On Saturday 12th September, members of Oxford WDM were dressed as cooling towers from coal-fired power stations in Cornmarket St, Oxford, campaigning for the Big If, against more of these power stations in the UK. The group asked passersby to do anything, from writing to their MP to organising a protest, if Ed Milliband, Minister for Climate Change and Energy, decides to go ahead with new coal-fired power stations without committing to stop all carbon emissions from the outset.
The proposed new dirty coal power station at Kingsnorth in Kent could by itself be responsible for:
- More than 20,000 people being forced from their homes as climate refugees
- 100,000 people losing their dry season water supply due to glaciers melting
- 50,000 people being at risk of hunger due to drought and lower crop yields
Letting this happen would completely undermine the UK’s targets on climate change, and mean we have no credibility at crucial international climate talks in Copenhagen.
Chris Manley, secretary of Oxford WDM said: “The largest coal power stations in the UK emit more carbon dioxide than the whole of a country like Tanzania. By pledging to take action if the government goes ahead with dirty coal power stations, ordinary people in Oxford are sending a clear message to the government that they will not stand idly by when climate change is already devastating the lives of millions of people across the planet.”
Ends; notes below
1. For more details please see www.thebigif.org/
