SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Fifty Activists and a Polar Bear Halt UK Coal Train
Greenpeace climate campaigner: 'We're doing exactly what leaders in New York and here in the UK should be doing.'
Sep 23, 2014
What happens when a polar bear crosses the tracks?
The train stops.
That's how it went in central England on Tuesday when fifty Greenpeace activists and a polar bear (or a person dressed like one) halted a 1,500 tonne coal train bound for the coal-fired Cottam Power Station in the town of Nottinghamshire, east of Sheffield.
While the life-sized bear blocked the path of the train, the demonstrators climbed on top of the cargo cars and began shoveling coal into sacks, which were then stamped with "Return to Sender: Vladimir Putin" and tossed aboard. According to the group, 51 percent of the United Kingdom's coal imports comes from Russian coal oligarchs.
The demonstrators reportedly used industry standard flags to stop the train. And although the police have responded, as of Tuesday afternoon the train was stalled on the tracks and continued to block the main supply route to the power station, BBC reports.
The action occurred at the same moment that world leaders, corporations, industry stakeholders and a handful of token environmental groups had convened at the United Nations climate summit in New York City in what is being billed as an 'unprecedented meeting' to discuss climate change. The action is meant to highlight the incongruities of holding these talks while the world is still so dependent on coal, and other fossil fuels, for the bulk of its energy.
"Politicians can't keep claiming to care about the future of our planet while we're hooked on coal--coal that will wreck the climate if we keep burning it," Greenpeace said in a statement. A spokesman for the demonstrators says they have enough food and water to occupy the train for the duration of the one-day summit.
"We're doing exactly what leaders in New York and here in the UK should be doing, which is to stand in the way of the massive damage to our health and climate inflicted by coal," added Will McCallum, Greenpeace UK climate campaigner. The group is calling on UK residents to sign a petition calling on Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour Party leader Edward Milliband to stop their support of coal.
Live Twitter updates of the action can be found under the hashtag #peopleVScoal and videos of the action are available on the Greenpeace UK website.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
What happens when a polar bear crosses the tracks?
The train stops.
That's how it went in central England on Tuesday when fifty Greenpeace activists and a polar bear (or a person dressed like one) halted a 1,500 tonne coal train bound for the coal-fired Cottam Power Station in the town of Nottinghamshire, east of Sheffield.
While the life-sized bear blocked the path of the train, the demonstrators climbed on top of the cargo cars and began shoveling coal into sacks, which were then stamped with "Return to Sender: Vladimir Putin" and tossed aboard. According to the group, 51 percent of the United Kingdom's coal imports comes from Russian coal oligarchs.
The demonstrators reportedly used industry standard flags to stop the train. And although the police have responded, as of Tuesday afternoon the train was stalled on the tracks and continued to block the main supply route to the power station, BBC reports.
The action occurred at the same moment that world leaders, corporations, industry stakeholders and a handful of token environmental groups had convened at the United Nations climate summit in New York City in what is being billed as an 'unprecedented meeting' to discuss climate change. The action is meant to highlight the incongruities of holding these talks while the world is still so dependent on coal, and other fossil fuels, for the bulk of its energy.
"Politicians can't keep claiming to care about the future of our planet while we're hooked on coal--coal that will wreck the climate if we keep burning it," Greenpeace said in a statement. A spokesman for the demonstrators says they have enough food and water to occupy the train for the duration of the one-day summit.
"We're doing exactly what leaders in New York and here in the UK should be doing, which is to stand in the way of the massive damage to our health and climate inflicted by coal," added Will McCallum, Greenpeace UK climate campaigner. The group is calling on UK residents to sign a petition calling on Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour Party leader Edward Milliband to stop their support of coal.
Live Twitter updates of the action can be found under the hashtag #peopleVScoal and videos of the action are available on the Greenpeace UK website.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
What happens when a polar bear crosses the tracks?
The train stops.
That's how it went in central England on Tuesday when fifty Greenpeace activists and a polar bear (or a person dressed like one) halted a 1,500 tonne coal train bound for the coal-fired Cottam Power Station in the town of Nottinghamshire, east of Sheffield.
While the life-sized bear blocked the path of the train, the demonstrators climbed on top of the cargo cars and began shoveling coal into sacks, which were then stamped with "Return to Sender: Vladimir Putin" and tossed aboard. According to the group, 51 percent of the United Kingdom's coal imports comes from Russian coal oligarchs.
The demonstrators reportedly used industry standard flags to stop the train. And although the police have responded, as of Tuesday afternoon the train was stalled on the tracks and continued to block the main supply route to the power station, BBC reports.
The action occurred at the same moment that world leaders, corporations, industry stakeholders and a handful of token environmental groups had convened at the United Nations climate summit in New York City in what is being billed as an 'unprecedented meeting' to discuss climate change. The action is meant to highlight the incongruities of holding these talks while the world is still so dependent on coal, and other fossil fuels, for the bulk of its energy.
"Politicians can't keep claiming to care about the future of our planet while we're hooked on coal--coal that will wreck the climate if we keep burning it," Greenpeace said in a statement. A spokesman for the demonstrators says they have enough food and water to occupy the train for the duration of the one-day summit.
"We're doing exactly what leaders in New York and here in the UK should be doing, which is to stand in the way of the massive damage to our health and climate inflicted by coal," added Will McCallum, Greenpeace UK climate campaigner. The group is calling on UK residents to sign a petition calling on Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour Party leader Edward Milliband to stop their support of coal.
Live Twitter updates of the action can be found under the hashtag #peopleVScoal and videos of the action are available on the Greenpeace UK website.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.