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Activists from Climate Camp Cymru invaded Nant Helen open cast coal
mine in south Wales earlier today.

Despite disproportionate policing at the 2010 camp, groups of activists
persisted in their objectives to witness the destructive operations at
Nant Helen open cast mine, owned by Celtic Energy.

The activists entered the coal hole at Nant Helen, where 450,000
tonnes of coal per year are dug out of a hole approximately 150m deep
and 1.5 x 1 km wide. Celtic Energy have applied for planning permission
for the mine to expand.

This coal is mostly destined for Aberthaw Power Station, to be burnt
for electricity, which is one of the dirtiest and most carbon
intensive industrial processes.

Activist Ffion Dafys said “ripping up mountains to dig holes hundreds
of meters deep destroys the landscape and the local
environment. The coal removed and burnt will generate millions of
tonnes of CO2 over the next four years.”

“Coal seams in Glynn Neath will continue to be exploited and extended by
open cast mining corporations like Celtic Energy, causing environmental
destruction until these operations cease. Observing from the bottom of the
coal hole really brought home the enormity of the destruction.”

Sorry everyone, the first site of Climate Camp Cymru was evicted last night by over 200 police, supported by a helicopter and horses.

Proportionate policing my coal-covered arse.

Our statement can be found here: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/08/457096

Please don’t try to travel to the site – it’s not there any more; but there’s still plenty of fun to have in South Wales this weekend, we will keep you updated. Solidarity actions are of course welcomed. The site phone is still active but very low on battery until it can be charged; if you’d like to get in touch it’s 07040909147

We live and learn and we’re certainly not finnished resisting open-cast expansion in South Wales and supporting the many communities suffering at the hands of capitalism and exploitation.

We’ll regroup and plan afresh – and be assured we’ve got something cooking.

Transport options
If you’re planning to come to the camp, here are some options:

Train from Cardiff
A train to Neath is the best option – they run regularly from Cardiff and cost about £6 without a railcard; from Neath you can get the First 158 bus to Dyffryn Cellwen. Make sure you check the map for the camp location before you travel.
If you’re really stuck, or can’t get to Neath we can offer lifts from Aberdare train station at 10am, 1pm and 5pm on Saturday and on request on Sunday; please phone to let us know you need a lift. Phone site on: 07040 909 147

Busses
The First bus 158 will take you from Neath to Dyffryn Cellwen, very near the camp. Busses run 5 past each hour.
Go to http://www.traveline-cymru.info/ for information on bus routes within South Wales.

Train and Bike
If you fancy it, it’s a straightforward cycle for experienced cyclists from Aberdare train station to the camp, although this involves some busy main roads – it’s about 13 miles. See map:

Driving
Obviously, we would discourage anyone to drive, because amongst other reasons we cannot be sure of places to safely park vehicles and space on site is likely to be limited; however if absolutely necessary please phone the site phone to discuss.

The Site has been taken! Go to the home page for more details:

If you’re planning to come to the camp here’s some information to speed you on your way.

• The nearest train station is Aberdare and there are lifts available to the camp; just call the site phone on 07040 909 147 when you get there.
• The site is on a working farm, so no dogs please unless they are required for assistance.
• All food and amenities are provided for a small donation to cover costs, so just bring yourself, a tent, sleeping bag and a burning desire to stop the coal industry in its tracks.
• There will probably be police outside the camp. Get hold of a bustcard, know your rights and remember – the camp is totally legal. Enjoy.

Climate Camp Cymru 2010 will be from 13th to 17th August

MORE DETAILS —->

Activists from Climate Camp Cymru [1] have blockaded a biomass plant in Port Talbot to protest against plans to produce electricity from imported woodchips.

Two protestors used bicycle locks to close off the plant’s entrance, stopping the hourly 20-tonne deliveries of woodchip needed to keep the power station operating. A large banner on the gates reads “Biomess”. Other activists climbed up the chimney to unfurl a giant banner in Welsh reading “Clean Energy: Dirty Joke”.

More photos

The plant is the first of its kind in the UK, incinerating woodchips to generate electricity. It is a test plant for the large-scale plants that have been announced in Britain. The world’s largest biomass plant (350 MW) has already been approved in Port Talbot and construction is due to start early next year. The second largest in the world is planned for Holyhead, Anglesey.

Rob Goodsell, 33 said, “The Port Talbot and Holyhead biomass plants will require an area of dedicated biomass plantations half the size of Wales. A land area this size could feed up to a third of the population of Britain. With the world facing serious food security issues in coming years this is crazy.”

