Rising Tide UK - Taking Action on the Root Causes of Climate Change

Occupy Oil Day of Action - Feb 8th 2012

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:16:40 +0100

We believe that the war for resources that has plagued us for many years, is forcing us to the point of near destruction. The pursuit of oil and minerals in Africa by the 1% has resulted in millions being murdered, raped or displaced.

Africa is plagued with civil war, poverty and starvation. The Middle East is at the point of all out war. The ruling elites are on the verge of attacking Iran. The global economy is eating itself alive. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, since 1997, 8 million people have lost their lives in a civil war, manipulated by those who would seek to gain the most from this resource rich country. The African people, in Nigeria, the DRC, Libya, Uganda and elsewhere, will pay dearly for the materialism of the West.

London police solidarity blockade of shell petrol station

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:49:03 +0100

Report written by Rikki
Click here to see a GREAT PHOTO SET

in many years of independent reporting, i've often seen situations where police have caused larger disruption than a handfull of protestors, closing roads, sometimes closing down businesses, and sometimes massively amplifying the power of the protestors alone (not that that's their intention). however, this evening was, i think, the first time that they so completely did the job of the activists for them, that the campaigners could sit in a nice warm pub and toast the met, instead of standing around in the cold themselves.

DIY Solar

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:32:52 +0100

Bristol based 'Demand Energy Equality' are working with Bristol RT to roll out workshops enabling people to build their own solar panels from re-used materials. The objective of the workshops is both to ensure that renewable technology is available to low income households, at half the price of commercial panels, and to educate participants about reducing energy demand and demistify the technology involved.

No more Fukushimas - 10-11 March 2012: Surround Hinkley Point

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 15:08:05 +0100

News from our friends at Stop New Nuclear (for more info check out http://stopnewnuclear.org.uk/).

FUKUSHIMA: The biggest industrial disaster in history. Japan, has been brought to its knees by the ongoing events at Fukushima.

The reactors that went into meltdown in March have now melted through the foundations and 40 years of accumulated nuclear waste is emitting vast amounts of radiation, contaminating the land, sea and air. In desperation, the Japanese government is transporting and burning radioactive rubble all over Japan and exporting highly contaminated food as “aid” to developing countries. Men, women and children are living in highly radioactive areas but they are not being evacuated as they should be. This intense radiation exposure has very serious health consequences for these people.

Rising Tide and Kick Nuclear join the Climate Justice March

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:45:08 +0100

On 3rd December 2011 Rising Tide joined Kick Nuclear to support this year’s Climate Justice march in support of the tens of thousands mobilising in South Africa to demand climate justice at UN’s COP17 in Durban. Together with Kick Nuclear, Rising Tide marched and distributed leaflets to remind people that the British Government’s repackaging of nuclear power as a 'green' source of energy is a false and dangerous solution to climate change. The UK government is is planning to build new nuclear power stations at eight sites – all of which are existing nuclear sites. Hinkley Point is the first of these proposed sites for nuclear new build to go ahead. Activist action was key in stopping them here before in 1987, and we can do it again in 2012. If they fail at Hinkley, it is unlikely the “nuclear renaissance” will have the momentum to continue.

Bristol Rising Tide activists fined for coal action in Scotland

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 22:53:31 +0100

On 22nd December, two Bristol Rising Tide activists appeared at Lanark Sheriff's Court to be sentenced following an action to stop work at the Mainshill open cast mine back in March 2011. The two were fined £400 each for aggravated trespass by Sheriff Stewart.

They were part of a group who entered Scottish Coal's Mainshill mine in South Lanarkshire to disrupt coaling operations. The two Bristol activists managed to reach and scale a huge 260 tonne 'prime mover' in the bottom of the pit, one of the two biggest machines on the site. Other activists there to support them were brutally attacked by Scottish Coal employees and Trustcare Security. The action lasted over 4 hours before a specialist police team from Glasgow removed the people occupying the excavator, which had been in the process of loading coal from the seam on to dump trucks.

