Climate activists from around the East Midlands managed to stop some operations at Radcliffe on Soar Power Station after climbing onto convear belts and dumper trucks inside the plant yesterday. The power station is located just outside Nottingham and is the 3rd biggest emitter of CO2 emissions in the UK. The owner of the plant, E-On, said operations ran as normal and that their environmental record is good with aiming to be a clean coalfired power station. A spokeswoman for the protesters said: “Putting pressure on individuals to reduce emissions when companies like E.ON are profiting from this polluting industry is obscene and irresponsible. We should not be burning coal in the 21st century.”

The blockade lasted for 3 hours and 11 people were arrested all of which were later released. The action was part of ‘Spring Into Action’ – a week of workshops, entertainment and actions around the issue of Climate Change in Nottingham. Activists from around the UK came together to get clued up on practical solutions to climate change. From workshops on bike maintenance, local food production, community compost projects and strawbale building to concerts and performances, it was an action packed week. For the occasion and old lace factory was occupied and turned into a climate action centre.