Remember last summer’s Climate Action Camp at Heathrow? Two thousand people came together and magically transformed an empty field into a beautiful vision of the alternatives to airport expansion and the relentless growth of the fossil fuel economy. We set up sustainable kitchens, energy supplies, recycling and drainage systems. We ran workshops on everything from climate change science or how to build a wind turbine to the philosophy and practice of direct action. At the end of the week we took non-violent direct action together to shut down BAA's headoffice for a day, defying their efforts to stop the camp by(unsuccessfully!) seeking an outrageous injunction that would have prevented even the Queen travelling on the M4.
Even if you only saw it on TV, it was surely unforgettable! Well, now’s your chance to make sure you don’t miss the next one, and that your friends all come with you!
This summer there will be a climate camp at Kingsnorth power station (nearRochester in Kent), running from Sunday 3rd to Monday 11th August. In the next few months, Energy Minister John Hutton MP looks set to give the go-ahead for a new coal-fired power station on the Kingsnorth site, the first to be built in Britain for 25 years. Worse still, it would be the first of six new coal power stations locking us into 30 years of wholly unsustainable coal-burning (vague promises that “carbon capture and storage” technology will be added one day are pure fantasy greenwash).Even the half-hearted targets of the Government’s own Climate Bill would have no chance of being met, let alone the much deeper cuts needed to avert a potential climate catastrophe. This is sheer environmental madness.
The good news is that opposition to Kingsnorth is now mounting, creating a split within government. But this decision can’t be left to the politicians – overcoming the economic might of coal-power will require amassive show of people-power.
In short, you need to be there!
To help you make up your mind, or to encourage your friends or your groupto do so, we are offering to arrange speakers to come and talk with your group and to answer whatever questions you may have about the camp - what are its aims? What’s it like being there? What sort of activities are there for you to get involved in?
If you would like us to come to a meeting of your group, please emailspeakers@climatecamp.org.uk, or phone Lewis on 07804 951217
Or maybe you would like to be a speaker yourself? We are particularly keen to hear from you if last year’s climate camp was the first time you had ever done anything like this! But whatever your level of experience, this is your chance to get out and talk to other groups about your experiences. We are running one-day climate outreach workshops, to help you prepare your own talk about the camp's aims and what it's like being there, whichyou can give to your own or other groups in your area. Contact speakers@climatecamp.org.uk
We hope you will be inspired to take part in the camp and to inspire otherpeople to do likewise. If you would like to do this in either of the wayssuggested above, do please get in touch.
Yours
The Climate Camp Outreach Group