Oxford Climate Chaos Feature Archive

Gloucestershire's skies were darkened again by the Royal International Fairford Air Tattoo as some of the world's worst climate criminals and human rights abusers compared their best killing machines. This is an event about the glorification of everything that a civilised society should feel repelled about. Despite this, virtually every single newspaper, TV and radio show lavished it with praise. In so doing, they justified the entertainment budgets that the military industrial complex lays on at our expense.

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Asylum has been high on the agenda recently as 24 Iraqi refugees went on hunger strike in Campsfield House. This was followed up with a very successful blockade of deportation coaches near Heathrow Airport [ 1 | 2 ] by No Borders.

Anti-military action has also been around recently. First, a group of Oxford-based campaigners managed to force the the British Government to admit that it was still training Bahraini officers, despite the brutality going on in that country as part of the 'Arab Spring.' This was followed by an apparently unconnected act of resistance against the military as the armed forces building in Oxford was daubed with red paint.

Fighting the cuts continued with the return of the Big Society Hospital, the launch of the Save Garsington Buses Campaign, and the continuing refusal of the City Council to listen to the public.

Education was on the agenda as activists told Grayling exactly want they thought of his plans for private universities, whilst locally based NGO - People & Planet published the Green League asking 'how green is your university?'

Climate change concerns raised their head again as the defendants from the Ratcliffe 114 (many from Oxford) launched an appeal against their convictions, and Oxford-based Campbell Road Productions announced their new film investigating the Tar Sands.

In other news, the summer also saw the fourth happening of the Oxford Radical Forum.

Don't forget to keep posting your news here on Oxford Indymedia.

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It's been a busy year for activists and grassroots campaigners in Oxford. Peace campaigners have kept up the pressure on the war-mongers, including those at AWE Aldermaston and BAe systems. Campsfield Detention Centre has remained a target for people opposed to the inhumane treatment of migrants. And, of course, the anti-cuts movement has grown from strength to strength closing down shops, occupying buildings, and bringing angry people out on the streets.
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Both BP and Shell had their flagship recruitment events at the Randolph Hotel hijacked by protesters in the last few weeks. Linking the global issues of climate change and exploitation to local attacks on people and the environment, campaigners from Thames Valley Climate Action took over stages, heckled, asked awkward questions, unplugged display equipment, leafletted and chatted with audiences.

The actions were amongst the first in a new grassroots campaign against the extraction of Tar Sands oil in Alberta, Canada. Shell are massively involved there, whereas BP are still in the process of getting involved; it's hoped that by targetted them early on we might be able to put them off. You can find out more, and hear first-hand stories from touring indigenous activists at the talk on Monday 16th November at Science Oxford, and at the film screening of H2Oil on Sunday 22nd November at Oxford Action Resource Centre.

[ Shell action: 1 | 2 | Video ] [ BP action: 1 | 2 | Video ]
[ Tar Sands background: 1 | 2 | 3 | UK tour | film screening ]
[ Thames Valley Climate Action | Shell To Sea | Hands Off Iraqi Oil ]

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Update: At 4:30 am after 48 hours of protest, the remaining 10 came down from the roof of Didcot Power station and were arrested.

Early on Monday morning, activists entered a NPower coal fired plant in Didcot. A group chained themselves to the coal conveyor, and prevented coal from entering the power station, although a report indicates that those chained to the conveyor were cut loose and arrested. Others erected tents on the roof and have climbed chimneys, and have spent two nights up there.

In associated actions, work was stopped at two open cast mines on Monday. Twenty activists entered the site at Shipley which provides coal to Ratcliffe-on-Soar, and climbed onto vehicles, which they occupies, stopping work on the site for 4.5 hours. Mainshill, site of an ongoing protest camp was blockaded for seven hours. After action to stop night time felling on Monday, another blockade was mounted on Tuesday.

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E.ON has withdrawn from University Careers Fairs run by AIESEC following a string of protests around the country. E.ON did not show up at Birmingham today (12th Nov). The protesters object to E.ON wanting to develop new coal fired power stations, such as at Kingsnorth - the target of this summers Climate Camp. However E.ON cannot avoid the protests by avoiding careers fairs - expect more fun during 48 hours of action against E.ON and new coal on the 28/29 November.

Students have visited careers fairs to protest about the presence of parts of the arms and fossil fuel industries. Climate chaos related companies targeted include RBS (the oil and gas bank), BP and Shell. The arms industry representatives include the Army, B.Ae, Qinetiq and Rolls Royce. Careers fairs have been targeted in Aston, Birmingham ( 2 ), Bristol, Cambridge ( 2 | 3 ), Durham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Imperial College London, Kings College London, Leeds, Liverpool, Loughborough, Manchester ( 2 | 3 ), Nottingham ( 2 | 3 ), Oxford ( 2 ), Sheffield, Southampton, Warwick and York. More reports are available from People and Planet.

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