Third power station shut down in five days

A third power station has been shut down by protesters in Victoria, one day after a similar action in Western Australia, and five days after a similar action in the Hunter Valley.

Two people have stopped and attached themselves to conveyors at the Hazelwood power station in the La Trobe Valley, and a large group of people walked onto the site early this morning.

Spokesperson for the group, Emma Russell said that the government has shown neither the will nor the ability to make the decisions necessary to prevent a climate disaster.

“We need to move on from coal, leaving no one behind. We offer our support to the workers of the Hazelwood power station. We believe it is critical that clean, renewable based industries are set up to provide new livelihoods after coal, such as renewable energy co-operatives and re-localised economies.”

In a public blog dedicated to the action, Ms. Russell linked the group's action to similar actions around the country.

“With direct action against coal infrastructure we wish to break the illusion of corporate control of our environments, creating space for community solutions for change. As this last week has shown with similar actions at Collie and Bayswater power stations, this sentiment is shared right across the country.”

Ms. Russell did not indicate whether she knew of other actions around the country but encouraged others to take similar action.

“It is our responsibility to ensure that electricity production is run by those who are interested in long-term sustainability, not those driven by short-term profits. We need to take our power back from privatised industry. This is our future, this is our responsibility; together, we should take action.”

Hunter residents have planned a vigil at Eraring power station on November 22, office occupations in December to occur simultaneously around the country, and a flotilla of kayaks to prevent coal from leaving Newcastle harbour next March.

Arctic sea melt

For the first time in human history, it is now possible to sail a ship all the way around the Arctic ice cap, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

The melting of the ice caps is expected to have significant impacts on climate change, including the loss of oceanic insulation, the loss of the albedo effect, and the acidification and algification of the oceans. If the Arctic ice cap melts by 2013 as predicted, it could produce runaway climate effects which are impossible to control and endanger human life on Earth.

Shipping companies have already announced plans to run their ships through the newly opened North-East passage.

Former Premier of NSW Nick Greiner has just completed a report to Ports minister Joe Tripodi recommending that the world's largest coal export port in Newcastle be doubled by 2013 and ultimately tripled, in a move set to be disastrous for the Earth's climate.

Picture by Ansgar Walk 2004. May be reproduced or altered only with attribution and under the same license.

Site announced for Camp for Climate Action

After weeks of stalling from local police and council authorities, the logistics working group of the Camp for Climate Action has announced that the camp will be held on public land on the corner of Mangrove Road and River Road, in Sandgate.

The working group had requested several different sites, and at various stages over the past month, authorities had given and withdrawn permission for all of the proposed sites.

With less than three weeks to go until the site, the working group realised that they could not wait any longer and decided to pick a site and promote it.

Up to 1000 people are expected to participate in the Camp for Climate Action. In late May, the actions working group announced that the highlight of the camp would be a mass blockade of the rail line which delivers coal to the world's biggest coal port.

According to the Gerald's sources, authorities are now tripping over themselves to find a different site for the camp.

The camp was promoted yesterday at a flash mob at Westfield Kotara, where up to 60 people who met each other via the social networking site Facebook froze for five minutes to demand a freeze in the growth of greenhouse gas emissions.

It was also promoted in Parliament by NSW Treasurer Michael Costa on Wednesday and Thursday, in response to questions by Greens MLC John Kaye. The Treasurer misled Parliament into believing that the camp was organised by the NSW Greens in order to divert attention from a question asked by John Kaye. Mr. Kaye asked the Treasurer whether failure to privatise the electricity industry would lead to his resignation, as he promised in early February.

Letter from one of the "Kooragang 16"

The Newcastle Gerald has found this letter sent by Paula Morrow, one of the Kooragang 16, to a newspaper which calls itself "The Newcastle Herald". Paula is a mother and grandmother and very concerned that she is living in Australia's biggest "infrastructure bottleneck", otherwise known as the world's biggest coal export port and Australia's biggest contribution to climate change, currently undergoing a massive expansion.
The "Herald" declined to print Paula's letter despite a foreword from Paula which said she understood if the "Herald" had to cut the letter down for space reasons. The Newcastle Gerald has decided to publish Paula's letter in full.

