The Camp for Climate Action
Just returned from spending over a week at the Climate Camp that was
set up in the neighbourhood of Drax Power Station near Selby in Yorkshire.
The Camp had a dual purpose. Primarily it was intended as an exercise
in sustainable living. A place where folk could come and see/experience
for themselves an alternative way of living, perhaps attending some
of the many planned workshops to acquire new skills and learn about
climate change.
It was also of course a base for protests and demonstrations to draw
attention to the fact that Drax generates more CO2 emissions
than any other power station in the whole of Europe. Had the protests
managed to close down Drax for a while I suspect few at the Camp would
have been disappointed.
Although that didn't happen the event attracted more mainstream media coverage than any other climate change protest so far. A huge triumph for the environmentalists, and there was a shared feeling that this could well prove to be a catalyst for similar protests and demos elsewhere.
Wasn't surprising of course that the protesters didn't manage to close the station down. There was a huge police presence - some 4000 officers drawn from 21 forces throughout the country ranged against something in the order of 600 protesters (according to media estimates). By my reckoning that means the Establishment rates activists as being worth the equivalent of six-and-a-half cops each - d'you think we have the wrong people in the police force?
The police were inevitably their usual heavy-handed selves, and I even
heard of at least one case of extreme police brutality... to say nothing
of police stupidity.
Well, perhaps I will. Here's a couple of examples for you...
One of the demos was carrying in its midst a huge
ostrich fabricated from odd scraps, bits and pieces. Lo and behold,
the police actually go and arrest it! Claims that its structure contained
weapons or things that could be used in lock-ons were of course complete
bulls**t.
And another example of their stupidity occurred when, despite having
previously agreed a safe route for a childrens' demo (taking the kids
through quiet village roads), the cops reneged on the deal and instead
directed the procession onto a busy main A-road (causing a significant
tail-back in the process)! Well done the boys in blue!
The Camp itself was amazingly well organised, given the relatively
small turnout and the conditions. The weather was unsettled to say
the least - either pouring with rain or really hot and sunny.
Nevertheless it all worked amazingly well, and it was an object lesson
in what can be achieved - even with severely limited resources - when
folk from widely different backgrounds all work together with determination
and for a common aim.
It was also a superb example in sustainable living, with our minibuses
(ferrying the campers to Selby and back) running on bio-diesel, and
much of our power requirements being produced either by generators
using bio-diesel or by harnessing the power of the wind (of which
there was no short supply).
Waste was all being carefully sorted and recycled, and the local waste-disposal
crew that came to remove our bins couldn't believe how little actual
rubbish we had for disposal.
Encouragingly, many of the local population were sympathetic to and
inordinately interested in the Camp, and we welcomed many of them
onto the site for a tour around.
Of course, for weeks beforehand leaflets had been distributed around
the local villages explaining the issues and our intentions and to
allay any fears that otherwise may have arisen.
Hopefully this will be the first of many similar events and maybe the
message will get through to the public at large that we actually need
to do something serious about climate change now instead of
just letting the politicians carry on with their meaningless rhetoric.
And of course the cops themselves need to wake up and realise that
instead of protecting the interests of those trying to suppress us,
they should in fact do a damn sight more to support us. Or do they
imagine that their kids are going to be safe when our environment
will no longer support current lifestyles?
One of the folks at the Camp was telling me how the effects we're now
experiencing are still only the result of the pollution of the 60s.
That being the case, when we get to reap the harvest of what we've
been doing to our planet in the present generation, I dread to think
what life will be like.
In my darker moments I sometimes feel that we've already passed the
point of no return, and whatever we do is simply not going
to be enough to halt inexorable natural processes, let alone reverse
them.
Check out the Climate Camp website: The Camp for Climate Action
