*UPDATE*: ONE MONTH TO GO!
With one month to go until April 1st, actions are being plotted up and down the country and around the world, ranging from street theatre and town centre demonstrations to high profile direct actions targeting industry operations and headquarters. Networks from Earth First! to People and Planet have got on board in helping to spread the word. National press have been in touch and are planning to cover the day. People are emailing from around the country asking for more info on planning their prank, and looking for local actions to get involved in.
We are in the middle of an unstoppable rise of creative, radical, necessary direct action against climate change… be part of it, on Fossil Fools Day and beyond.
Whether you’ve been plotting for months or have just been inspired, there’s plenty of time left to plan your action. Read on for loads of resources and support… and whatever you do, make sure to call or email us on the day so we can add your action to our end-of-day round up, and show the world what grassroots action against the fossil fuel industry can achieve.
Happy Fossil Fools Day everyone!
www.fossilfoolsday.org
Email Us
Phone: 0796 191 7535
Fossil Fools Day on Facebook
Click on the resources below (under 'Attachments') to download, print, put on your website, create your own leaflets, etc. If you'd like the action ideas booklet in hard copy, or a batch of posters and leaflets to distribute, contact us and we'll post them to you straight away!
Leaflet to hand out on the day
Explains the basics of Fossil Fools Day but has a big empty white space for you to add the specifics of why you are taking action in the way that you are, why you are at the location you have chosen and your website or contact details. The editable Photoshop files can be downloaded here - front and here - back.
If you don’t have Photoshop, the leaflet is also available as a Word file so you can print it off (4 per piece of A4) then physically glue your text in the empty space before you photocopy the leaflet.
Local press release (Word)
This is an adaptable press release for you to use on the day. Obviously you will need to fill in the gaps and change the tense depending on if you send it out before or after your action. Take bits from it or use the whole thing – it’s yours to play with. Also see the national press release here: http://risingtide.org.uk/fossilfoolsday/press
15 Actions to Topple the Fossil Fuel Empire (PDF)
Why and how to take direct action against the fossil fuel industry... including planning tips, target locations, examples of successful actions and more.
A4 Jester Poster (Word)
(Try printing it out on yellow paper to make it extra eye-catching)
Now available: Q&A sheet for answering media questions about Fossil Fools Day. Email us for a copy.
Call to action
The international Rising Tide network and its allies are calling for a day of action against the fossil fuel industry on April 1st 2008...
FOSSIL FOOLS DAY!
Roll up, roll up! The climate circus is in town. Climate change threatens our very survival, but the fools at the head of the fossil fuel empire continue to plunder the earth, with governments the willing court jesters at their side.
They would have us believe that we can escape climate change with techno-fixes, market mechanisms and offset schemes – all technocratic acrobatics that distract us from the truth: the only real solution to climate change is to keep fossil fuels in the ground.
For over a century the fossil fuel industry has been fooling with our lives. From extraction to combustion they have poisoned our air, polluted our water and ruined our climate. On April 1st, 2008, we’re going to turn the tables and show them who the real fools are.
Find a local fossil fool – the coal-mining clown, the offset contortionist, the aviator tripping on the high wire, the supermarket food mile freak show, the oily strong man, or any other fool that deserves your attention – and join with thousands around the world in taking one step closer to dismantling the fossil fuel industry.
On Fossil Fools Day, bring the spirit of carnival and mischief to the fight for climate justice.
Resources
Ideas for action, a leaflet to hand out on the day, graphics to make your own posters and leaflets and a Q&A sheet to help you in talking to the media are all available on the Resources page
Publicity
If you're planning a publicly announced action, let us know and we can help spread the word.
Media
We'll be sending out a national press release and may be able to direct journalists to you on the day if you wish, so any info you can let us know in advance will be really helpful – and/or a phone number to contact you on the day if that's possible. And call or email us as soon as your action’s happened so we can include it in the end-of-day actions round-up, which we’ll be press releasing as well. Get in touch if you’d like help writing and/or sending your own press release - check out the Network for Climate Action's great guide.
Also check out the Network for Climate Action website for all of the following:
-advice on planning actions
-action ideas
-where to look for legal advice
-local group contacts
-media strategy, press releases etc.
-more resources for creating your own leaflets
Although lots of people are keeping their plans under wraps, six public demos have so far been announced across the country, so get involved!
(If you know of a publicly announced action, let us know and we'll list it here.)
Public Apology on behalf of Porsche, London
Meet 7.15 AM, Bond Street tube station
Posing as protesting polar bears and penguins, greenwash window cleaners and concerned customers, help Porsche say sorry:
• “For being so pigheaded in pushing for a judicial review of the recent changes in
the congestion charge. A bit rash we know! Sorry. But now that we think about it,
the change does actually seem quite a good idea.”
• “And ok, you’ve got us, with a few of our mates, we have been doing our best to
railroad EU plans to set binding emissions targets for gas guzzlers by 2012. Can’t
blame us for having a go though can you…ok so you can. But look, we know it’s
wrong”.
• “Oh, and last, but by no means least, we should stop claiming we’re ‘green’ while
making incredibly polluting cars. So we’re pleased to announce a new concept model,
taking the 4x4 into the 2x2 age.”
More info: e-mail thomas_fern@hotmail.com or call Richard on 0796 0465594
Magical Mystery Tour, Nottingham
Meet Market Square Tram Stop, 8 AM
Join us for a magical mystery tour to a climate clown near us. Dress 4 Climate Chaos: Ski Hat, Bermuda Shorts and Wellies; Sombrero and Raincoat; Swimsuits and Woolens; Flipflops, Umbrellas and Sunglasses; whatever you think the weather may do today. Bring banners and placards against climate chaos and lets pull a prank that packs a punch.