Ioan Gwyn, 29 said: “The power companies said the wood will come from sustainable sources but the reality is very different. In 2008 about 9 million hectares of industrial tree plantations have been certified as sustainable despite evidence of their devastating effects on people and the environment [2]. These plantations are in fact green deserts: they consume vast amounts of water and are empty of native wildlife.”

Melissa Harvey commented: “Burning wood is called carbon neutral but this is a myth. [3] It’s hard to believe but burning wood for electricity is even dirtier than coal. It releases one and half as much carbon dioxide as burning coal, [4] and the other pollution affecting air quality is nearly as bad as coal.” [5]

Adam Thorogood said: “We’re going to cook the world’s remaining forests to fight climate change. At this rate, research shows that the world’s forests will be all gone within the next 60 years.”

Ioan Gwyn commented: “Burning wood releases carbon dioxide. Each plant will emit about 4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. This means that Wales’ carbon dioxide emissions will increase by 20% as soon as Port Talbot and Holyhead biomass plant open. Whilst scientists are warning of the fragility of forest ecosystems, the UK government is subsidising their destruction by giving these two developers £400 million a year. Instead, they should be giving subsidies to truly clean energy, such as wind and solar power.” [6]

Rob Goodsell added: “Forests play a key role in sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The best thing to do is to leave the carbon locked up as wood, and that means not burning it.”

Melissa Harvey concluded: “Catastrophic climate change could be unstoppable in as little as 10 years. This is our last window of opportunity. False solutions such as biomass and carbon trading mean we’ll have no chance at all. And when we talk about catastrophic climate change, we’re not talking hot summers, we’re talking about the question of survival.”

Contacts for interviews:

• Protesters: mobile phone numbers: 07952 932 626 / 07909 171 951. Address: Western Wood Energy Plant, 1 Longland Lane, Port Talbot, SA13 2NR.
• Interviews in Welsh: Angharad Penrhyn Jones: 07780 914 369
• Biofuelwatch: Almuth Ernsting: 01224 324797.
• Port Talbot Residents Against Power Stations: Pete Wilson: 01639 884 820, Jeremy Baileys: 07702069561. http://www.pt-raps.co.uk/index.html; info@pt-raps.co.uk
• High-res photos available here.

Notes:

[1] Climate Camp Cymru: www.climatecampcymru.org. Take Action 1-7 December.
[2] “Can we trust the FSC?” the Ecologist: http://www.theecologist.org/trial_investigations/325243/can_we_trust_the_fsc.html
[3] “Goodbye to Carbon Neutral” http://www.maforests.org/Carbon.pdf
[4] Biomass Factsheet from Dr Mary Booth http://massenvironmentalenergy.org/docs/biomass%20factsheet%20from%20MEEA.pdf
[5] Environmental Impacts of Biomass Energy Options: Government report Sept 2006: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/09/22094104/6
[6] “Fixing a Critical Climate Accounting Error” T. Searchinger, S.P. Hamburg: http://www.princeton.edu/~tsearchi/writings/Fixing%20a%20Critical%20Climate%20Accounting%20ErrorEDITED-tim.pdf

Further information:

- In total, at least 2,400 megawatts of wood-fired energy plants have been announced in Britain: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48574

- Background information regarding Holyhead 300MW biomass plant proposal: http://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/angleseyoct2009.php

- Where would the wood come from?

• Last month at the UN-sponsored World Forestry Congress in Buenos Aires, the agronomist engineer Hector Ginzo, an adviser of the Kyoto Protocol, stressed that plantations could not be classified as sustainable. He said UN rules “would never allow of plantation of eucalyptus or other fast growing trees for use as pulp or wood to be considered a sustainable forestry project, because that kind of production favours monoculture forests and the carbon capture is lost when the trees are cut down”.
• Port Talbot – 350MW biomass plant: “Prenergy is commited to obtaining feedstock from a range of oversea sources”.
• Holyhead project: This power station would burn 2.4 million tonnes mainly imported wood every year.  This is more than twice the amount of wood which the UK government states can be obtained from increased wood harvests in the UK – yet net imports of wood and wood products already account for about 80% of our use and industrial tree plantations.  In the UK, including in Wales, monoculture tree plantations have created acidic degraded soils and have had severe impacts on our biodiversity.
• However, the impact on the global South of the UK’s rapidly growing demand for wood chips and wood pellets will be far more severe, although in this case, they may be primarily indirect impacts. Anglesey Aluminium Ltd have spoken about potential supplies from the US and Canada, however across North America vast numbers of wood power stations are already being built which cannot be supplied without much faster destruction of North America’s natural forests. Across the southern US, vast areas of native forest have been destroyed to make way for pulp and paper tree plantations, supplying much of the US demand for paper. Now, the southern US wants to use that wood for bioenergy, including in the UK. This means that the US is increasingly looking to South America and other countries in the global South for pulp and paper. Tree plantations have already had devastating effects on people and the environment across South America, Indonesia/West Papua and other regions where expansion due to our demand for biomass is likely.  More ecosystems and more lands on which local communities depend for their livelihoods will be destroyed as a result of US wood being burned in UK power stations. Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Indonesia/West Papua, Ghana and Argentina are amongst the countries likely to meet future European demand for wood chips and wood pellets.

