Getting a move on! Against murderous brown coal – for an anarchist perspective
Since sunday evening we are once again blocking the rails of the Hambachbahn, which is transporting lignite coal from the Hambach Open Cast Mine to the power plants Niederaußem, Frimmersdorf, Neurath and Goldenberg. For RWE, it’s the only way of transporting the huge masses of coal being excavated in Hambach.
We are doing this in accordance with many other small autonomous group actions happening all year round in the Rhine area.
The coal railway is the choke point, the achilles heel of lignite mining in this region. Even though the power plants are also connected to the Garzweiler mine, they can’t be operated without coal from Hambach, due to differences in quality.
Can we manage to shut down the power plants with this action? We don’t know, but probably not. Nevertheless we consider it quite useful, especially combined with other actions happening in the area this weekend, we could put RWE in a truly threatened position. Also, this time we are more effective than ever before!
We are escalating – because in a time where global warming progresses faster than ever and is far from being stopped, we think that the climate movement has to keep on taking more drastic measures – the time of talking, waiting and doing symbolic actions is over.
Fighting lignite mining also means fighting for a liberated society.
We see our action in a greater context: The fight against brown coal is not only a factual necessity, it’s also a revolutionary strategy. Environmental destruction shows that capitalism as an economy based on competition will always thwart solutions to problems like this. It’s only possible with the state’s support as complex power construct.
Occupying railway tracks might not seem very revolutionary at first sight, but every time has their strategy. Direct confrontation will follow as the movement gains more momentum.

Ticker August 16 & 17

18:50 In the area of Heppendorf two people went on the railway and locked themselves on! Press release will follow shortly
19:15 Police and security appear at the lock-on action. Police failed in pulling people out of the lock ons and is preparing for a longer eviction
20:30 Police seems overburdened. The technical team apparently already quit for the day, so they seem content in dumping gravel on the tracks
21:00 THW (Technisches Hilfswerk) was seen bringing a digger on site, but they are apparently not involved
21:30 RWE is putting up floodlights, preparing for a long night