Note that with the WordPress’s unbelievably sloppy 2.9 upgrade , much of this blog is unreachable until I sort out the mess.
Chained to the locomotive
Time for action.
Two photos today from the Rising Tide blockade at Newcastle yesterday. The original jpeg’s from the Rising Tide website are excellent, highlighting the sophistication these groups bring to their events (see my comments on Climate Camp, except that the WordPress 2.9 upgrade stuff up stops any checking backwards).
Riding the Rails
Climate Change – Coal
An interesting event in Newcastle yesterday contrasts with ‘pussy’ Greenpeace in Denmark.
“23 arrested after coal train protest”, ABCNews, 20 December, http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/20/2776876.htm
The group says their action has been prompted by what they say is the failure of the Copenhagen climate talks. (Rising Tide)
More than 20 people have been arrested after climate change protesters blocked rail lines leading to Australia’s biggest coal export facility. Forty members of the Rising Tide group this morning chained themselves to the rail line at the Kooragang coal terminal in Newcastle as part of a protest against the Copenhagen climate agreement.
The protesters, including an 86-year-old man, also chained themselves to an 8,000-tonne coal train outside the port. Police managed to remove the last protester after a six-hour standoff. The 23 people arrested were later charged with a total of 45 rail safety offences. They will appear in Newcastle Local Court next month.
“We’re here today protesting the failure of the UN climate talks in Copenhagen, that we believe the rich world wrecked any chance of getting any good agreement out of,” said Rising Tide spokesman, Steve Phillips.
“Copenhagen failure sparks coal terminal blockade”, Rising Tide Australia, 20 December, http://www.risingtide.org.au/
Updates:
4:30pm: The Kooragang rail line has just reopened, 7.5 hours after the blockade began
3:00pm: Police have removed the final protester blockading a coal rail bridge in Newcastle, Australia, more than six hours after protesters shut down the coal delivery line into the world’s biggest coal port.
12:00pm: Police have made their first arrests at a dramatic coal train blockade on a bridge in Newcastle – the world’s biggest coal port.
Three hours into the blockade, police have arrested ten people who were sitting on the rail bridge and refusing to move. Protesters expect the blockade to last for the remainder of the day and perhaps into the night, with a further 15 people still blocking the bridge in difficult to remove positions.
Activists shut down the rail line at 9am this morning to protest the failure of the UN climate talks in Copenhagen to produce a just, effective, and legally binding treaty.
9am, Sunday 20th December 2009, Newcastle Australia: Forty climate activists have closed down the rail line into the world’s biggest coal port this morning, protesting the failure of the UN climate talks in Copenhagen to produce a just, effective, and legally binding treaty.
Twenty five of the diverse group – aged from 19 to 86 years and including a Buddhist priest, and an elected local councillor – are occupying a rail bridge in Newcastle, Australia, and refusing to leave. They have hung large banners reading “Greed wrecked Copenhagen: Now it’s up to us all”, and “You could have done something great.”
And in Copenhagen:
Frank Furedi, “Much ado about nothing in Denmark”, The Australian, 21 December, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/much-ado-about-nothing-in-denmark/story-e6frg6zo-1225812230751
The role of the protesters may be confined to that of extras, but they add colour and drama to the spectacle. They were even given permission to protest inside the Bella Centre and their ability to bring the proceedings to standstill helped to inject dramatic tension into an otherwise tedious event.
The protesters take their activities very seriously. A communique by Greenpeace informs the world that while heads of state were dining, “Greenpeace volunteers were out on the streets of Copenhagen, climbing lampposts (my emphasis) to carry our theme of the day: politicians talk, leaders act”.
In this comic drama, climbing lampposts is presented as an initiative that is morally superior to the diplomatic negotiations. The organisers of this spectacle appear to agree, which is why lamppost climbers are treated as if they are the voice of the people, whose job it is to keep the proceedings real. Outwardly, world leaders defer to their moral authority. That is what British Prime Minister Gordon Brown means when he praises protesters for propelling world leaders.