The environment

Stuff about nature etc.

Vestas: sparking the struggle, seeing it through

On 20 September, two days before police finally broke the Newport factory blockade, some of the AWL activists who have been involved in the Vestas campaign talked over the experience. This is a longer version of this text than in the printed paper. Geographically, Britain is specially well placed to use wind energy as a renewable, zero-emissions alternative to fossil fuels. On 15 July, Energy and Climate Change minister Ed Miliband published a White Paper about renewable energy which called for 7000 more wind turbines to be built. Yet Britain's only wind-turbine blade factories are two, owned...

Vestas fight goes on after police raid

Following the breaking-up of the blade blockade at the marine gate of the Vestas wind turbine blade factory at Newport, Isle of Wight, workers are debating how to take forward their campaign for green jobs. At roughly 6.20 on the morning of Tuesday 22 September, a force of around 120 Hampshire police descended on the Isle of Wight and stormed the encampment which was being used by workers and supporters to block the movement of blades. The Isle of Wight council came out in support of the Vestas management despite face-saving noises of sympathy for the workers they had previously made: they...

Police move away workers and protesters to make way for Vestas blades

Vestas bosses have finally moved some of the wind-turbine blades which have been trapped in its Newport (Isle of Wight) factory since workers occupied to stop the factory closure, between 20 July and 7 August. Police invaded the "camp" at the marine gate of the factory to clear the way. One barge-full of blades has been taken. Vestas bosses will presumably try to take the rest later today, or tomorrow. Ed Maltby reports from the Isle of Wight (22 September): Arriving from London at 4am on 22 September, I went to bed in one of the tents at the marine gate of the Newport factory. There were...

Vestas workers call for support on blockade, 22 and 23 September

Today, 22 September, is the day when Vestas bosses will try to move blades from the Newport factory. Police forcibly cleared workers and supporters overnight from the camp at the marine gate. The barges to carry the blades are expected at noon. Join workers and supporters on the cycle path outside the marine gate to protest! Nine blades, worth about £700,000, have been stuck in the factory since Vestas workers occupied the factory, to stop closure and save the jobs, on 20 July. The occupiers were evicted on 7 August, but workers and supporters have been blockading the factory since then...

Vestas attempt legal action against "marine gate" blockade

On 16 September Vestas bosses moved to attempt legal action against the blockade by workers and supporters at the "marine gate" of its wind-turbine blade factory at Newport, Isle of Wight. That indicates that the bosses are feeling the pressure. The "marine gate" is being blockaded to stop Vestas shipping out nine wind turbine blades, worth £700,000, that were left in the factory when workers occupied on 20 July to stop its closure. The occupiers, who demanded that Vestas hand over the factory for nationalisation to save the jobs, were evicted on 7 August, but workers and supporters have...

The two souls of eco-socialism? A report from "Climate and Capitalism"

On 12 September, three Workers’ Liberty comrades who have been involved in Workers’ Climate Action attended the first half of the Socialist Resistance/Green Left “Climate and Capitalism” conference. (Socialist Resistance was previously the International Socialist Group, the British section of the Fourth International. Green Left is a caucus within the Green Party.) There were seventy or eighty people there, mostly in their 40s, 50s or older, though with a smattering of younger people. One session, in which Swedish Volvo worker and Fourth International supporter Lars Henriksson discussed the...

Climate Camp: where now?

Climate Camp 2009. Location: Blackheath. Target: Global Capitalism. The site for this year’s Climate Camp was chosen because there have been proposals for part of Blackheath to be adapted into a horse-racing track for the 2012 Olympics. This would mean permanent loss of common land and destruction of one of London’s few green spaces. At the top of Lewisham Hill, Blackheath has a view of the City of London, always on the horizon, supposedly as a reminder to campers that the enemy, big business, is never far away. Climate Camp has always been an anti-capitalist, largely anarchist, movement and...

Vestas: tripod at sunrise

10 September: Vestas Blade Blockade Steps Up The Pressure By Setting Up A Tripod at Sunrise After more than a week of blockading the Vestas factory in Newport, Isle Of Wight, a tripod has now been erected at the marine gate preventing blades from leaving the factory. A worker from the original occupation is standing on top of the tripod enjoying a stunning view of sunrise over the River Medina. This inspirational addition to the blockade followed a day of police intimidation that included one arrest and one person being banned from the site after receiving a dispersal order. Blockaders have...

Cuba is not a model for ecology

Fidel Castro: “Thus has been the story of mankind; to struggle to overcome the laws of nature; to struggle to dominate nature and have it serve mankind.” (1966) “Unless we conquer nature, nature will conquer us.” (1970) The AWL characterises Cuba as a Stalinist state, where workers do not hold power and cannot organise independently. Apologies for Castroism today — like this book — cite its environmental policies as proof it is historically progressive, even a model for climate activists. This is a mistake. The regime inherited a disastrous legacy from capitalism in 1959. But in Conquering...

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