Santa has arrived at the BT offices at Temple Quay in Bristol this morning to say a great big festive NO to coal.

The concerned bunch descended upon offices after finding out that BT pension schemes are paying for the massive mining operation at Ffos-y-Fran near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales – one of Europe’s largest open cast coal mines. The mystery people in red say they are raising the issue with BT workers, letting them know where their pension money is being invested.

A jovial woman clutching a handful of Christmas cards said “with the climate talks in Copenhagen coming up, the world’s eyes will be on politicians struggling to come to terms with the issue of climate change.

We want the workers to know that their money is being invested in coal mining in Wales, worsening the effects of climate change. It is up to them to hold BT accountable for their actions”

The Ffos-y-Fran mine is less than 40 metres from the nearest homes and residents lives are blighted with noise, dust and pollution. Merthyr Tydfil was the site of the Climate Camp in Wales earlier this year, supporting local residents who have been fighting against the mining operations.

Santa and his helpers will be handing out Christmas cards and singing carols to people as they arrive for work today, explaining why they have come to visit.

“Coal is the most climate wrecking way to produce energy. Really, if we want to stop the worst effects of climate change we need to stop digging it out of the ground and invest in green technologies instead”

“I’m here because I’m seriously worried about my home back in Greenland” said Sam, one of the Santa’s. “With projected temperature rises, we’ll become refugees and the reindeer are notoriously fussy about where they live”.

Telephone – 07909172766

info@climatecampcymru.org
www.climatecampcymru.org
www.climatecamp.org.uk

Notes to editors:

• BT are linked to the Miller-Argent group (who run the Ffos-y-Fran site) in the following way-BT own BT Pension Scheme (BTPS) who in turn own a company called Hermes who administer the BT pension fund. Hermes bought the development group Argent (of Miller-Argent fame).
• Ffos-y-Fran, located next to Merthyr Tydfil, is one of the biggest coal mines Wales has ever seen. Over the 15 year lifetime of this new opencast mine, more than 10.8 million tonnes of coal will be extracted. Burning this will release 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – at the same rate each year as the entire country of Mozambique!
• Local people have been opposing the mine for years. More than 10,000 people signed a petition opposing the mine. Despite this amazing level of opposition, the Welsh Assembly Government, encouraged by Westminster, gave the go-ahead to the mine.
• Climate Camp Cymru is Wales’ Camp for Climate Action – inspired by the Climate Camp movement taking action on climate change in the UK and worldwide. The Camp is committed to education, sustainable living and supporting direct action against the root causes of climate change.
• Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel there is – responsible for 50% of the CO2 added to the atmosphere since the beginning of the industrial revolution, and 40% of CO2 emissions globally. Enough of it remains in the ground, if burned, to take us to a substantially different planet from the one we know today – and which has existed throughout all of human history.

The sun rises on a vast field of tents, dew still wet on the grass and rush hour traffic racing past – hectic contrast to the world we’ve created here at the Camp for Climate Action 2009. In the background Canary Wharf towers menacingly over the skyline and refuses to let us forget our reason for being here.

We pitched up on an area of common land not far from Lewisham in Central London and stayed for a week to contest the capitalist system and its use of false market based solutions to prevent catastrophic climate change and address social injustice. We ‘swooped’ in to grab the site before the Police knew what was going on; coordinated by twitter and text message, the morning of the site-take was extraordinary. I was part of the bike-swoop-group. Gathering with 200 other cyclists under Waterloo Bridge at noon we proceeded to take a leisurely ride around the city, taking the lane and creating a positive vision of the future wherever we went. There were flags, banners, bike-mounted sound systems and video journalists all on board as we cruised around chasms of capitalism.

