Lone Activist Disables Coal Plant for Four Hours, Escapes

A man climbed over two 10-foot barb-wired electrified fences surrounding the Kingsnorth coal-fired power plant in England on November 28th and proceeded to enter the facility and shut down the plant’s smokestack. The entire ordeal was caught on security cameras, but no one—neither activists nor police—know who the man is or where to find him.

The action shut down the plant for four hours, causing the 500 megawatt facility to lose enough electricity to power a small town. Experts estimate that England’s carbon footprint decreased by a giant 2 percent while the plant was disabled.

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“It was extremely odd indeed, quite creepy. We have never known anything like this at all, but it shows that if people want to do something badly enough they will find a way,” said Emily Highmore, a spokesperson for E.On, the company that owns the plant.

The man left a small banner reading nothing but “No New Coal.”

Kingsnorth has been target of many protests over the past year after E.On gained approval to build a new coal plant in the region. Greenpeace most recently occupied the plant for nearly a day and projected video evidence of global warming onto the plant.

Photo Credit: Mikkoit on Flickr under Creative Commons license.

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