Resist Coal Commission!

The initial euphoria of coal industry dominated Coal Commission to address the issue of German Coal Exit has been replaced by German Federal Republic forming a mirror image of Trumps administration with its Climate Denying stepping out of international climate agreements and obligations and instead attempting to put in place massive subsidies that will keep  toxic and destructive lignite industry going even further despite it not even being able to compete on its own with falling prices of renewables.

As the Commission convened the German Environmental minister Svenja Schulze announced that the agreed to 2020 reductions of CO2 will not be met. Shielding Coal and fossil fuel industry and the Coal Comission from pressure and responsibility for effects of Climate Change with Global South disproportionately suffering the consequences.  Further subsidizing this failing industry and allowing it to continue its destruction of habitats, communities and climate by calling for massive “restructuring” assistance. Trump’s, recently blocked, subsidies to closing, failing and unprofitable coal and nuclear power plants attempted to do the same by framing the discussion in terms of energy security with the false narrative of renewable as being unreliable source of energy. The German state support and financial assistance to industries that the same government agreed to scale back and transition from acknowledging the global scope of Climate Change emergency is significant in how the Neo-Liberal profit based regimes are transitioning to even higher levels of corruption and lack of transparency in which even the capitalist profit based principles can not continue to function on their own without a mass appropriation of public resources for profit of the very few on the corporate and governmental top at the cost of sacrificing stability of the planet’s climate and its future as a whole. Late Ultra-Liberal Disaster Corporate-Welfare Capitalism is here: RWE for example has last year only made “profit” for the first time in last 3 years due to 4.5 billion tax refund(in effect a hidden subsidy) for their nuclear power plants whose upkeep is already being subsidized.

The make up and structure of the Coal Commission continues to deny and distance decision-making process from the effect of climate change by being presided over by 3 former pro-coal presidents of coal mining regions, and by one former industry energy “transition” think tank executive with one participant of heavily vested in fossil industry Deutsche Bahn, German Railways,setting up an agenda of calling for “financial cushioning” of shutting down of coal industry that the commission is attempting to delay to 2030-2050 and then only with those massive payouts involved. Not just the german public, which is in favor of coal exit, but the whole global population affected by RWE’s and Vatenfall’s massive coal usage and co2 emissions is being held hostage by Coal and its affiliated politicians. As high temperatures and droughts rage with coal, oil and gas industries flexing their muscle of influence and disinformation to demand more resources for more extraction of combustibles so they can continue to feed the blaze of run away climate change. Smoke Screen of “The jobs” narrative is repeatedly used instead, using the 30 thousand jobs in coal mining as a bargaining chip, without mention or inclusion of representatives of over 120 thousands involved in renewable industry in the working of the commission. Not included also are members of any other German opposition parties present in German politics within the commission which is solely dominated by CDU/CSU, SPD insiders whose strategy of competing for votes with far right nationalist AFD parties is to embrace some of their issues and appeal by becoming more right wing and conservative, this is the case not just with immigration but also especially with embracing Coal as a traditional German industry. This informal alliance extends also to repression of Hambacher Forest activists, calling for climate justice and immediate coal exit, as terrorists. AFD has made protecting German Coal and “jobs” one of their key issues another one is elimination of left and radical autonomous centers, projects and struggles. This narrative is also embraced by coal industry and Herber Reul, interior/police chief of North Rhine Westphalia a Rhine Rnergie advisor and Armin Laschet NRW president and also coal industry insider and supporter. Calling for and organizing massive police actions against Hambacher Forest activists fear mongering regularly not about the effects of climate change but about left wing extremism while even the official estimates place the number of right extremists at 3 times the number of those on the left. Another parallel of the Trump regime violently repressing opposition to pipeline and fossil fuel extraction projects with disproportionate police forces and sentences classifying those protecting communities, ecosystems and climate from violent destruction as a threat to public(read: profit) safety.

The 2 degree climate warming danger area entered now do to “business as ussuall” mentality of full co-option of the political structures by fossil industry signifies entering a run away climate change territory: Run away climate change that will not just be irreversible but is the begging of an upward exponential spiral of temperature increases of 10-15 degree climate warming that will result in massive water level rise, loss of arctic and antarctic ice cover and cause extinction of most life as we know it.  Issues not present in Commission outward statement with only one climate expert among 26 industry affiliated representatives.

