Mayday Mayday: Invasion of the Climate Snatchers...
1st May 2008 - Day of Action Against False Solutions to Climate Change
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Mayday - Climate Action Day
c/o 245 Gladstone St
Nottingham NG7 6HX
For a downloadble copy of an adaptable press release, see here, or copy below
Local groups around the UK take action on climate change
1st May 2008 – For immediate release
Network for Climate Action
07880 937511
mayday@daysofclimateaction.org.uk
http://www.daysofclimateaction.org.uk
Today over 200xxx climate campaigners joined forces with social justice groups from around the UK to protest against false solutions to climate chaos. The Day of Action on Climate Change was jointly called by the Network for Climate Action1 and its allies, Rising Tide, and the Camp for Climate Action2. Protests took place across the country, targeting a range of techno-fixes to climate change:
In ...........description of actions/targets that happened.
Campaigners claim that these techno-fixes do little to combat climate change and merely serve to distract from the fundamental problem of an economy based on unlimited economic growth.
NAME from GROUP explains: “ As the reality of climate chaos is starting to hit we are still seeing very little real action. Instead of tackling the root problem of excessive energy consumption the government is focussing on techno-fixes in the hope of maintaining the economic status quo. The reality is that we are getting side-tracked by a huge number of techno-fixes such as carbon capture3, nuclear power4 or genetic engineering5. Most of these technologies have yet to be proven to work and indications are that some such as biofuels6, are even counter-productive.”
NAME from GROUP adds: “According to the UN7 if we don't immediately reduce our energy use in the face of climate change then we face natural disasters of biblical proportions. Rather than tinkering around the edges we should go to the heart of the problem. The real solutions are at hand. The Zero Carbon Britain report8, published by the Centre for Alternative Technology and the Transition Town movement9, are demonstrating that a transition to a climate friendly society is possible. We simply must stop getting distracted by red herrings and accept that business as usual is no longer an option. There is no escape: we have to reduce energy consumption if we are to survive on this planet and we must stop prioritising profit and economic growth over social justice and our long-term survival.”
For interviews and more information about today’s actions contact:
NAME
07880 937511
mayday@daysofclimateaction.org.uk
http://www.daysofclimateaction.org.uk
** Updates will be available throughout the day at www.daysofclimateaction.org.uk or from 07880 937511 **
1The Network for Climate Action is a network of over 50 groups in the UK including over a dozen national organisations taking action on climate change. www.networkforclimateaction.org.uk
2This year's Camp for Climate Action will be held from 4-11 August outside Kingsnorth Power Station, one of the sites earmarked for a new generation of coal-fired power stations. Last year's Camp at Heathrow Airport, attracted over 1500 protesters and succeeded in highlighting the role of the aviation industry in causing climate chaos.
3 The government is pushing ahead with building a new generation of so called “clean coal” fired power stations. However experts are saying that the technology of capturing and storing the Co2 emissions from these plants is not likely to become available before 2020, if at all. This would be far too late to stop runaway climate chaos, drastic reductions are needed now, not in 12 years time.
6 We are seeing this very clearly with biofuels, which were heralded as the green solution to fossil fuels. Experts now agree that the agrofuels expansion is directly responsible for subsistence farmers being cleared of their land, food shortages and enormous price rises, whilst doing nothing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. NEEDS SOURCE - check www.grain.org/seedling/?id=477
7 According to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report spring 2007 unless we immediately reduce fossil fuel consumption then within the next few decades we will see see level rises of over 4m (which will put over 20% of the UK at flood risk); migration waves of over one billion people migrating away from environmentally stressed areas and the collapse of the Amazon rainforest. www.ipcc.ch
8 Zero Carbon Britain Report by CAT 2007, http://www.zerocarbonbritain.com
9 http://www.transitiontowns.org