We eventually received word of the location of the Camp and peddled up towards Blackheath to be greeted by the sight of tripods going up and busy people unloading marquee poles, wind turbines and kitchen tat. And there really were lots of people- all around there were other swoop groups, converging by foot and public transport. Everyone was smiling and the atmosphere was great. The sounds of The Clash drifted over the field on the summer breeze along with the sound of pegs being driven into the hard ground…

I located the rest of the Wales crew who arrived with the marquee structure in the back of a camper van which had kindly been offered to us after a problem with finding transport. We unloaded and awaited the arrival of extra hands. It didn’t take long until there were enough of us to attempt to put up the marquee, and after a battle with the wind we had her pegged down and were setting up the kitchen burners in one corner ready for a well needed brew.

Climate Camp is organised into neighbourhoods arranged by geographic regions. Others include Yorkshire, London, South Coast and Eastside. The story of Wales is as follows: Way back in 2007, at the second ever climate camp near Heathrow there was a handful of Wales folk who were taken in by the kind Westside crew; a neighbourhood which loosely covered the ‘west side’ of Britain. For lots of us from Wales this was our first experience of a Climate Camp and of taking Direct Action. I learnt so much during that week and felt privileged to be part of a neighbourhood which was full of experienced and trustworthy people. Blockading the BAA offices together and standing our ground peacefully against the police was eye-opening and proved to me what we could achieve when we work together.

The following year we were determined and united by our experiences at Heathrow. We went to visit the community living in Merthyr Tydfil in the Valleys of South Wales, with Britain’s largest open cast coal mine on their doorstep. We helped them in their struggle by introducing the idea of peaceful direct action and halting work at the mine for a day. We stood with them against the injustice served by the government upon a downtrodden community. We took this confidence and more people with us along to the Kingsnorth Camp in 2008 where the first Wales neighbourhood was born. However, things weren’t so straightforward and the cops took our marquee poles (they are weapons, you see) and refused to return them, so our grand structures looked a bit lacklustre as we used tarpaulins and rope to make some kind of shelter.

Luckily, our old friends in Westside were pitched next to us and once again took us in and annexed the Wales neighbourhood by way of a long tent connecting our kitchen tent to their meeting space – lovingly christened ‘the Severn Bridge’. We functioned as a popular neighbourhood, holding morning meetings and making decisions together during what was a testing time with the Police trying every method to disrupt our peaceful presence on the Hoo peninsula. For those of whom the Kingsnorth camp was their first experience of Climate Camp and perhaps Direct action, I felt warmed as I remembered my experiences of Heathrow and how this popular movement will keep growing.

Next, we joined the Climate Camp on April 1^st 2009 down in Bisphopsgate outside the climate exchange for 24 hours of camping and protesting against carbon trading; a false and unjust excuse for continuing to burn fossil fuels. We shut down the exchange and held the street until the early hours when the police forcibly and violently removed us after preventing anyone from leaving for hours.

But the Wales story was only just beginning. Plans were hatched back at Kingsnorth to try and build the movement in Wales and the climate camp model seemed to be a good one. So over a period of 8 months we began to engage with groups in Wales and beyond to build our skill base and attract people to national gatherings where decisions on location and type of camp were made. The ball was rolling by spring and the hard work was about to get harder as August loomed. Following an amazing and hands on gathering in Pembrokeshire where we built rocket stoves, compost toilets and attended workshops on legal observing, while making group decisions affecting the upcoming camp, we were ready to head to Merthyr Tydfil for Wales’ first Camp for Climate Action. [If you want to read more about the Wales camp, check out the Website].

Back in London workshops ran at full capacity, locals poured through the gates and the sun shone. Morning meetings held at each neighbourhood formed the backbone of decision making for the camp, where important issues were discussed. We also made use of meeting times in Wales to plan for the Day of Action in Cardiff on the 24^th of October which was called at the Wales Camp in August. Meanwhile, the focus of the action training at Blackheath was to equip the movement with the skills and confidence to join together for what will be very exciting ‘Great Climate Swoop’ on the 17-18 October to Shut down E.ON’s coal power station Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, together and in an act of social responsibility where governments have failed to act and to imagine a future without coal.

Elsewhere on camp, plans formed for affinity group actions in London which materialised on the final days of the camp with blockades of RBS, claiming a people’s refit to withdraw investments in oil and gas. There were office occupations of E.ON’s PR firms while Shell and BP received their share of anger at their complicity with the Tarsands oil exctraction project in Canada. Activists were also present from the Rossport campaign in Ireland where Shell’s greasy fingers are all over Irish off shore gas with blatant disregard for local people and the countryside in County Mayo. Meanwhile, the Rambling Raffle of Resistance roamed about the city supporting actions with people and music.