Dear Editor,
If you want to sell more papers, can we please open up the debate on coal?
I am one of the 'Kooragang 16'. We trespassed on the construction site of the third coal loader very deliberately, to get everyone’s attention.
Newcastle is the world's biggest coal port. The state government under Iemma, Costa and Sartor is trying to greatly increase the mining and selling of coal.
We are evaporating our coal mines into our atmosphere and therefore, we believe, greatly hastening the onset of climate change.
We have been given a mix of community service directions and fines by the court, those most committed to the environment movement getting the biggest punishments. These were reasonable penalties given the laws. I know that the rule of law is extremely important.
The thing is we already give up a lot of time, of our precious lives, doing community service.
Only about fifty of us went on the original walk-in and only about an extra fifteen came to support us in a vigil outside the courthouse. This is not enough people to save the planet.
It was great to see 3 or 4 ministers and 3 or 4 quakers in a vigil outside the court, people representing god; or at least the human reach for the spiritual.
When I think of the actual activists, I think that we represent conscience, and the ability to see what's coming. Those that walked in and got arrested, are mostly young, in their twenties and thirties. There were only a couple of us older ones. Those young people are all very smart and could be focusing on career.
Our main attributes are that we can add up, that we can see humanity is destroying its nest. We don't want one more bit of our beautiful planet or its creatures destroyed.
If we put the brakes on and are proved wrong, it doesn't matter that lots of energy is saved and pollution prevented. If we don't put the brakes on and we are right about the gravity of the situation, then our children and grandchildren face a terrifying future as our eco-system is de-stabilised; climate will become more erratic, and agriculture unworkable.
Messrs Iemma, Costa and Sartor have a huge responsibility to the people of NSW to curb dramatically the use of coal and to greatly increase the use of renewable energy such as solar, wave, wind, and perhaps, geo-thermal. Or are they going to fiddle while Rome burns, as the the generals are doing in Burma? Do they have other loyalties?
We choose to spend our precious time trying to alert our fellow-citizens while there is still time, in order to try and make a big difference to what happens.
It is not enough. It needs big numbers of people to wake up and step up and make the politicians do what needs to be done, because those in charge of our state government don't, or won't, get it.

Paula Morrow, Tighes Hill

Exclusive: Kooragang 16 tried after successful vigil

Quakers, Buddhists, atheists and members of the Uniting Church were among those holding a climate change vigil in front of Newcastle Local Court this morning ahead of the trial of the Kooragang 16. Seven women and nine men were arrested at a peaceful protest on the construction site of Newcastle's third coal loader on April 19, where close to 50 people successfully stopped work for 90 minutes.
All sixteen pleaded guilty to trespass. Magistrate Michael Morahan sentenced eleven of the arrestees, who had no prior convictions, to community service to be determined at a later date. The other five were fined $200 each and ordered to pay costs of $70 each.
Outside, the group's supporters, young and old, held banners in a festive atmosphere.
Tonight's budget is expected to feature an $18 billion budget surplus, to be invested in reducing "infrastructure bottlenecks", including the massive expansion of Australia's coal export capacity. Australia is already the world's biggest coal exporter, exporting 18% of the world's coal.
In Rangoon, aid organisations are already moving in to help the victims of a recent cyclone which killed over 100,000 people. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that such natural disasters will become more and more frequent as we continue to increase our greenhouse gas emissions.
More nonviolent direct action is expected at the Camp for Climate Action, to be held in Newcastle in July.

Vigil Support for the Kooragang 16

A reminder about the Vigil this coming Tuesday 13th, from 9.15 am - hope you can come:

Support nonviolent direct action against climate change
Support the Kooragang 16
a. A vigil to support the "Kooragang 16", who appear in court facing trespass charges following a positive community nonviolent direct action against coal exports.
b. 9:15 onwards, Tuesday 13th May.
c. Newcastle Local Court, Church Street Newcastle.

On Saturday 19th April close to 50 people walked into the construction site of the proposed new Coal Export Terminal for Newcastle. The new terminal would increase Newcastle's coal export capacity by over 60 million tonnes per year - the equivalent of doubling NSW's domestic greenhouse pollution from all sources. The protest succeeded in stopping work on the coal terminal for around 90 minutes. 16 people were arrested and charged with trespass after refusing to leave the site.

The world is in the grip of a climate crisis. The fossil fuel industries at the heart of this crisis must start being phased out as soon as possible. Instead, the coal industry is rapidly expanding with full bipartisan support. After trying all other avenues to prevent the construction of a third coal terminal in Newcastle, it is clear that civil disobedience and nonviolent direct action is needed.

