… on a quiet day, I can hear her breathing

Category: Climate Crisis

  • 12 Just Stop Oil activists in court for M25 gantry actions today

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    Image: Just Stop Oil

    12 Just Stop Oil activists are appearing in court today to face charges associated with causing disruption on the M25 in November to put pressure on the government to halt all new oil and gas licences and consents.

    This week sees the continuation of court hearings for the Just Stop Oil supporters arrested as part of the four days of action on the M25 during November. A total of 12 supporters including 5 currently on remand are appearing at Southwark Crown Court today from 11:30am in 4 separate hearings in connection with actions taken on 8th November.

    Among those appearing in court today is Jane Touil, 56, a former public sector worker from Rochdale. She is partially sighted and was wrongfully imprisoned for 4 days in November after having been released on bail by a magistrate. Jane said:

    “I feel morally compelled to act. I cannot stand by and do nothing while the government knowingly pursues genocidal policies. There can be no new oil and gas if we want a liveable future. Licensing new oil and gas amounts to mass murder.  I urge everyone who wants a liveable climate to support Just Stop Oil.”

    George Cattell, 22, from Leeds said:

    “Ordinary people are in absolute misery this winter, sitting in darkness and freezing as the government continues to prioritise the profits of fossil fuel companies that are torching the climate. Even during my relatively short life I have seen the climate crisis get much worse and still emissions are increasing. Licensing over 100 new oil and gas projects in the North Sea is criminal. I couldn’t sit by and watch anymore so I stepped up into civil resistance. I stand by my actions. I have no regrets and I’m prepared to go to prison if that’s what it takes to force our government to change.” 

    Amber Robards, 21, an environmental student from Bristol said: 

    “I’m terrified for the future. I couldn’t hide from the truth or carry on life as normal any longer. It is unbearable to just stand by and watch as the government commits genocide against vulnerable people across the world. My generation has been put in an impossible position. 

    “I stepped up to take action with Just Stop Oil to put pressure on the government to stop new oil and gas projects and I am prepared to face the consequences. They would rather lock us all up than prevent societal collapse by ending new oil and gas. But you can’t imprison a flood, you can’t put a heatwave in the dock, you can’t fine a wildfire.”

    Six weeks of continuous disruption and civil resistance by supporters of Just Stop Oil during October and November resulted in over 700 arrests. Since the campaign began on April 1st, Just Stop Oil supporters have been arrested over 2,000 times, with 25 supporters currently in prison.

    Just Stop Oil continues to peacefully resist the government’s plans to licence over 100 new oil and gas projects by 2025, and its failure to fulfil its promise to help people with their skyrocketing energy bills.

  • Go-ahead for controversial Cumbria coal mine sparks climate dismay

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    https://www.independent.co.u

    Ministers have approved the opening of the first new British coal mine in a generation in a decision has horrified environmentalists and risks fresh revolt by Conservative MPs.

    The Woodhouse Colliery project, near Whitehaven in Cumbria, has sparked fierce opposition from local people and environmentalists, including the president of the COP26 climate change summit, former cabinet minister Alok Sharma.

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    Green groups warn that the new pit will damage the UK’s reputation internationally and undermine its ability to persuade others to make sacrifices to tackle global warming.

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    The former chief executive of British Steel Ron Deelan agreed: “This is a completely unnecessary step for the British steel industry, which is not waiting for more coal as there is enough on the free market available.

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  • World treating nature like a ‘toilet’, says UN chief

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    https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/us-news/2022/12/06/world-treating-nature-like-a-toilet-says-un-chief/

    The world’s fossil fuel addiction has thrown the environment into chaos, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday at the opening of Cop15, the UN biodiversity summit.

    “We are treating nature like a toilet,” Mr Guterres said at the conference in Canada.

    “Unsustainable production and consumption are sending emissions skyrocketing and degrading our land, sea and air.”

    As talks begin this week on a new set of global goals to protect nature over the next decade, Mr Guterres stressed that Cop15 is an opportunity to halt “this orgy of destruction”.

    He called on the private sector to recognise that profit and protection “must go hand in hand” and asked developed countries to provide bold financial support for the Global South, which should not be expected to shoulder the burden alone.

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  • Just Stop Oil disrupt traffic to demand an end to new oil and gas

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    Image: Just Stop Oil

    Just Stop Oil supporters have stopped traffic on key routes in Central London today to demand that the government halts all new oil and gas licences and consents.

    At 8:00am, around 15 Just Stop Oil supporters wearing hi-vis vests walked onto the road at Bricklayers Arms roundabout in South London and proceeded to march slowly along the Old Kent Road,  causing delays to rush hour traffic.  The march continued through South London, followed by at least 3 police vehicles and up to 10 police officers.

    A further march followed at Bank junction in the City.

    Sam Griffiths, 47, a Dad and designer from London said:   

    “I feel sick seeing how little is happening to address climate breakdown, the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced. And our Government is actively making things worse. Granting over 100 new oil licences is indefensible and goes against everything that science says we need to do.    

    “I started actively supporting Just Stop Oil after we had 40°C in the UK for the first time in recorded history. It scared the shit out of me. I looked at my boy and realised I couldn’t just continue to do nothing. 

    “I’m sick of the weasel words of our politicians. Fake crying at COP then getting back home to sign more oil deals. It’s disgusting and will kill everything we love… if we let it happen. I’m no longer prepared to just stand by and watch.” 

    Image: Just Stop Oil

    Margaret Reid, 51, a former museum professional from Kendal who recently spent 7 weeks in prison for taking action with Just Stop Oil said:

    “We are in a climate emergency right now. We no longer have the luxury of delay and indecision – that time is over. Against all humanity, morality and basic common sense, the government and the fossil fuel industry are taking actions that will continue to destroy us. They’ve been doing it for decades. So now, here, in 2022, we have to stand up for our own futures – and we have to take our own immediate action to stop them. 

    “The climate crisis will affect all of us and it will destroy all our futures so, like it or not we’re all in this together.  We need to act right now, to act decisively and to act together.  We have so little time left, I am willing to try anything that might work.”

  • France sees its hottest year on record as temperatures across the globe continue to soar to dangerous levels

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    Image: Luis Graterol / Creative Commons

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/france-sees-its-hottest-year-on-record-as-temperatures-across-the-globe-continue-to-soar-to-dangerous-levels

    FRANCE has experienced its hottest year since records began, the country’s national weather service said on Wednesday.

    This comes as temperatures across the globe continue to soar to dangerous levels.

    Extreme weather has devastated communities across the globe this year, including sweltering heat and drought conditions across Europe.

    France saw temperatures surge repeatedly in successive heat waves from May and into October, accompanied by extreme events like wildfires in areas like north-western Brittany.

    “[This year] will be the hottest year recorded in France since measurements began, so since at least 1900, that is a certainty, even if December is very cold,” said Matthieu Sorel, a climatologist at Meteo France.

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