Norwich

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2007 Action Round-Up

Norwich Rising Tide has only been up and running for just over a year, but it’s been a busy one! We began by taking action against the planned Northern Distributor Road with an ongoing spoof 'Campaign for Roads And Progress’ (CRAP). Next, to mark the International Day of Action Against Climate Change and the G8 we shut down a city centre Jet Petrol Station, choosing the lesser-known Jet/Conoco-Phillips to highlight the fact that there is no such thing as a good oil company. During the summer quite a few of us went along to the Camp for Climate Action at Heathrow and just after that, on the Day of Action against the Royal Bank of Scotland (the ‘Oil and Gas Bank’), two Norwich RBS banks were mysteriously locked closed, and the opening of the city’s main branch was delayed for over an hour. In the build up to Christmas, we turned our attention to the role of consumerism in causing climate change. For Buy Nothing Day, twelve of us held a Rat Race around the city centre, giving out thousands of leaflets and having fun with the security guards at the city’s biggest Mall. Just before Christmas we set off into town all dressed up again, but this time as Santas Against Excessive Consumption, complete with our Lapland is Melting banner and some festive subverted Christmas carols. Next stop: Norwich International Airport, one of the fastest growing short-haul airports in the country.

About Rising Tide

What is Rising Tide?

Rising Tide is a vibrant grassroots network made up of groups and individuals who take creative direct action to confront the root causes of climate change, and promote local, community-run solutions to our energy needs. Rising Tide argues that climate change is an issue of social injustice, and is linked to the economic domination of Northern interests and transnational corporations. Rising Tide is skeptical of market-based ‘solutions’ to climate change such as carbon offsetting and sequestration schemes, and calls instead for a just, community-led transition to a non-carbon society. Rising Tide believes that an immediate end to oil exploration and a dismantling of the fossil fuel economy are necessary to prevent catastrophic climate change. To learn more about what Rising Tide stands for see the Rising Tide political statement

Rising Tide is a non-hierarchical network, and organises through decentralised local groups and consensus-based decision making.

What do Rising Tide groups do?

*2006 saw the third year of RT’s Art Not Oil project, a counter-exhibition and campaign designed to end oil industry sponsorship of the arts.
*BP and Shell’s AGMs, sponsored galleries, and other events are rarely without a creative, noisy and/or confrontational RT presence.
*Actions at Shell petrol stations and its HQ in London in solidarity with the campaign to stop a dangerous gas pipeline in County Mayo, Ireland.
*Helping set up a protest camp to stop the National Grid gas pipeline from slicing across South Wales.
*Through the Airport Pledge, teaming up with Plane Stupid, and a campaign at Bristol International Airport, RT is attempting to bring the government’s crazy airport expansion plans to a swift halt.
* RT helped to organise an international day of action on climate change during the G8 meeting in Scotland in 2006, and the Camp for Climate Action in 2006.
*Not to mention gigs, stalls, school talks, street theatre, and all manner of other ways of getting our message out as far and wide as possible.

It’s been a busy few years and the Rising Tide network is growing by the month, with active groups based in London, Reading, Edinburgh, Bristol, Cardiff, and further afield in New Zealand, Australia and the US. And now … Norwich Rising Tide is born!

What’s happening in Norwich?

Without radical action now, Norfolk will be hit hard by climate change. Norwich Rising Tide is taking action locally. Among many other exciting plans, so far we are targeting the construction of the Northern Distributor Road and the expansion of Norwich Airport, and taking action to reclaim the city from cars. We also organise events and activities to raise awareness about climate change, what we can all do about it, and how this global threat just might be an opportunity to build a better, saner world.

Getting involved

To truly tackle the root causes of climate change, there is a need for us, yes us, not some career path politician or greenwashed oil executive, to unite and start building real, just solutions based in our own communities. Once we recognise the nature and huge scale of the climate crisis, there's a danger that we might lose sight of our power to change it. But collective action is a powerful force – and it is a power that can make this a more just and joyous planet. So, no matter what your previous experience, come along, get involved and help bring about the radical change that’s needed.

Northern Distributor Road (NDR)

First Norwich Rising Tide action against the NDR

On a fine Saturday morning in May, 15 activists headed into Norwich city centre to hold a roving protest against the proposed Northern Distributor Road (NDR). Posing as members of the fictional Coalition for Roads And Progress (C.R.A.P), we held a series of mock press conferences outside the Forum, where the County Council are holding an exhibition about plans for the NDR.



Standing in front of a banner reading ‘Build the NDR: Concrete is Freedom’, and surrounded by a crowd of supporters waving placards bearing slogans such as ‘Spend More Time in Your Car!’, ‘Oil is Good for the Planet’, ‘The NDR – industrial paradise’ and ‘Who Needs Green Space or Peace and Quiet?’, the press conference heard from C.R.A.P members about their reasons for supporting the NDR.

Dr. Seymour Rhodes presented new medical research about the health benefits of air pollution and the risks of excessive walking or cycling. Mr. I. Sellmore, the developer on the panel, blew away the myth that the NDR will ease traffic congestion, instead insisting that it will replace the peaceful villages in North Norwich with a new industrial paradise. Councillor Theresa Gone reassured audience members that the £100 million cost of the road would not go over budget, challenging them to name any large infrastructure projects around the country that had not come in on time and on budget.

At the close of the press conference, which came with much applause from the crowd that had assembled, the coalition members stepped out of character and began distributing leaflets to passers-by and talking with them about the NDR project.

After an hour outside the Forum, we moved locations to the market square, where the press conference was repeated for the bustling Saturday morning shopping crowd.

‘It was fun to watch, and really inspiring to see people communicating such an important message in such a creative way,’ said one of the audience members.