If you can make it to Newcastle Local Court on 13th May, please come along and show your support for the continuing community campaign of nonviolent direction against the causes of climate change. It will be a quiet and peaceful vigil, but feel free to bring banners, placards, etc.

For further information contact:

a. huntervalleyquakers@gmail.com
b. risingtide@risingtide.org.au

Peaceful action camp opens registrations

The organising collective of the Camp for Climate Action, to be held in Newcastle this July, has announced that online registrations have now opened. According to its website, the camp will involve "five days of inspiring workshops & direct action aimed a shutting down the world's largest coal port in Newcastle".
The camp is one of seven climate camps being organised in Europe, Australia and North America and aims to shift attention away from voluntary lifestyle changes, and "false solutions" such as clean coal, nuclear power, carbon offsets and carbon trading to the "cause of the climate crisis - fossil fuels".
The organising collective is expecting hundreds of participants and is being supported by Rising Tide, the Australian Students' Environment Network and Friends of the Earth.

International Statement from 'Coal River' Newcastle Activists

Statement from Newcastle activists to the Global Greens Conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1st-4th May 2008 which will be presented by John Sutton (representing the Australian Greens) and Carrie Jacobi, of Newcastle Greens.

It is endorsed by:
Climate Action Newcastle
Green Corridor Coalition
Hunter Community Environment Centre
Newcastle Greens
Rising Tide (Newcastle)
The Wilderness Society (Newcastle)

To all assembled at this Global Greens gathering, we bring you the greetings, solidarity and best wishes of caring citizens and grassroots activists of Newcastle and the Hunter Valley, in New South Wales, Australia.

Our community is at the centre of climate change. Our country is the world's largest coal exporter, and our city, at the mouth of the Hunter River, is the largest coal exporting port in the world.

Last year Australia exported 245 million tonnes of coal. A third of this (81 million tonnes) passed through the port of Newcastle, most of it mined in the Hunter Valley hinterland. Next year, authorities say this will increase to 95 million tonnes, and, in the near future, to 170 million. Current plans would eventually give the port the capacity to export more than 200 million tonnes each year.

For many years, local citizens have campaigned against the damaging impact of coal mining and transport on the Hunter Valley's eco-systems and human communities. Climate change has brought a global dimension to this struggle. The coal exported through Newcastle has been calculated to cause more than five times its export value in climate change damage.

Citizens throughout the Hunter region are challenging the social licence to mine, burn and export coal.

We have called on our state and federal governments to commit to a Just Transition to phase out the coal industry, and to help local coal-dependent communities restructure for a sustainable future.

In November 2006, more than 800 locals braved unseasonable cold and wet to write "Beyond Coal" in human bodies on the sands of our local beach.

The same month, in response to a grassroots campaign, Newcastle City Council formally resolved "to recognise the urgent need to protect local and global environments from increasing greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce Newcastle's role in that increase".

In a move that made news around the world, our city council called on the New South Wales state government to cap coal exports, declare a moratorium on new coal mines, adopt mandatory renewable energy targets, and establish a community trust to support a transition to a clean energy economy, funded by a levy on coal exports through the Port of Newcastle.

In September last year, local citizens organised a Smart Energy Expo attended by more than 2000 people to demonstrate sustainable energy alternatives. The city council is now moving to make this an annual signature event.

In November last year, a flotilla of hundreds of activists blockaded the port for more than four hours. Hundreds of local citizens marched in a Walk Against Warming to urge other citizens to "Vote for the Climate" in last year's national election.

In December, as part of a Global Day of Action against climate change, local activists occupied the site of a proposed massive expansion of coal-loading infrastructure at the port.

In this struggle, we are pitted against some of the world's most powerful transnational corporations, including BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Xstrata, and AngloCoal. These companies are supported by the government of our state, which owns the port and regulates the coal industry, and continues to approve massive new coal mines and coal-loading infrastructure, and by the government of our nation, which approves the export licences and subsidises the mining operations.

We know that our struggle is shared by local communities around the world. We know that we are a small part of a rising tide of humanity demanding that our governments take the action necessary to stop runaway climate change and set our planet and our communities on a course to a sustainable future. We base our hope for our planet in the capacity of ordinary citizens taking local grassroots action to demand that our politicians and governments place people and the planet before profits.

We take heart that gatherings such as the Global Greens conference in Sao Paulo bring together activists from around the world committed to this cause, to make decisions that will guide our politicians and governments to take the actions necessary to meet the great global challenge of climate change.