The crown jewel of Greenpeace’s naval arm, the Rainbow Warrior, pulled in to the harbor alongside the Kingsnorth coal-fired power plant today before six activists stormed the facility to prepare to project video of impacts of global warming onto the plant’s giant smokestack.[social_buttons]
The action comes mere months after a jury acquitted Greenpeace protesters who had vandalized the same smokestack. The court ruled that the activists were acting in the public’s interest because the power plant will cause property destruction in the future due to its release of climate-changing greenhouse gases.
So far, Greenpeace says there have been no arrests.
The activists hope to prevent the owners of the plant, E.ON, from going through with their plan to build another coal plant nearby. Greenpeace says the new plant would spew as much greenhouse gas as the world’s 30 least-polluting countries combined. To symbolize this, 30 volunteers carried the flags of those countries into the power plant.
Two of the protesters were among the original ‘Kingsnorth Six,’ who were acquitted of all wrongdoing amid controversy this summer. Police have not reported whether the activists will face charges for today’s action.
You can follow any developments through Greenpeace UK’s website.
Photo courtesy of Greenpeace UK.
this is awesome. but it would be better if they created things rather just destroyed them.
I applaud Greenpeace for this non-violent direct action. Way to go guys. We simply don’t have time to sit back and do nothing, hoping our governments will wake up and begin working towards a sustainable future.
I hate greenpeace with every cell in my body.
I just want to toss in my 2 cents here along with my support for what Greenpeace does. Remember that this is not a protest against the current coal plant — it’s a protest against the one the company is planning to build! We don’t need new coal plants on this planet.
Not to mention, they are being entirely non-violent and aren’t even destroying property. They merely are making a grand statement and drawing plenty of attention to the issue at hand.
I think it’s great people are concerned about the environment, but this is not the way to go about it. Take action with your VOTE, not by blockading a harbour and invading a power plant. The british navy should sink that ship.
I want to be green as the next guy but storming a power plant to prove your point is stepping over the line. What’s next, setting my house on fire for not using CFLs? Come on Greenpeace I knew you guys were a little emotional but this is just stupidity.