“No Jobs on the Dead Planet” and “System Change not Climate Change” is now gaining not just deeper than ever significance but becoming a daily reality, reality that not only goes on unopposed by is enforcde by the political structures and governments.

Resist Corporate RWE and other Fossil Fools Climate Chaos and habit destruction:

Hambi Bleibt! Hambi Stays! Stays as a global and historical testimony that when the planet is pushed off the edge not just by opportunistic political constructs but also by their tanks and helicopters and their prisons there were and continue to be people that said “No More”: “Basta!” And who continue to resist the Disaster Capitalism narrative. How long and how much pressure the resistance continue to exert depends on all reading this and becoming active and supporting the Hambach Forest occupation and other indigenous and anti-extractionist climate Justice struggles world wide.

Free UPIII! and free Planet from the Specter of fossil fuels induced run away Climate Change Disasterism.

Continue ReadingResist Coal Commission!

Geo-Engineering: RWE carries top soil from Garzweiler to Hambach.

Found deep in the article described below:

Cologne’s District President Gisela Walsken (SPD) emphasized – in view of the start of negotiations by the Coal Commission – that 2040 would be fiercely defended as the end date for lignite mining. “We know that the coal stream is running out. Nevertheless, we will not sacrifice security of supply prematurely for short-term questions of energy policy.”*

Aachener Nachrichten a newspaper known for its anti-activist and pro-RWE bias has outdone itself once again. In a narrative very much reminescent of positevely spinning untried CO2 sequestration and climate reversing dangerous geo-engineering schemes, the paper has acknowledged that there is a problem with resettled RWE-Coal-refugees not having enough new land to farm on after their old farms were destroyed by mining. Aachener Nachrichten admitts to this being a problem and immediately follows with seemingly brillian solution being put in place presently by RWE. It appears that the company is transporting mineral rich loess from the Garzweiler mine to the Hambach mine where a 260-metre-long tipping track called the “loess bunker” has been constructed. From that particular bunker it will be taken by truck till 2022 with about 10 acres a year being resurfaced. 10 acres a year is tiny portion compared to the thousands irreversibly destroyed and trillions more destablilized to climate change.
This narrative continues the well establish strategy of informing the populace that a problem does exists and immediately calming any unease by following it with a false solution. Speaking of which it has been awhile since there has been much talk of the other previous wonder solution, previously mentioned, that is carbon sequestration. To keep the charade going perhaps it could be suggested to Aachener Nachrichten that a new article could be written in which being fully on the way of reaching the 2 degree warming singnifying entering run away climate change is really not a problem as RWE is solving this PR dillema by oppening a carbonated water plant in which all the megatons of CO2 produced by the company will be turned into fizzy water. That this is already happening to the oceans increasing their acidity and killing marine life should not be mentioned unless another possibility is offered to desalinify the oceans and bottle resulting water instead.  Mmmmm now if only some of the toxic waste stream from coal production could be turned into hard alcohol to mix in with the soda water the problem could be completly solved by getting the global populaton too drunk to notice dissapearing farmlands and glaciers, rising water levels and now yearly droughts and temperature records.

RWE: “We don’t just f*ck up the planet, we also implement even more f*cked up schemes to convince you that we don’t.”

http://www.aachener-nachrichten.de/der-lange-weg-zurueck-zum-acker-1.1932749?

*  The quote at the beggining is very reminescent of attempting to figure out policy of opposing regimes by reading in between the lines of their official statements. This statement also contains an ideological fierceness like in the struggle of Capitalism vs Communism during the cold war.  Now its fossill industry and friends vs the Planet.  2040 coal exit would not only be catastrophic to the planet making sure that the 2 degree threshold is crossed but it also implies that the coal commission will ask for a heavy bail out if it compromises for 2030 coal exit or will not even comitt to 2040 exit without such bail outs and subsidies either.  In other words not only should any thought of necessary not just for hambis survival but also for a livable planet 2020 coal exit be burried deep down but also its executioner should be paid in exchange.

