Responding to news today that the power station at Kingsnorth in Kent is to close down, Ben Stewart of Greenpeace, who was one of six campaigners acquitted of criminal damage in 2008 after shutting down the coal plant, said:
“This decision signals the drawing to an end of unabated highly polluting coal in Britain. Eon spent many wasted years trying to push through their controversial plan for another old-fashioned polluting coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth.
“It was a bad plan that didn’t serve Britain and pushed us behind in the global race for cutting-edge clean energy and the industries that can bring tens of thousands of skilled jobs across the country. Eon now has an opportunity to change path and back modern renewable energy technologies, and not make the same mistake again by chasing after polluting gas.”
In 2008, six Greenpeace volunteers were acquitted of criminal damage by a Crown Court jury after shutting down the Kingsnorth coal-fired power station in Kent. The defendants pleaded ‘not guilty’ and relied in court on the defence of ‘lawful excuse’, claiming they shut the power station in order to defend property of a greater value from the global impact of climate change.
Kingsnorth was recently the site of a proposed new coal-fired power station until Eon dropped the plan in 2009.
ENDS
Greenpeace press office: 020 7865 8255
