international day of action Saturday 4 November 2006

The Campaign Against Climate Change are holding another national demonstration in London on Saturday 4 November. Last year CCC mobilised 10,000 people for the biggest single mass action on the environment in British history. This year we want more! International talks will be happening the following week in Nairobi, Kenya and there is an international day of action on Saturday 4 to show the strength of feeling on the issue.

Some might think that the government are making good noises about the proposed Climate Bill pledging the UK to reduction targets each decade. Absolutely not. Given their idea of a ‘solution’ is to build nuclear power stations what we will see is very little to reduce energy use (through investment in good clean public transport, insulating public buildings and homes etc.) or even on green energies (like wind tidal and solar energy), but the sole concentration on nuclear.

Why are we opposed to nuclear power? Most significantly is the problem of nuclear waste, dangerous for hundreds of generations to come, NO safe method of storing the waste has yet to be developed. Again there is the questions of nuclear weapons, inextricably linked to nuclear power. Just look at the fuss being made over Iran trying to produce nuclear energy - what western opponents won’t admit is that link which is evident in the US and UK. If nuclear power was an answer to a global problem, then nations anywhere on the globe should be able to employ that strategy. Finally there is the fact that Nuclear power is NOT carbon neutral. The construction of nuclear power stations is not, the mining of industrial or weapons grade uranium is not. The government are once again massaging figure to suit their scheme.

The nuclear industry in the UK is being split up and privatised. How mad is that? the example of what happened to the train system is being applied to the most fragile and dangerous industry anywhere. Nuclear power is about to get less safe. the government know this - they are pledging £5BILLION to clean up Sellafield, and are committing future governments to similar expenditure as further plants are decommissioned.

This year, things are more elaborate and complicated thanks to the advent of Stop Climate Chaos, a big coalition of huge NGOs and Unions (remind you of something from last year?). SCC are organising an event at Trafalgar Square but we and the Campaign Against Climate Change are determined to keep a radical thread alive by gathering at the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square, then marching to join the others in Trafalgar Square for a big united response to to inadequacies of the governments across the planet.

So join the demo!