More info: info@eastsideclimateaction.org.uk
Protest circus for a coal fossil fool, London
Meet 8 AM at 1 Victoria Street (nearest tube: St. James’s Park)
The London World Development Movement groups are co-ordinating a hilarious protest outside the Department for Enterprise Business and Regulatory Reform (or BERR) to laugh at the minister for business, John Hutton. John Hutton is currently set to make a right fool of the government's climate policy if he signs off on EON's new Kingsnorth power station. Everyone's welcome to join in the collective hilarity and to demand Hutton takes the Kingsnorth decision very seriously. There will be a real circus feel, with jugglers, clowns and acrobats, so don't hesitate to bring juggling balls or wear your squeaky nose or silly hat.
Protest starts at 8am and will be over in time for you to be at work. Contact Rachel on 0207 8204900 for more information.
www.stopkingsnorth.org
Fossil Fools Parade, Manchester
Meet 10.30 AM outside AMC cinema in Deansgate
The Climate Circus is coming to Manchester. Take part in fun and games with some of our best known local Fossil Fools! That's right, this event is all about congratulating our sponsors, RBS, Manchester Flight Centres, Petrol Stations, The City Council and other, experts in pollution, climate change and destruction of our global eco systems. The parade will finish with a street party outside the Town Hall (by 12 pm).
Featuring music, madness and vegan cakes - lets make this a holiday at home and encourage people to leave fossil fuels in the past. Dress in suits, as clowns, come as a fossil fuel or a fossil fool but come!!
More info: manchester@climatecamp.org.uk
Funeral for coal in Parliament Square, London
Meet at 11 AM in Parliament Square
The People & Planet network invites you to join us at an action and
mass lobby. We will be building a coal power station complete with 12ft cooling towers in Westminster, while people dressed in Jesters hats and Gordon Brown masks will ‘burn’ a mock Climate Change Bill.
Contact james.lloyd@peopleandplanet.org for more information.
http://peopleandplanet.org/nonewcoal
Shopping causes climate chaos! Leamington Spa
Meet at 12 noon, Bath Place Community Venture
Join us for a demonstration against the Clarendon Shopping arcade that is being planned for Leamington, but has not yet been given the go ahead. WIt would mean more car journeys (with people driving in to Leam to shop), more packaging and increased consumerism - all involving more fossil fuel use. The demo will start at Bath Place Community Venture. Assemble 12 noon, march begins begins at 12:30pm and will finish at Leamington Town Hall. There will be cyclists, fancy dress, clowns, music and many banners!
More info: leamingtonspa@risingtide.org.uk
Getting involved in a local action
If you're looking to get involved where you live, get in touch and we may be able to link you up with something in your local area... or give you advice on getting your own action off the ground... or put you in touch with a local group for future actions!
Email: info@risingtide.org.uk
Phone: 0796 191 7535
Press Release, 28 March 2008
Climate activists to pull a prank that packs a punch on April Fools Day
Proclaiming April 1st ‘Fossil Fools Day,’ climate change activists with the international Rising Tide network and its allies will be targeting the fossil fuel industry at over one hundred locations around the world on Tuesday.
Protests will focus on the companies responsible for runaway carbon dioxide emissions, as well as complicit governments and those promoting false solutions. Possible targets in the UK include oil, gas, coal, aviation, agrofuel and carbon offset operations and headquarters.
“We are taking action to prevent the fossil fuel industry from destroying our future,” said Brian Kelly from Rising Tide. “Vested interests in business and government are bent on pursuing economic growth at all costs. We need to shrink, not protect, the fossil fuel economy if we are to survive climate change.”
Groups involved in the UK include Rising Tide, the Camp for Climate Action, World Development Movement, People and Planet, the Network for Climate Action and Earth First!
While most activists are keeping their plans under wraps until the day, public events have been called for Parliament Square (where People and Planet will be building a coal power station complete with 12ft cooling towers), Porsche HQ in London (where a public apology will be issued on behalf of Porsche), the Department for Enterprise, Business and Regulatory Reform (where WDM will be holding the world’s first laugh-in over plans for new coal at Kingsnorth) and Manchester City Centre (for a parade touring the city’s biggest fossil fools) to name but a few.
“Myths like clean coal and agrofuels are a dangerous distraction from the root causes of this crisis,” said Sophie Price. “The only real solution to climate change is to keep fossil fuels in the ground.”
For interviews, for more information about the public events listed above, or to find out more about Fossil Fools Day, contact Rising Tide:
07961 917 535
info@risingtide.org.uk
www.fossilfoolsday.org / www.risingtide.org.uk
** Updates will be available throughout the day on April 1st at www.fossilfoolsday.org **
Press Advisory, February 1st 2008
The count down to Fossil Fools Day begins
Last summer’s Camp for Climate Action catapulted direct action against the root causes of climate change into the headlines. Inspired by the camp and unable to wait till next summer (time is something we don’t have), activists are joining together again on April 1st 2008 - Fossil Fools Day.
On January 1st 2008 the International Rising Tide network and its allies called April 1st as a day of action against the fossil fuel industry. With two months to go, activists are plotting and planning, intent on bringing the spirit of carnival and mischief to the fight for climate justice.
In the UK, the day is being supported by the Climate Camp movement and in the US by Global Exchange and the Rainforest Action Network among others. Over 25 actions are expected in the UK alone, with possible targets including oil, gas, coal, aviation and biofuel operations and headquarters.
The next time we hit the headlines will be April 2nd – ‘Climate activists pull a prank that packs a punch.’ If you want a head start on the story, or for more information, contact Rising Tide UK:
Tel – 07961 917535
Email – info@risingtide.org.uk
Web – www.fossilfoolsday.org / www.risingtide.org.uk