From "Friends of the Drax 29"
"Last summer 29 people stopped a train containing 1,000 tonnes of coal on its way to Drax power station in Yorkshire.
"They stopped the train with a red flag on a stretch of track which only went to Drax, following standard railway safety rules, boarded it, and began shovelling the coal onto the line. One was dressed as a canary - the traditional warning of dangerous pollution down a coal mine. They dropped a banner saying 'Leave It In The Ground'.
"Burning coal is the biggest cause of climate change, and Drax is the biggest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the UK.
"All 29 were arrested and are now standing trial. They're charged with 'Obstructing the railway' and they face up to 2 years in prison. Their trial starts in Leeds Crown Court on Monday 29 June 2009.
"We think these people deserve our support over next couple of weeks. Please invite all your friends to join the Facebook group and post message of support on the wall! We’ll send out updates as the trial proceeds."
Facebook group here.
Messages to and info from drax29friends@gmail.com
Comments
Closing statement from the defence
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/02/drax-protesters-defence-sum-up
Haven't read this yet.
I just thought I'd note what I thought about this action at the time. I remember thinking that this was typical of the stunts being pulled by a group of politically naive and socially elitist activists.
The "Leave it in the Ground" slogan provoked an angry response from the NUM. It got a lot of press for the upcoming Kingsnorth Climate camp .
The action opened up a debate, but like throwing coal on to the tracks, it was largely others who had to clear up the mess and open up a more fruitful dialogue at a grassroots level, and try and prevent a breach between the labour movement and the middle-class direct action movement.
There has been a lot achieved on this score, to the extent that socialist groups seem to want to support the Drax 29. A lot of these activists are friends, but I still can't defend the unilateralism and elitism of such actions, which are justified under the 'diversity of tactics'/autonomy approach.
There is a tendency towards a division of labour, where stunts are planned and then the outreach/political work among the working-class communities directly affected is farmed out or just expected to happen.
The debates about political agency need to continue, and the accountability of section of our movement to other sections. I defend the Drax 29 against the law courts, but won't in light of their victimisation, retrospectively defend the action politically. It was an inconsiderate stunt with a slogan that has now been debated out of the movement.
Unfortunately the unilateralism and middle-class righteousness is still with us, if to a lesser extent than a year ago.