The backlash in the wake of Bishopsgate for the Police has been massive; and following legal pursuits and media exposure led by Climate Camp since April 1^st, the Met have been on the back foot. That’s proved to be a good thing for peaceful protest as this camp on Blackheath has shown. The police kept a lower than usual profile on the streets of London as we marched through the financial district and for the most part there wasn’t a copper in sight at the camp. All except for a CCTV camera peeking over some nearby trees you’d be fooled to believe they weren’t interested.

It remains to be seen where this movement will go next and indeed how the state will respond to our ongoing pressure for legitimate and immediate action on climate change; at Ratcliffe and beyond. But one thing’s for sure, we’re determined, we’re peaceful and we’re sure as hell not going away.

Climate Camp Cymru will be taking action and running workshops in Caridff on the weekend of the 24^th/25^th October 2009. Also, join us for the Great Climate Swoop on the 14^th/15^th! Check the website for more info and sign up to the mailing list.

Join the movement against climate change!

www.climatecampcymru.org

www.climatecamp.org.uk

In mid-August Wales held its first Camp for Climate Action on the outskirts of Merthyr Tydfil, a community abused by coal.

The Ffos-y-Fran site is the biggest open cast coal mine in the UK and a colossal reminder of the governments failure to face up to climate change. Burning coal is the most climate-damaging activity we engage in and if we’re serious about safeguarding our future, we must leave it in the ground.

Instead, the government has granted Miller Argent (the company which runs the mine) a 17 year contract to remove the coal which lays only 36 metres from the nearest home, describing it as a ‘Land Reclamation Scheme’ because it was apparently too dangerous in its previous state… nothing to do with the 10.8 million tonnes of coal beneath the surface then.

Like all abusive partners, the issues here are complicated and the relationship between the communities in the valleys of South Wales and coal is understandably tense. Historically a large employer in Merthyr, coal is still remembered as such; but it also left towns in ruin and people jobless, not to mention the catastrophic consequences for the local environment and global climate. The two faces of coal: the employer and the destroyer. Not an easy mix, but yet coal is seeing resurgence. Just as the memory of the pit closures fade and the scree slopes and slag heaps grass over, the coal industry fuelled by government directives is rearing its ugly head once more. But this time, not without a fight.

The first Camp for Climate Action in Wales pitched its tents in-between the mine and the community in an act of solidarity with local residents who face noise, dust and visual pollution daily and continually have their voices suppressed by Miller Argent. Local democracy has failed the people of Merthyr where one petition received 10,000 signatures in opposition to the new mine. The camp formed a hub for learning about the issues and how to take action on them. We shared ideas and built support for the local campaign while evening discussions focused on drawing comparisons between communities fighting for social and environmental justice across the British Isles. Workshops ran throughout the camp on topics such as direct action, economics and sustainable development.

On the Saturday of the Camp we were taken on a ‘tour’ of the mine in a defiant stroll to get a good vantage over the deep hole and the town. It really is close, and very big. Diggers the size of houses are dwarfed and only visible because of their contrasting yellow, while the pit itself winds ever deeper into the earth with trucks snaking up the opposite hill-side brimming with coal.

There was a large police presence surrounding the mine for the duration of the camp, and although we didn’t collectively venture into the mine itself- it is an easy target. There has been direct action taken here in the past, occupations bringing operations to a standstill on two separate occasions, and no doubt there will be more until we see the end of the new coal age. However, this camp did not organise a mass action in advance. Instead, the focus was on movement building and equipping people with the skills and confidence to begin to make effective changes in society. 

A ‘green fayre’ in the centre of the town organised by the local campaign group ‘Residents Against Foss-y-Fran’ (RAFF) on Friday provided an opportunity for people to look at alternative employment which could exist in the absence of coal. The alternatives are real as well, the door just needs to be opened for employment – a ‘just transition’ with plentiful opportunities. Merthyr is perfectly sited for a very different kind of energy industry: Wind. In fact, a planning application for a small wind farm near to the open cast site was turned down by the local planning authority because of ‘visual impact’. You couldn’t make it up.

Taking a walk up to the mine with local people opened many eyes to the contrary behaviour of our society. We have to stop this mine- yes; but we have to reverse the mentality which goes with it – the unfettered actions of corporations which trample local people and places while driving irreversible climate change in the pursuit of profit. They are the tell tale signs of an ineffective system which regards destruction as progress. The camp challenged this perspective and gave hope to many who have been oppressed by mining operations in the Valleys for years.

Climate Camp Cymru will head to Cardiff on the 19^th of September for the next Wales-wide gathering to discuss the next steps. Meanwhile, there is a Wales day of action on the 24^th of October. Put it in your diaries and join the Wales Climate Action movement!