Maryla Hart speaking for ‘Food not Fuel’

Demonstration against renewable energy subsidies for Agrofuels

 Monday 12^th October, 6.30 pm
At DECC (Dept of Energy and Climate Change), 3 Whitehall Place, London

Photo-op at 12.30 – 1.30 pm

Called by Campaign against Climate Change, Biofuelwatch and Food not Fuel

This was a lively demonstration with a great atmosphere! Good speeches from  Kenneth Richter from Friends of the Earth, Rupert Read from the Green Party, Maryla Hart from ‘Food not Fuel’, Phil Thornhill from the ‘Campaign against Climate Change’, Amancay Colque from Coordinadora Latinoamericana. and also John Stewart from HACAN who chipped in with a few words about agrofuels as the ‘long game’ of the aviation industry. Also great music from, Pete, Mark et al!

Half way through there was a great moment when the Latin American contingent arrived on the last stop of their long day of actions in solidarity with indigenous people on this ‘Day of Protecting Mother Earth’.

Photos from the evening are here. Earlier in the day there was a photo-op at the same place, the photos from the shoot are here. Videos will be up soon!

So what was the demo about ? Well……..

The government is using renewable energy subsidies (Renewable Obligations Certificates – or ROCs) to fund power stations that use agrofuels.  Read more

Resources to follow shortly…

We are facing a Climate Emergency and are engaged in a race against time to prevent a catastrophe of a scale unprecedented in human history. The speed with which the UK is able to decarbonise its economy is critical in this respect especially with regard to the message it sends out to the rest of the world – and that all the more so in the run up to the critical Copenhagen Talks at the end of the year.

In light of this we feel it is absolutely vital that the government acts to stop the threatened closure of the Vestas Wind Turbine Factory on the Isle of Wight and save all the jobs of the highly skilled workforce currently employed there. Flying against even just the government’s own commitment to a 34% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and its recently announced investment in 400,000 Green jobs and increased support for renewable energy, this closure sends a message to the public that the government is not serious about either its commitment to the fight against climate change or its commitment to create green jobs.

The action of the workers at the plant and the huge support they have demonstrates that there is overwhelming support for keeping the plant open and the continued production of wind turbines. The government acted to stop banks from collapsing and spent £2.3 billion in loan guarantees to support the UK car industry through the recession; we believe the fight to tackle climate change and prevent a global catastrophe are of even greater importance.

You state in the comment pages of the Guardian that it “it is up to all of us to win a political argument about wind power”. We would actively support that aim and believe the Vestas workers have already made a huge contribution to doing that. However we also believe that there is an overwhelming need for the government to play a much more active role in ensuring a greater scale of investment in wind power and a more rapid expansion of the industry. In the light of this the fate of the Vestas plant should not be left to the vagaries of the market but should be safeguarded by active government intervention.

Government support should be directed to ensuring that the plant is able to transfer to offshore blade production suitable for the current demand and work to expand both the offshore and onshore wind turbine industry. £120 million is not adequate and pales in comparison to government subsidies to other energy providers. The government should be providing support on a scale that would guarantee the level of demand required to keep the Vestas plant open.

We believe that government action to keep the plant open would not only save much needed, skilled employment during this economic recession, but demonstrate at home and abroad the government’s real commitment to tackling climate change and investing in renewable energy and Green Jobs. Your actions can make a huge difference here, let’s do the right thing.

Simon Hughes addresses demo

Just when we need a huge expansion in renewable energy they are closing down one of the two wind turbine factories in the UK. The government has spent billions bailing out the banks, and £2.3 billion in loan guarantees to support the UK car industry – they can and should step in to save the infrastructure we are really going to need to save us from climate catastrophe.

Demo was on the Department of Energy and Climate Change, No. 3 Whitehall Place (off Whitehall, Charing Cross tube). Save Vestas blog. New petition.

“Climate Emergency” Ice-berg Demo outside the Excel Centre (Royal Victoria stop on Docklands railway from Bank) where the G20 are meeting the following day.

An event for “Fossil Fools day” April 1st from 12.30 pm. to 7.30 pm. (evening rally 6.30 pm) We will have a giant ice block. Bring your own (smaller) ice blocks (you can thread them on string as a necklace or bandolier) and dress in white !

Polar ice is melting much faster then scientists thought. We are losing the race against climate catastrophe (see here). Help us produce a visual image of the need for urgent action from the G20, outside the Excel centre on the eve of the G20 summit.

Saturday March 28th to demand jobs, justice for the global poor and action on climate from the G20 meeting in London the following week.

Assemble 11.00 am on Embankment ( Temple Tube, Charing Cross, Waterloo)

See the ‘Put People First Website here.

Join us with our globe-in-a-greenhouse on wheels to put across the message that we need urgent action for the Climate Emergency. The G20 could begin to shape the outcome from the Copenhagen Talks (see more here). We need to make sure that real action on climate change is high on the agenda.