British Airports Authority - flying in the face of climate choas

On Thursday 9th August the board room of BAA was occupied by a group from London Rising Tide. Despite a wee spot of bother getting into the lifts, the four got up and into the boardroom of the seventh floor, and asked the person in attendance if they would be so kind as to leave, before barricading the door with tables and chairs by 8.45 am. Police were not long on the scene, and negotiated with us throughout the morning, but we refused to open the doors until BAA had cancelled their plans for Terminal 5 at Heathrow. Unsuprisingly they didnÃt.... Inside the board room we tried to speak to the CEO, Mike Hodgkinson, but he was unavailable. We spoke with the press, as did the leafetters outside, and our banner was hung across the main door, which had been closed. Our aims were to draw attention to aviation, which is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions (at 3+% now, set to rise to 15% by 2050); the building of Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport (Mike Rogers who sits on the board of directors of BAA has responsibility for T5); and the private sectors role in encouraging and profiting from greenhouse gas emissions at a time when we should be seeking alternatives. At 1.30, we were surprised by BAA security who barged into the room, breaking a table in the process. As they were in no mood to negotiate, we were promptly dragged outside and released.