Greenpeace Blog

Heathrow: Brown under pressure from his own backbenches

Posted by jossc — 4 November 2008 at 12:47pm - Comments

"Yes Mr Brown, we're afraid it really is that serious..."

Much as Gordon Brown would like to pretend otherwise, getting the go-ahead for Heathrow's third runway is still far from a done deal. With the Tories and Lib Dems having already rejected the proposal, the PM is now facing a growing rebellion from within his own party. Labour MPs, privately egged-on by cabinet ministers, have tabled a motion opposing Heathrow expansion in a last ditch attempt to persuade Mr Brown to change his mind - reminding him that not only will the third runway make it almost impossible for the government to hit its climate change targets, but that it is deeply unpopular with voters.

45 Labour MPs have already signed up to an Early Day Motion expressing their opposition. If this figure continues to rise, as it easily could with two weeks still to go before the motion closes, then the PM will find it increasingly difficult to defy opinion within his own party.

Article tagged as: aviation, co2 emissions, gordon brown, heathrow, third runway

Video: onboard the Rainbow Warrior

Posted by bex — 1 November 2008 at 2:09pm - Comments

See all Rainbow Warrior tour updates or get them by email.

Over the past couple of weeks, we've had a huge number of visitors onboard the Rainbow Warrior, from scientists and campaigners to politicians and journalists. Many of the visitors - like The RSPB and Oxfam - have written about their experiences. The Telegraph went one step further and put together this video about their day onboard the Warrior:

Article tagged as: climate change, coal, coal ship tour, multimedia, rainbow warrior, telegraph, videos

Crew blog - life on the high seas (well, the Thames)

Posted by bex — 31 October 2008 at 3:59pm - Comments

The Rainbow Warrior coming through the Thames Barrier

The Rainbow Warrior coming through London's Thames Barrier on Friday afternoon. © Will Rose / Greenpeace.

See all Rainbow Warrior tour updates or get them by email.

Pete's blog

Pete - Rainbow Warrior crew Pete is a volunteer deckhand on the Rainbow Warrior. He wrote this on Thursday, the day after the vigil.

Having been up since 3.40am the previous day, I slept through the night time antics with the projector and the injunction delivery.

Now we are at anchor just upriver from Tilbury. A quieter day of tidying ship and cleaning away equipment. Dark clouds are gathering and a sudden squall blows in. We are keeling over at an angle to the anchor chains. Icy sleet stings our hands and faces as we bring the inflatables alongside to secure them.

Article tagged as: climate change, coal, coal ship tour, energy, rainbow warrior, ship tours

Bluebird red-carded from Antarctic waters

Posted by jossc — 30 October 2008 at 12:29pm - Comments

Oriental Bluebird, left, refueld the whaling factory ship Nisshin-Maru in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, 2007

Oriental Bluebird, left, refuels the whaling factory ship Nisshin-Maru in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, 2007

The Japanese whaling fleet's key supply vessel, Oriental Bluebird, has been de-flagged and fined following a legal ruling by Panamanian authorities, where the ship is registered. The owners of the former oil tanker, used to refuel the fleet in the Southern Ocean and to ship whale meat back to Japan, were fined the maximum penalty after being found guilty of:

using the ship for purposes it was not licensed for (ie carrying whale meat rather than oil)
violating the MARPOL convention (a treaty designed to eliminate the deliberate, negligent or accidental release of oil and other harmful substances from ships into the marine environment) after illegally refuelling whaling vessels in Antarctic waters.

Article tagged as: japan, MARPOL, Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, whaling

The vigil ends

Posted by bex — 30 October 2008 at 9:50am - Comments

See all Rainbow Warrior tour updates or get them by email.

In the early hours of this morning, after bailiffs served us a high court injunction from the quayside (presumably the "action" E.on had talked about earlier in the day), we pulled up our lines and left the jetty by Kingsnorth power station. We're heading, slowly, back to London.

It had been a busy evening at Kingsnorth. At around 10pm, the team battling with technical problems while occupying E.on's island came back to the boat to project images of climate change and the slogan 'Gordon bin it' from the bow.

Article tagged as: climate change, coal, coal ship tour, direct actions, kingsnorth, rainbow warrior

Captain's blog: Medway Morning Mooring

Posted by bex — 29 October 2008 at 10:05pm - Comments

Captain Mike See all Rainbow Warrior tour updates or get them by email.

Here's Captain Mike's take on today's events, written for his personal blog:

“Rainbow Warrior you are entering the Medway compulsory pilotage area without a pilot. You must stop your vessel and leave the area. You are breaking maritime law.” That’s what the Medway Vessel Traffic Service told me this morning. But, I kept the throttle down and Rainbow Warrior (flanked by eight zodiacs) pointing at an antiquated technology that is consuming the planet. I did inform the VTS when we passed Grain Edge navigation buoy, that we’d entered the Medway channel. I chose not to take a pilot this morning for fear of implicating my fellow mariners in a civilly disobedient activity. In the past week I have done two trips down the Medway, past Kingsnorth, to Chatham Ness - both trips under pilotage with me paying utmost attention to the local navigation.

Read the rest (and while you're there, have a good browse - Mike writes beautifully).

Article tagged as: climate change, coal, coal ship tour, direct actions, kingsnorth, mike finken, rainbow warrior

An evening at Kingsnorth

Posted by bex — 29 October 2008 at 7:06pm - Comments

See all Rainbow Warrior tour updates or get them by email.

It's slightly surreal sitting here in the mess of the Rainbow Warrior, where life is carrying on in all its usual, cosy hustle and bustle. (The crew members are helping themselves to spaghetti and salad as I write, and a couple of people are using the first quiet moment of the day to have a shower.)

Just outside is the towering smokestack of Kingsnorth and, around the corner, there's a small, concrete island owned by E.on which six people - including two of the Kingsnorth Six - have occupied. They're planning to set up a projector and beam images of climate change impacts onto Kingsnorth's smokestack. (So far, they've been troubled by technical problems - I'll keep you posted.)