Happy Fossil Fools Day. This day of activism is dedicated to exposing the connections between the use of fossil fuels and the emergence of a variety social ills, and while you’re waking up actions are already underway.
In the United Kingdom, things got off symbolically with a Red Card being issued to the Football Association for associating itself with E-ON, a builder of coal-fired power plants. But actions in the UK have become very practical very quickly: there have been three blockades launched. 30 people blockaded the E-ON headquarters in Nottingham, England to prevent people from getting to work on the business of building new coal-fired power plants. Another blockade at the Ffos-y-Fran open-pit coal mine in Wales has stopped work there, and protesters have announced plans to occupy the site for days. Also in the UK, A natural gas terminal has been blockaded. In Edinburgh, Scotland, 34 SUVs in a wealthy neighborhood had their tires deflated.
The UK isn’t where all the action is. In New Zealand, Air New Zealand has been picketed and leafleted by people dressed as polar bears. In North Carolina, 8 activists were tazered and arrested after they locked themselves to bulldozers at a coal-fired power plant construction site.
More traditional rallies are planned in Berkeley, California (5 pm Pacific Time) and Charleston, South Carolina (1-3 pm Eastern Time). 3 were arrested at a Christchurch, New Zealand rally/critical mass bike ride.
Look for more to unfold as the day passes.
Typical, eh? Police = corporate goon squad, keeping us in check while they rape the earth.