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
Didcot Protesters Spend Second Night Up Power Station Chimney
Activists plan to stay on top of 600ft chimney for a week
Oct 27, 2009
Nine climate protesters are preparing to spend a second night 600ft up the chimney of one of Britain's largest power stations in defiance of a court injunction.
But
13 others, who broke into Didcot A power station in Oxfordshire early
on Monday morning, have been arrested and removed from the coal conveyor belt at the station, which is owned by RWE npower.
"They
have been served an injunction but are refusing to come down and are
therefore in contempt of court," said a spokesman for the protesters.
He added that the injunctions forbade them from entering Oxfordshire.
The protesters say they plan to stay up the chimney for a week.
The
protesters, who have occupied a room and pitched tents on top of the
chimney, were last night celebrating their victory in forcing the power
company to switch from burning coal to gas during their occupation. The
2,000MW power station normally emits more than 5m tonnes of CO2 a year;
natural gas is considerably cleaner than coal.
The court
injunctions are likely to impact seriously on at least two of the
protesters who are both students at Oxford University. "We can stay for
as long as we can," said Amy Johnson, one of the activists.
The
protesters, who met at Climate Camp in London this year, said they had
targeted Didcot because RWE npower is planning to build as many as 30
new coal-fired power stations across Europe, including two in Britain.
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.
Nine climate protesters are preparing to spend a second night 600ft up the chimney of one of Britain's largest power stations in defiance of a court injunction.
But
13 others, who broke into Didcot A power station in Oxfordshire early
on Monday morning, have been arrested and removed from the coal conveyor belt at the station, which is owned by RWE npower.
"They
have been served an injunction but are refusing to come down and are
therefore in contempt of court," said a spokesman for the protesters.
He added that the injunctions forbade them from entering Oxfordshire.
The protesters say they plan to stay up the chimney for a week.
The
protesters, who have occupied a room and pitched tents on top of the
chimney, were last night celebrating their victory in forcing the power
company to switch from burning coal to gas during their occupation. The
2,000MW power station normally emits more than 5m tonnes of CO2 a year;
natural gas is considerably cleaner than coal.
The court
injunctions are likely to impact seriously on at least two of the
protesters who are both students at Oxford University. "We can stay for
as long as we can," said Amy Johnson, one of the activists.
The
protesters, who met at Climate Camp in London this year, said they had
targeted Didcot because RWE npower is planning to build as many as 30
new coal-fired power stations across Europe, including two in Britain.
Nine climate protesters are preparing to spend a second night 600ft up the chimney of one of Britain's largest power stations in defiance of a court injunction.
But
13 others, who broke into Didcot A power station in Oxfordshire early
on Monday morning, have been arrested and removed from the coal conveyor belt at the station, which is owned by RWE npower.
"They
have been served an injunction but are refusing to come down and are
therefore in contempt of court," said a spokesman for the protesters.
He added that the injunctions forbade them from entering Oxfordshire.
The protesters say they plan to stay up the chimney for a week.
The
protesters, who have occupied a room and pitched tents on top of the
chimney, were last night celebrating their victory in forcing the power
company to switch from burning coal to gas during their occupation. The
2,000MW power station normally emits more than 5m tonnes of CO2 a year;
natural gas is considerably cleaner than coal.
The court
injunctions are likely to impact seriously on at least two of the
protesters who are both students at Oxford University. "We can stay for
as long as we can," said Amy Johnson, one of the activists.
The
protesters, who met at Climate Camp in London this year, said they had
targeted Didcot because RWE npower is planning to build as many as 30
new coal-fired power stations across Europe, including two in Britain.
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.