snow mid-morning
Sunday there was a sprinkling of snow. By lunchtime it had gone.
4am this morning, everywhere white. By around mid-morning, roads clear, but everywhere else a thick covering of snow.
Lunchtime a second wave of snow swept in which lasted until dusk. Big snowflakes came fluttering down.
I decided not to venture out, temperature barely above freezing.
The Toxettes performing Britney Spears' Toxic at London City Airport
We’re so proud of the rushers who were wrongly arrested whilst dancing on a public footpath. Their dance was ‘Toxic’ because airports are. — Climate Rush
I wasn’t allowed to go to Climate Rush tonight, I didn’t even have a halloumi sandwich. Can I have my life back pls Essex police? I miss it. — AndrewTobert
Yet another malicious prosecution of peaceful protesters. It is difficult to see how trespass can be commited when crossing a site on a public footpath, even if the site to be crossed happened to be Southend Airport.
Luckily the case has been dropped.
The Rushettes (Climate Rush’s musical alter-ego) went to Southend Airport to protest against its expansion and to encourage Southend Council to invest in more green infrastructure to provide sustainable job opportunities and protect their residents’ quality of life. The Rushettes were (WRONGFULLY) arrested, released after 16 hours with bail conditions not to communicate with one another. One month later these charges were dropped.
This morning the Toxettes performed Britney Spears’ Toxic at London City Airport ahead of City Hall enquiry.
- Singing stewardesses at London Southend Airport
- Southend Airport runway protesters arrested
- SAEN grateful to Plane Stupid protesters
- Fares fair rail fares protest
- Climate Rush Soho roadblock
- Climate Rush’s Unfair Fare Dodge
Escorted off a plane by armed guards, questioned by Customs and FBI for several hours, denied access to the US, deported.
Not quite the reception one expects on arrival in the US, but that is what happened to John Stewart when he arrived in the US for a speaking tour.
His only ‘crime’, being an environmental activist!
- Third runway protester escorted off plane and barred from America
- John Stewart refused entry to USA for speaking tour, due to visa problem
- Green activist who stopped Heathrow third runway heads to U.S. to explain how he did it… by aeroplane of course
hazelnuts
This last week, hazelnuts, or cob nuts as they are also known, have been falling off the trees.
Very unusual to have them this early, mid-August, it is usually mid-September, when I never seen them as just before they are ready, the squirrels steal them.
Yet another example of shifting seasons as the climate warms up.
FrackOff banner drop Blackpool Tower
The FrackOff team dropped two banners off Blackpool Tower early this morning – 500 foot high banner drop off Blackpool Tower!
Fracking not far from Blackpool Tower is believed to have caused two earthquakes.
Cuadrilla Resources have been forced to temporarily suspend their exploratory test site at Preese Hall test well, near Blackpool following the outcry over two earthquakes in the vicinity
Fracking is the hydraulic fracture of rocks to extract small amounts of gas using high pressure water laced with a cocktail of toxic and carcinogenic chemicals. The process leaches arsenic out of the rocks and leads to contamination of groundwater. It has also caused methane to escape into groundwater.
France, the states of New York and New Jersey, the Canadian province of Quebec and the Swiss canton of Fribourg have all recently banned fracking. Fracking needs to be stopped in the UK.
- Frack Off! 500 ft high Banner Drop Off Blackpool Tower
- Two accused over Blackpool Tower gas extraction protest
- Anti-fracking protesters target Blackpool Tower
- East Sussex protestor arrested after targeting Blackpool Tower
- Blackpool earthquake tremors may have been caused by gas drilling
Middle of July, if not earlier, wild blackberries were ripe and ready to eat. For the last few years I have found them along the River Wey flowing through Guildford end of July, early August, but never this early. The wild blackberries in my garden are also ready to eat and they are usually later than those along the River Wey. As a child we used to pick blackberries at Gibraltar Point on the Lincolnshire coast last two weeks of August.
Tomatoes in my garden variety Gardener’s Delight, planted out early May, have been turning red from mid-July, at least a week and a half ago. Yesterday evening I picked two for my tea. Delicious! I would not normally be picking until late August.
Discovery apples are ready for picking. These are the first season apples, light and crisp and juicy but have to be eaten within days of picking. The supermarkets prefer tasteless French Golden Delicious for long shelf life. According to growers, Discovery are weeks ahead of their usual picking times. [see The English apple 'renaissance']
I am looking forward to finding Discovery at the farmers market in Guildford next week, first Tuesday of the month.
My Father was picking Runner Beans from the garden for dinner end of June. These would normally be picked end of August.
And there are those who say global warming, climate chaos, does not exist!
Cairn Energy's Stena Don oil rig
Greenpeace has been campaigning to stop drilling for oil in the Arctic by Cairn Energy.
To cover up the truth about its Arctic drilling, Cairn Energy has obtained an extraordinary, wide-ranging legal interdict (injunction) against Greenpeace, gagging them from posting Tweets and Facebook updates including even pictures of their actions.
But as Cairn are learning, you cannot gag users on the net.
