kingsnorth

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Anyone with vertigo, look away now. This was taken a couple of hours ago, as climbers at the top of the chimney at Kingsnorth coal fired power plant finally went over the edge of the 200-odd metre high chimney. There's a knee-wobbling video of this moment on Moblog.

As I write, the climbers are still painting the side of the 200-odd metre high chimney. By first light, there'll be a message urging Gordon Brown not to give the green light to the first new coal fired power station to be built in the UK in over 30 years.

So far, two people - from the conveyor belt team - have been arrested, with the rest of the team likely to follow one by one (it's a slow business).

More updates to follow in the morning - in the meantime, here are a few of my favourite images from today:

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I've just spoken to Jamie, our intrepid webbie inside Kingsnorth power plant, which we shut down in the early hours of this morning.

While the team scaling the chimney just keeps on climbing (several hours and counting), the team down at the conveyor belt are coal-covered but comfortable - even finding time to wind down after a pre-dawn start this morning.

The police have arrived, assessed the situation and put up a cordon around the plant, and there's some speculation that they may bring cutting equipment soon. We'll see - it's a waiting game now for the conveyor belt team now.

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We've taken over Kingsnorth coal fired power station in Kent to send a message to Gordon Brown: don't bottle it on climate change by giving the green light to the first new coal plant in the UK for over 30 years.

Just after 5am this morning, 50 Greenpeace volunteers took over the plant. One group immobilised the huge conveyor belts carrying coal into the plant then chained themselves to the machinery. As I write, a second group is climbing a 200 metre ladder up the chimney, with supplies to hold it for several days and force it off the National Grid.

Why are we there?

Coal is the most polluting of all fossil fuels; it just isn’t fit for purpose in the 21st century. No new coal fired power station has been built in the UK in over 30 years but now Gordon Brown may be giving the green light to a new coal rush.

Our energy expert Robin, delivers a giant, coal-filled postcard to Medway Council

A few months ago, I wrote that the UK could be facing a new coal rush; Medway Council was considering an application to build the UK’s first new coal-fired power plant in over 30 years.

The story had a huge response, with over 13,000 of you writing to Medway Council to ask them to turn down the application (thank you!).

This morning, a team from Greenpeace HQ hand delivered a huge batch of your postcards to Medway Council, adding a giant, coal-filled, perspex postcard of our own to the thousands of messages from people in Kent and around the country.

A month ago, we reported that E.ON had applied to build the first new coal-fired power plant in the UK for 33 years. This new application, we said, could open the floodgates to a spate of new coal power plants in the UK.

In 1974, the BBC launched Ceefax, Richard Nixon was kicked out of office and the last new coal-fired power station was built in the UK. Most things have moved on a fair bit since then – but apparently not for the UK's energy companies.