Continue ReadingGeo-Engineering: RWE carries top soil from Garzweiler to Hambach.

Release of the last activist who took part in the five days of action against Eurostatory, an arms fair set up close to Paris, France.

Release of the last activist who took part in the five days of action against Eurostatory, an arms fair set up close to Paris, France.

Rodolphe is free! Here’s a report of the five days of action against Eurosatory, the arms fair that took place 11h to 15th of June in Villepinte (93) close to Paris, France.

Rodolphe was finally released after 48 hours in custody. He took direct action at the arms fair, aiming to disrupt the fair, in hope that a few contracts signed with a handful of dictators wishing to suppress their people would be postponed or even, put off!
The police accused Rodolphe for having smoke flares on him, and charged him with possession of explosives. In court, the prosecutor admitted that the case was ‘surreal’ and abandoned all charges against our comrade.

June 14th 2018: six non-vio!ent activists spot a hole in the fences surrounding the arms fair, specifically the area where weapons meant for export are exhibited every day. The activists muster the courage to take action: in front of hundreds of journalists specialised in the military and of weapons salespeople, the activists interrupt in a nonviolent manner a scene of war staged to promote the arms trade. Nice one!

The six activists are taken into custody… and five of them released after 24 hours without all charges dropped. As for Rodolphe, he is charged with the possession of explosives and his detention is extended.
Faced with the risk of a political trial and the growing mobilisation of people demanding his release, as well as with the fear of prompting a media debate about the existence of an arms fair close to Paris, the prosecutor decides to abandon the charges. This will only encourage us to do more!

Several peaceful activists who participated in this action were mishandled by the cops when they were arrested, and will file a complaint to the IGPN (Inspector Géneral de la Police National – the Independent Office for Police Conduct). A law-enforcement officer even destroyed the phone of an activist to prevent the dissemination of a video showing the disproportionate amount of violence used by the cops. Taking these legal actions comes at a cost so a call-out for donations has been set up.

Video: youtube.com/watch?v=sFYktZQx-yz

WHY TAKE ACTION AGAINST THE ARMS FAIR?

As boasted in the official advertisement for Eurosatory, the fair opens the door to every security and defence markets, enables weaponery professionals to meet and trade, gives access to all the new products and weapon systems, and showcases and other dynamic exhibitions of weapons.
Eurosatory is where 227 official delegations are ready to whip out their checkbook and drool over brand new electronic gadgets. Representatives of the armed forces from 94 countries also attend the arms fair to push their counterparts and journalists to promote and thereby foster the killing machine. In a nutshell it is the the global reference for supermarkets specialised in killing.

Fairgoers carefully avoid saying the word ‘war’, a synonym of mass scale destruction. At the same time, salespeople parade the weapons that have been used on the ground in Syria, Yemen, Palestine, Afghanistan or Irak. Whether the victims were civilians or military, whether they were men women or children.

Envoys from the countries categorised as ‘friends of France’, such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the USA and Israel, all attended the fair this year. No need to demonstrate here the responsibility of these countries in many armed conflicts around the world, from the Middle East to Africa.
Delegates of the Israeli company TAVOR were also exhibiting at the fair, despite their rifles being used by the Israel army to shoot on unarmed protestors and causing the death of a lot of civilian casualties including women, children and medical staff. In fact, Israel was one of the countries with the highest representation at the 2018 edition of the arms trade fair.

ACTIONS HAVE LASTED THE WHOLE FAIR!
A lot of activists took action this year to block or disrupt the killing trade in Villepinte. Even before the fair was set up, some activists did some adbusting closeby:

‘I turn myself against others and against the future’
‘Sell arms or nuclear fuck up lives and the planet’
‘Euro Statory 2018 – arm yourself with silence and silex!’

‘Eurosatory kills’

On the 1st day of the fair, activists gathered in numbers to disrupt the arrival of the fairgoers.

The next day, on the 12th of June, activists from collective Les Désobeissants (the ‘unruly’) and Hadama Traore of the movement LREEM (the Revolution on the Move [play on words with the French president Macron’s party La République en Marche, the Republic on the Move!]) condemned the selling of weapons in the heart of Villepinte, one of France’s hardest-hit departments socially and economically.