- BREAKING: Cairn obtains legal interdict: ‘Twitter ban’ and ‘gagging order’ for Greenpeace
- Greenpeace Twitter injunction backfires for Cairn Energy
Climate Rush crime scene
Well done Climate Rush who this morning gave two Cabinet Ministers an early morning wake-up call. Between 5.30am and 7.00am Philip Hammond MP and Vince Cable MP had their homes wrapped in ‘Climate Crime Scene’ tape as part of Climate Rush’s doorstep protest.
On their first day back in Parliament after half term Ministers were called on to attend the United Nation Climate Change Conference in Bonn, which began yesterday and will last two weeks. Climate Rush stuck banners to Cable’s and Hammond’s house reading ‘THERE’S NO PLANET B – SOLVE CLIMATE CHANGE’.
Both Vince Cable MP and Philip Hammond MP clashed with Chris Huhne MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change over proposals for the fourth carbon budget. The Prime Minister eventually stepped in, supporting Chris Huhne and the Climate Change Act – legislation passed by the last Government.
Demands for greater Government action on climate change follows news that the greatest level of greenhouse gas emissions ever were released last year, contrary to expectations that the global recession would decrease global emissions. [1]
Philip Hammond MP and the Department for Transport has been condemned by environmentalists as Hammond is opposed to the inclusion of Canadian Tar Sands oil in the EU fuel directive. England and Holland are the only EU countries opposing the inclusion of Tar Sands from this directive. Extraction of crude oil from the Tar Sands is up to three times more carbon intensive than other crude oil extraction methods [2]. Hammond also plans to hike rail fares by 31% over the course of this Government.
Before election Vince Cable assured voters that economic growth would go hand in hand with green investment, however he now says that there will be no new investment in low-carbon technology until the second half of 2020. [2]
A blue chalk line was marked on the brickwork of the Ministers’ homes to show the danger of floods due to sea-level rises.
Tamsin Omond, founder of Climate Rush, said:
Climate Rush is ready to hold this Government to its promise to be the greenest ever. We need a roadmap with policies that unite the needs of the environment with the need for economic growth. This Government might be considering a plan B for the economy. They don’t have that luxury with our environment: there is no planet B. Cabinet ministers that oppose these measures are gambling with our future. We need to prepare for the impacts of climate change and we need to limit our carbon emissions now. There’s no future for this or any Government on a dead planet.
It is easy to see why the LibDems were all but wiped out at the local elections in May. It was Vince Cable who helped pushed through the massive hike im student fees last year. More recently Vince Cable has threatened to push through legislation to make industrial action against public spending cuts illegal.
Climate Rush is an environmental action group which models itself on the Suffragettes. They have mounted over 20 environmental protests including storming Parliament with 1000 members dressed as Suffragettes; closing down Heathrow Terminal 1 by holding an Edwardian-style picnic and dumping a large pile of manure on Jeremy Clarkson’s lawn. They aim to raise awareness about climate change and encourage action to prevent it.
Notes
1: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/29/carbon-emissions-nuclearpower
2: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/pollution-fears-as-uk-blocks-european-ban-on-fuel-from-tar-sands-2291598.html
3: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/10/adair-turner-carbon-budgets-row
New Orleans, LA. – Attendees of the “Gulf Coast Leadership Summit” received a pleasant surprise this morning upon hearing a representative from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announce a ban on toxic dispersants — as well as a new free health care plan for spill and cleanup victims. Even more surprising: a BP co-presenter expressed regret for his company’s past actions, and said the oil giant would foot the bill for the new health care plan.
But the news was too good to be true. Surprise turned to confusion when an irate BP representative entered the room and interrupted the press conference. Comedy ensued as the two reps pointed fingers at each other, each claiming to be the real BP employee. Members of the press, confused, attempted to discover who was real and who wasn’t.
The answer was: except for the audience, everyone was a fake. The impostors Dr. Dean Winkeldom and Steve Wistwil, both Gulf Coast residents, collaborated with the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, an organization whose goal is to create sustainable communities free from industrial pollution. The organization decided to create a hoax to publicize what should be happening in response to the emerging health crisis. It was a last resort, since straightforward approaches were not working.
The Louisiana Bucket Brigade action was supported by the Yes Lab, a project of The Yes Men that helps activist groups carry out media-getting creative actions on their own. Four years ago in New Orleans, The Yes Men impersonated an official from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to announce, among other things, that HUD would re-open public housing and make oil companies pay up for wetlands destruction.
- BP Imposter Addresses Oil Spill Summit
- GE Returns Billions to Public… NOT
- “5 Million Barrels of Oil Does Not Disappear”: Author, Activist Antonia Juhasz on the BP Spill, One Year Later
- BP’s criminal negligence exposed
- The Great BP-Sponsored Tate Modern Sleep In
- No Tarsands action at the BP AGM
- Power Shift 2011 Flashmob Shuts Down BP
- Climate Rush activists protest at Tate Britain over BP sponsorship
Hundreds of Power Shift 2011 flash mob shuts down a BP gas station with people power.
- No Tarsands action at the BP AGM
- Power Shift 2011 Flashmob Shuts Down BP: ‘Don’t Forget The BP Oil Disaster!’