Today’s protest was intended to be a light-hearted way of pointing out some major concerns we and many others have about the proposed NDR. The pitfalls of the project have become so great as to border on the ridiculous, and we thought we could play on this as a fun and unusual way to engage passers by.

See below for the leaflet handed out on the day, which explains both C.R.A.P.’s comically pro-road position and our own concerns about the NDR.

It was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning, and a successful and inspiring first outing for the new Norwich Rising Tide group. Watch this space for more actions against the NDR and other local climate criminals!





Here's a list of the spoof placards that Coalition for Roads And Progress (C.R.A.P) members were brandishing today: -

NDR – an Urban Industrial Paradise
Re-tarmac the Streets
Oil is Good for the Planet!
Escape Flooding … by Car
Wimpey say bring on the NDR
Urban is Joy!
Reward Fat Cats
Who needs Green Space or Peace and Quiet?
Concrete is Freedom
More Concrete, More Pollution
Hoorah for the NDR – Spend more time in your Car
Tescos Loves the NDR
Car Fumes are Cheaper than Cigarettes
More Concrete, Fewer Trees
The NDR – You know it Makes Sense!
More Concrete, Less Greenery
May Gurney has our Best Interests at Heart
Growth is Happiness
Support Your Local Shareholder
Walking is a Waste of Time!

Norwich Critical Mass

Norwich Critical Mass
First ride of 2008 to celebrate spring! April 26th, meet 12.45 at St. Andrew's Hall, ride at 1 PM.



Norwich Critical Mass is a bike ride that takes place on the second Saturday of every month. With enough bikes the ride goes ‘critical’ - a mass of cyclists who ride together and take over the roads.

Each cyclist has their own ideas about the aims of the Critical Mass. Together, we are celebrating the bicycle, raising awareness about climate change and the need for environmentally friendly modes of transport, campaigning for better cycle paths, creating car-free spaces in city centres, getting our own back on impatient and unsafe drivers, and having a laugh along the way!

We’re Not Blocking the Traffic … We Are the Traffic!

Click here for a map of the meeting point

Leaflets and Posters
Please help spread the word about the ride! Click here to download and print your own leaflets - try wrapping them around bike handlebars! Click here to download and print off Critical Mass Posters.

For more info on Critical Mass bike rides see:

www.critical-mass.org
www.critical-mass.info

Norwich Rising Tide Film Nights

Past film nights

CLIMATE CAMP INFO & FILM NIGHT

Thinking of going to the Camp for Climate Action? Come to this info night to hear first-hand reports from last year’s camp at Heathrow, see photos and video footage, find out what to expect at this year’s event at Kingsnorth, have your questions answered and meet up with others from the Norwich area who are planning to go.

Where: The Workshop Café, 53 Earlham Road, Norwich, NR2 3AD
When: Wednesday, 11th June, 8PM
More info: email us / 07961 917 535

Camp for Climate Action
August 3-11 2008

Low-impact living // education // high-impact direct action

Last year two thousand people pitched up on the land earmarked for a third runway at Heathrow. The tide against the third runway has been rising ever since. This year the Camp is at Kingsnorth power station in Kent, where the government and e-on think they are going to build the first coal-fired power station in thirty years. The Climate Camp has other ideas, like leaving fossil fuels in the ground for example!

Everyone is invited to the camp, which is now part of an international movement, with eight climate camps on four continents planned for this summer. Together, we will show that the blind pursuit of economic growth at any cost is simply insane, and is to blame for the CO² emissions and
ecosystem destruction that are causing catastrophic climate change.

www.climatecamp.org.uk

SMASH EDO - PREMIERE OF 'ON THE VERGE'
Shutting down the bomb builders.

Come along to see the new full-length Smash EDO Movie, 'On the Verge'.
Plus speakers – get the inside story on the campaign, discuss tactics and organise for the future.

Date – Wednesday 9th April 2008
Place – The Workshop, 53 Earlham Road, NR2 3AD
Time – 8pm
Free!

In 2004 a group of Brighton peace campaigners began to bang pots and pans outside their local arms manufacturers, EDO MBM, in disgust at their part in the Iraq war. This has grown into the Smash EDO campaign, which has cost the company millions, been the subject of large scale police operations
and has tested the right to protest in the UK. Using activist, police and CCTV footage plus interviews with those involved in the campaign, 'On The Verge' tells the story of one of the most persistent and imaginative campaigns to emerge out of the UK's anti-war movement and direct action scene.

"Every bomb that is dropped, every bullet that is fired in the name of this War of Terror has to be made somewhere. And wherever that is, it can be resisted”
-Smash EDO

Help publicise the Film Night, put up some posters.

For more information on the film night call 07961 917535 or email us.

WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR?
Find out who killed the electric car. It was among the fastest, most efficient cars ever built. It ran on electricity, produced no emissions and catapulted American technology to the forefront of the automotive industry. The lucky few who drove it never wanted to give it up. So why did General Motors crush its fleet of EV-1 electric vehicles in the Arizona desert?

You're invited to the first Norwich Rising Tide Film Night!
Thursday 21st February, 8 PM
The Workshop, 53 Earlham Road, NR2 3AD
Free!

This film tells the story of the life and mysterious death of General Motors' electric car; examining the cultural and economic ripple effects caused by its conception and how they reverberated through the halls of government and big business.

"A murder mystery, a call to arms and an effective inducement to rage"
-New York Times

"If $3-a-gallon gasoline doesn't make you hate the big oil companies, the shocking revelations in Chris Paine's thought-provoking documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? will."
-New York Post

www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com

Bring your friends, and see you there!