Hadam Traore criticises the French president’s discourse on the need to revitalise poorer areas like Villepinte. With the arms fair happening here, the department’s reputation can however only be damaged even more. Residents here have witnessed conflicts between neighbourhoods, causing many to be injured. Hadama Traoré condemns the media and national government for pointing fingers at the residents of Villepinte and criminalising them when businessmen in white collars walk out of the arms fair down the road, unscathed, making millions out of human misery.

We are of course intending to continue taking action against all the arms fairs taking place in France, as this country is one of the largest exporter of arms in the world.

We will be specifically targeting the arms fair at the Bourget (June 2019) that is aimed for the export of war aircraft, and the Milipol arms fair (November 2019) organised to sell material used in the USA for internal repression.

We will never give up
the team of the Désobéissants
get in touch: rémi (remi@nulldesobeir.net)

Photocredits from www.desobeir.net
original article: www.desobeir.net/2018/06/16/rodolphe-est-libre-retour-sur-cinq-jours-dactions-contre-eurosatory/

Continue ReadingRelease of the last activist who took part in the five days of action against Eurostatory, an arms fair set up close to Paris, France.

Last Sunday a 50th Forest Walk

This Sunday a special forest walk took place in that it was a 50th walk which over 5 years has brought over 5000 people from all around the world to Hambi .  It has bridged the gap between forest activists and supporters, a gap that both coal industry/media interests and authorities are interested in widening through fear and lack of understanding.  This is done by ignoring some of the crucial reasons that are the foundation of Hambach Forest Struggles. Reasons which Michael together with Eva has shared with all those coming to the forest.  Their history of the occupation and the struggle has always been complimented with updates on present situation on energy issues, politics and resistance and the disastrous effect of coal mining on global climate.  For all of that incredible work and support and grass-roots publicity a hearty Thank You goes out from the forest to both Eva and Michael for their never ending energy and solidarity with the forest struggle.

 

This walk was also unique in that it took place in the almost completely abandoned now town of Mannheim where demolition of house has recently begun. It was important for both visitors and forest activists to be there as a reminder that the scope of the struggle in and for Hambacher forest is also a regional, social and global issue.  The center of this now ghost town for almost 2 hours was full of life with literature tables, an impromptu concert surrounded by signs, flags followed by discussion and several speakers discussing issues relating to the ongoing Bund Struggle against RWE, to the heavily industry influenced Coal Commission.

History of Mannheim itself  was one of the topics. It also included heavy exploitation and logging of part of the forest under National Socialism with heavy use of forced laborers brought from the occupied parts of Europe.  Natzi Forced Labor, to this day refered in germany as slave labor, was paradoxically also fuel for the resistance as tens of thousands of resistors escaped into their surrounding forests to avoid it forming and adding to the guerrila and partisan units.  This is the spirit that still persists in Hambacher Forest with many escaping to the last remaining portion of the forest to be excluded from present day more covert and normalized methods of exploitation and abuse.

The walk went through the town to the fenced off areas where bulldozers have begun their work to remove all traces of Manheim. Then going outside of the town towards the eastern part of the Hambacher Forest.  On a way stop was made at the BUND meadow where North Rhine Westphalia Chapter of German Friends of the Earth is also resisting RWE expropriation of land, ecosystem and resources by having purchased a farm-field which is now located less than a kilometer from edge of the mine.

Walking into the forest was a nice respite from the continuing record breaking temperatures(once again suprise, suprise and “thanks” RWE).  The eastern part of the forest in places  1-2 km wide is full of 200-300 year old oaks, beeches and pines.  Its diversity  is a true reflection of its presence here for last 12 thousands years as most forest in Europe are now monocultures and or highly maintained forest with mostly pines or very low diversity.

The walk split up into several groups after reaching the former A4 which at that end still has not been stripped of its surface.  It was not just an anniversary but also a great way for many groups, individuals and organizations involved in the struggle to come together. So mark your calendar now: next walks is a month from now or just stop by and drop in at any time for a visit to the Meadow and The Forest and most of the time somebody from the Welcome Working Group will be happy to show you around.

See you in the forest!!

Continue ReadingLast Sunday a 50th Forest Walk