Buir Station and Alternatives of Getting to the Forest

Thursday, November 28 was the day when we dodged a bullet. An evictions of the forest after 3 days of cutting were to start involving thousands of cops. Parking spaces were reserved for police use only at the local train station. Then after two days of celebratory actions on Tuesday eve and on Wednesday, something peculiar started happening at Buir train station. Around the places previously reserved for cops, first 3 mobile offices and then crates of equipment were dropped off. The gear contained 5 boxes of batteries for walkie-talkies, portable power cubes and 4 full crates(!) of surveyors tripods.

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Destruction from 2 days of clear-cutting

During Monday and Tuesday over 10 acress of millenarian 12,000 year old Hambacher Forest has been cut. Going into that area is a sad, sureal and infuriating experience.

It is estimated that if the present rates  of global deforestation continue(an area the size of Belgium disappearing anually) only about 10 percent of the global forest will remain by 2030. The estimates of carbon dumped into atmosphere from the deforested wood and humus biomass alone is about 17 percent of total global emissions.

When climate change is looked at as a business opportunity in a growing field of geo-engineering, false and non-tried solutions of carbon sequestration that are used as justification to continuing to dump CO2 into the atmosphere, it is the forests and trees that have been and remain the best and natural converters and sequesterers of carbon.

Obviously if their financial value is greater than ecological awareness, and foresight of local, state and judicial institutions their biodiversity remains at risk.  The financial value of tons of climate, atmosphere and water-table destructive lignite under the forest floor only sways the scales of “justice” in the direction of the profit it brings to RWE not to the impact it is having and will continue to have on future generation.   Even the global disaster it is bringin on is looked as a financial opportunity.  In this context the outcome of the delayed legal decission is rather obvious so:

Pack Your Gear and Get Ready an Join Us to Help Defend The Climate and Hambi!!

System Change not Climate Change – Hambi Must Stay!!!

 

Continue ReadingDestruction from 2 days of clear-cutting

RWE Courtcase and Demo in Cologne

The courtcase of BUNDIS vs RWE started today with lots of noise outside made by trumpets and whistles of counter-protesters brought by pro-mining union of IgBCE who fortunately did not hang around for long and left soon after the media departed at the beggining of trial. This left behing over 60 pro-Hambi protesters who surrounded the court with Red Lines Fabric and numerous signs and banners.  Inside, the court offered a compromise to the RWE representatives of mining around the forest and leaving Hambi as an intact island in the middle of the mine, this offer was refused for security reasons as no doubt having anarchist in treehouses in the middle of the largest single CO2 polluter in Europe was not easy for them to swallow.  Having to leave megatons of carbon and lignite under the forest floor was no doubt also a factor.  More offers and counter offers were made in a trial that was more like mediation, with Bundis stating that the buffer zone for the endangered species was not enough and the police stating that they will not be able to guard the cutting area.  The final decission was postponed till friday also to strategically not have too many people in front of the courthouse when most likely not a very popular in not reflecting the sentiment of most of the population as far as advocating the coal exit, decission is made.

The great feeling of support to Hambi Defenders who are on the frontline 24/7 experiencing and awaiting constant repression was expressed by many supporters who came from Bonn, Cologne and through out the area. However that was somehow lessened by one of the organizers of the official demo asking masked hambi people to move to the other side of the street as not to interfere with the official permit, then liasoning with the police and asking them  to move one more time a block away, and finally informing the people holding two banners who complied with the previous requests that the police will start aresting them if they do not disperse.  It was sad to see activists who experienced physical repression take this to heart and become re-traumatized and concerned about risk of arrest for holding a banner and for the feeling of unity and trust with outside supporters begin to disintegrate.  So don’t, but if for whatever reason you do choose to talk to the cops please remember that they are under no legal obligation to stand by any of their statements, regularly  use comrade against comrade and often will tell you anything to achieve a strategic objective and if you do talk to the pigs(no offense to the real piggies) please do so representing only yourself and nobody else….

Once again its rather obvious that the capitalistic “Justice” system has been completly coopted by special interests such as RWE and works hand in hand with militarized intrstruments of repression.  However that should be no reason to also forgo of paper-wrenching methods of making it as difficult as possible to accept whatever kick-downs it will take this time to assist RWE with destroying a priceless milenarian biodiversity hotspot such as Hambi, releasing megatons of CO2 and taking the planet through the point of no return. Do feel free to call them e-mail them and fax them to let them how you feel.

 

 

 

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Even the Ministry of Economic Affairs knows: no one needs coal anymore!

An internal paper from the German Ministry of Economic Affairs shows that producing electricity from coal (in Germany this is mostly lignite,alsocalled brown coal) is not only unnecessary, but even reduces security of supply, since Germany now produces more electricity than it consumes, and constant intervention in the grid is required to cope with this overcapacity.
http://www1.wdr.de/mediathek/audio/wdr5/wdr5-leonardo-top-themen/audio-mehr-kohle-kraftwerke-als-noetig-100.html (German. Will be opened in a new tab.)

Already in 2004, the Umweltbundesamt (Federal Environment Agency) published a background paper on the report: “Lignite – a subsidy-free energy source?”, written by the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. Central statement: “Overall, according to the calculations of the Wuppertal Institute, lignite benefits amount to at least 4.5 billion euros annually.”
See https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/medien/publikation/long/3572.pdf
The more environmentally friendly gas power plants (they produce only half as much carbon dioxide per kilowatt) are not supported and are therefore often out of service. The support of renewables has meanwhile been reversed.

Already in 2004, the Umweltbundesamt (Federal Environment Agency) published a background paper on the report: “Lignite – a subsidy-free energy source?”, written by the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. Central statement: “Overall, according to the calculations of the Wuppertal Institute, the preferential treatment of the lignite amounts to at least 4.5 billion euros annually.”
See https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/medien/publikation/long/3572.pdf
The more environmentally friendly and flexible gas power plants (they produce only half as much carbon dioxide per kilowatt) are not supported and are therefore often out of service. The support of renewables has meanwhile been reversed.

Continue ReadingEven the Ministry of Economic Affairs knows: no one needs coal anymore!