Co2 Emissions

Come to the 'Train not Plane' party!

Posted by jossc — 15 July 2010 at 10:23am - Comments

We've won a great victory against the Heathrow third runway, but there are still plans to expand aviation elsewhere around the country. The airline industry needs to take on its fair share of emissions cuts. We should be thinking about reducing, not expanding aviation. We can start with journeys which can clearly be made through other means - by replacing domestic flights with an improved national train and coach network.

On Saturday 4 September, our friends at the Campaign against Climate Change are organising a 'Train not Plane' day of action in London and Manchester. It starts with a demonstration outside London's City Airport in the morning, supporting the local campaign to stop increased numbers of flights at the airport. This will be followed by a

Article tagged as: 3rd runway, aviation expansion, city airport, co2 emissions, events, manchester

Climate 9: guilty but victorious

Posted by jossc — 6 July 2010 at 3:17pm - Comments

Last year, the Climate 9 stopped dangerous greenhouse gases reaching the atmosphere by disrupting operations at Aberdeen Airport.

After a two week trial the law found them guilty of breach of the peace but other charges were dropped, and in the court of international opinion they received overwhelming support, which was further legitimised by expert scientific testimony.

Article tagged as: aberdeen, airport expansion, climate 9, co2 emissions

Slideshow: highlights from the 3rd runway campaign

Posted by jossc — 16 June 2010 at 10:17am - Comments

The battle over a 3rd runway for Heathrow became an iconic struggle between those of us who know the climate change threat is deadly serious, and those who preferred to gamble our collective future in search of short-term profit. And when that latter group includes such heavyweights as the Department for Transport and the British Airports Authority, you know you're in for a fight - even when the science is on your side.

In the event it took three years of hard campaigning, and the building of a huge coalition of civil society (including residents' groups Hacan and NoTRAG, local councils, Climate Camp, WWF and RSPB) to bring the runway plans down.

Article tagged as: airplot, aviation expansion, co2 emissions, heathrow, slideshows, successes

Climate 9 trial gets underway in Aberdeen

Posted by jossc — 15 June 2010 at 10:43am - Comments

The Climate 9 with family and friends outside court this morning.

The first major climate trial since the failure of the Copenhagen talks begins today in Aberdeen sheriff's court.

Nine members of Plane Stupid Scotland are in the dock, following their successful shut down of Aberdeen Airport in March last year. For taking direct action to highlight the climate impacts of expanding the airport - a plan closely linked to business tycoon Donald Trump's proposal to develop a new golf course complex in the area - they're now facing charges of breach of the peace and vandalism.

Article tagged as: aviation expansion, co2 emissions, plane stupid, scotland

Carlisle Airport expansion quashed

Posted by jossc — 20 May 2010 at 4:16pm - Comments

Although there was a lovely buzz around the office following last week's wonderful announcement that the Third Heathrow runway had been scrapped, the wiser heads amongst us were quick to point out that we'd won a battle, not a war.

Our new coalition government may have made good on its pre-election promises over Heathrow, but there have been no such commitments over the 30 or so airport expansions planned for other parts of the country - and they could easily prevent us reaching our CO2 reduction targets if a significant number get the go-ahead.

Article tagged as: airport expansion, aviation, carlisle, co2 emissions

Coal: going, going, gone?

Posted by jossc — 4 January 2010 at 6:37pm - Comments

It's been a long, difficult and wild ride at times, but an end to climate damaging carbon emissions from new coal power stations could be in sight at last. Finally, some politicians seem to have recognised that we can't cut our CO2 emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 AND keep pumping the stuff out of our power plants - hooray!

Last December the government announced a new energy bill that explicitly recognises this reality. So far so good - but (as you'll be shocked to discover) there's a problem. As yet the bill has no teeth - whilst it says that new power stations must be able to capture some of their emissions from the get go, it contains no guarantee that by 2025 all carbon emissions from coal must be captured, and that's the bit that really counts.

Article tagged as: CCS, co2 emissions, coal, energy, EPS, kingsnorth, miliband

Join the Youth Climate Coalition in a worldwide call for a Real Deal at Copenhagen!

Posted by jossc — 10 December 2009 at 11:53am - Comments

A message from the Youth Climate Coalition...

Over the next two weeks, our leaders will negotiate the most important agreement of our time – one that must stop a climate catastrophe.

But they will only aim as high as we demand.

That's why on Saturday December 12th thousands will gather at climate vigils in every corner of the planet to send a clear message: The World Wants a Real Deal!

The Global Day of Action by TckTckTck has over 1000 events already registered across the world, and we want you to be part of the event in London, which is being jointly organised by the Youth Climate Coalition.

Where: Old Palace Yard, Westminster, London

When: Saturday December 12th, 4pm

What: Candlelit vigil followed by a UKYCC Flashdance and maybe a few extra surprises...

Article tagged as: climate change, co2 emissions, COP15, copenhagen

Government's aviation policy blown out of the water

Posted by jossc — 8 December 2009 at 5:10pm - Comments

The Committee on Climate Change's (CCC) report on aviation, published today, explicitly undermines government plans to allow a tripling of passenger numbers on commercial aircraft by 2050.

While its Chairman Lord Turner has been careful not to totally rule out the possibility of creating extra capacity in the form of new runways, the committee is recommending that "the policy focus for aviation must be on limiting demand for flights and investing in alternatives such as better rail links and video conferencing." In an interview on the BBC's Today programme this morning, Lord Turner confirmed that a 200% growth in consumer demand for air travel by 2050, assumed in the 2003 Aviation White Paper, would make reaching proposed emission reduction targets impossible.

Article tagged as: aviation expansion, climate change, co2 emissions, heathrow, third runway

October 24th International Day of Climate Action

Posted by jossc — 23 October 2009 at 11:33am - Comments

While our leaders continue to talk about what's "politically possible," the world continues to warm and precious days go by. The latest science shows that runaway global warming is even closer than we feared. We can't continue to allow our leaders to sit back and play political games when our future is at stake.

That’s why on October 24th, Greenpeace is joining with 350.org and a broad coalition of groups to participate in an international day of action. Events are already planned in over 100 countries around the world. Some are big, some are small - but every single one of them is absolutely necessary.

Article tagged as: 350.org, climate change, co2 emissions, copenhagen, global warming, pollution

Video: Greenpeace blocks tar sands mining operation

Posted by jossc — 20 September 2009 at 1:53pm - Comments

On the eve of the Harper-Obama meeting in Washington D.C., climate and energy campaigner Mike Hudema explains why Greenpeace is locking down and blockading a giant dump truck and shovel at Shell’s massive Albian Sands open-pit mine in northern Alberta to send the message that the tar sands are a global climate crime that must be stopped.

Greenpeace UK