- Anti-fracking banner drop from Blackpool Tower
- Climate activist Tim DeChristopher, Bidder 70, Sentenced to two years Anti-fracking banner drop from Blackpool Tower On Saturday 6th August, anti-fracking campaigners climbed 500 feet up Blackpool Tower to hand two banners to raise awareness about the dangers of shale gas extraction through the method of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Blackpool is five miles east of the first fracking test well in the UK. The campaigners were highlighting the issue with the launch of an anti-fracking direct action campaign centred around the website www.frack-off.org. The two climbers were attacked by Blackpool Tower workers with a pressure washer while they dangled hundreds of feet above the ground, endangering their lives, and then arrested by police when they descended. Fracking is an unconventional method of gas extraction, which has been linked with poisoned water supplies, earthquakes, leaking gas and radioactive contamination, not to mention the implications it has for contributing to climate change. The UK fracking industry is just starting to develop, which means it makes sense to challenge the companies involved now before the industry gains in strength. In June, Cuadrilla Resources was forced to temporarily suspend its exploratory test site at Preese Hall test well near Blackpool, due to two mini-earthquakes in the vicinity, however it has drilled another well and is moving its drilling rig to another site. Fracking has been banned in other parts of the world, such as New York, New Jersey and Quebec. Links: www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/08/483055.html www.frack-off.org
Climate activist Tim DeChristopher, Bidder 70, Sentenced to two years On 26th July a US climate activist, Tim DeChristopher, was sentenced to two years in prison for disrupting an oil and gas drilling rights auction. He managed to disrupt the auction by pushing up prices and making winning bogus bids on 14 pieces of land worth a total of $1.8M. Most of the sales made at the auction, seen by many as a farewell gift from the Bush administration to friends in the oil and gas industry, have now been cancelled by the Obama administration. Judge Dee Benson had previously refused to hear arguments that DeChristopher had been compelled to act to prevent the 'greater evil' of climate change. In his judgement he stated how the sentencing was deliberately harsh to act as a deterrent and because DeChristopher had attempted to politicise the case. "I'm not saying there isn't a place for civil disobedience," Benson said. "But it can't be the order of the day” He continued: ”Mr DeChristopher had many other lawful ways to go against or protest the auction."
DeChristopher made a powerful speech in court, saying how governments actions put the profits of corporations above a liveable future for its citizens and calling for others to take direct action: "If the government is going to refuse to step up to that responsibility to defend a liveable future, I believe that creates a moral imperative for me and other citizens. My future, and the future of everyone I care about, is being traded for short-term profits. I take that very personally." Links: www.peacefuluprising.org www.bidder70.org
- Climate activist Tim DeChristopher, Bidder 70, Sentenced to two years Anti-fracking banner drop from Blackpool Tower On Saturday 6th August, anti-fracking campaigners climbed 500 feet up Blackpool Tower to hand two banners to raise awareness about the dangers of shale gas extraction through the method of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Blackpool is five miles east of the first fracking test well in the UK. The campaigners were highlighting the issue with the launch of an anti-fracking direct action campaign centred around the website www.frack-off.org. The two climbers were attacked by Blackpool Tower workers with a pressure washer while they dangled hundreds of feet above the ground, endangering their lives, and then arrested by police when they descended. Fracking is an unconventional method of gas extraction, which has been linked with poisoned water supplies, earthquakes, leaking gas and radioactive contamination, not to mention the implications it has for contributing to climate change. The UK fracking industry is just starting to develop, which means it makes sense to challenge the companies involved now before the industry gains in strength. In June, Cuadrilla Resources was forced to temporarily suspend its exploratory test site at Preese Hall test well near Blackpool, due to two mini-earthquakes in the vicinity, however it has drilled another well and is moving its drilling rig to another site. Fracking has been banned in other parts of the world, such as New York, New Jersey and Quebec. Links: www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/08/483055.html www.frack-off.org
Climate activist Tim DeChristopher, Bidder 70, Sentenced to two years On 26th July a US climate activist, Tim DeChristopher, was sentenced to two years in prison for disrupting an oil and gas drilling rights auction. He managed to disrupt the auction by pushing up prices and making winning bogus bids on 14 pieces of land worth a total of $1.8M. Most of the sales made at the auction, seen by many as a farewell gift from the Bush administration to friends in the oil and gas industry, have now been cancelled by the Obama administration. Judge Dee Benson had previously refused to hear arguments that DeChristopher had been compelled to act to prevent the 'greater evil' of climate change. In his judgement he stated how the sentencing was deliberately harsh to act as a deterrent and because DeChristopher had attempted to politicise the case. "I'm not saying there isn't a place for civil disobedience," Benson said. "But it can't be the order of the day” He continued: ”Mr DeChristopher had many other lawful ways to go against or protest the auction."
DeChristopher made a powerful speech in court, saying how governments actions put the profits of corporations above a liveable future for its citizens and calling for others to take direct action: "If the government is going to refuse to step up to that responsibility to defend a liveable future, I believe that creates a moral imperative for me and other citizens. My future, and the future of everyone I care about, is being traded for short-term profits. I take that very personally." Links: www.peacefuluprising.org www.bidder70.org