A THANK YOU TO OUR DONORS!

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:26:10 +0100

RT UK recently decided that we should put a story on our website to say thank you to those who have donated money to Rising Tide over the past few years. It also gives us a chance to inform you all who currently funds Rising Tide? While on occasion we receive grants from organisations like Artist Project Earth, LUSH or The Network for Social Change, and from time to time we organise benefit gigs, we also receive a few donations by cheque or standing order from individuals around the UK. To everyone and anyone who has donated (particularly Mrs W and Mr P) we would like to say a very big THANK YOU, as we have no paid staff, you can rest assured that we use the money you donate to directly confront the fossil fuel economy!

Looking for artwork to make up a BP-free Cultural Olympiad

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 20:14:20 +0100

If you're in a hurry, here's the pitch: BP is sponsoring the 2012 Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival in the UK. Do you have a creative response to this situation? If so, please contact us here: info@artnotoil.org.uk or 07709 545116. Let us know if you could help illustrate and/or design a leaflet on this issue.

Here's a more detailed explanation ...

BP is sponsoring the 2012 Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival in the UK; http://www.london2012.com/cultural-olympiad. We'd like all this wonderful creative activity to be allowed to breathe free of the stench of BP, and in a step towards that eventuality, we're setting up a BP-free Cultural Olympiad gallery on our website. For that, we're inviting you to submit artworks which address this mismatch directly, poetically, peripherally, satirically, elegiacally, comically or hysterically. (Or using an adjective of your own choosing.) We'd also like to feature work that looks at the Olympics more generally.

Fracking Hell - Bristol Rising Tide shut down the country's only hydraulic fracturing rig!

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:03:46 +0100

Fracking is a nightmare! Toxic and radioactive water pollution. Tap water you can set on fire. Earthquakes. Runaway climate change. To produce expensive gas that will soon run out. Yet another false solution to try and maintain fossil fuel use!

The controversial proposed Fracking site in Hesketh Bank, Lancashire was shut down on the morning of 1st December as a group of Bristol activists stormed the drilling rig. Three of the climate justice campaigners from Bristol Rising Tide scaled the Cuadrilla Resources equipment with supplies and stopped work for over 13 hours. PHOTOS - http://www.flickr.com/photos/71113300@N08/.

CASTOR Anti Nuclear Camp - starting early!

Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:48:06 +0100

While the CASTOR nuclear train was scheduled to leave on Wednesday afternoon, AREVA and SNCF have brought forward the departure of the nuclear train.
Activists anticipated this may happen and have bought forward the start of the camp!
Rising Tide UK have signed a solidarity statement with those taking direct action to stop the nuclear train.

New Rising Tide Coalition for Climate Justice Political Statement.

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:32:12 +0100

Just in time for the 17th UNFCC Conference of the Parties (COP17) in Durban, the international Rising Tide network is putting out an updated version of the Rising Tide Political Statement. This defines our view on a wide range of issues to do with climate change, and is what binds the network together. This statement has been agreed and signed by all Rising Tide groups around the world.

The first Rising Tide political statement was created over a few hectic days during COP6 in the Hague in 2000, when the network was formed. The statement put forward a unique analysis and approach to climate change that was well ahead of its time, based around the issues of social justice and a critique of business-led solutions. More than a decade later, many parts of that original radical analysis have been accepted by social movements, mainstream NGOs, think tanks and some political parties.

Shell Live Wire / Death Rope - In Memory of Ken Saro-Wiwa

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:50:08 +0100

Thursday 10th November marked the sixteenth anniversary of the killing of ken saro-wiwa and eight other activists in nigeria. on the 9th, shell, complicit in their execution, was polishing its image by sponsoring an awards event for young entrepeneurs at the centrepoint building in central london. london rising tide organised a reminder of shell's bloody history outside the event, involving grim reapers, sombre drums, and hundreds of leaflets.

Click 'read more' to watch the video.

Rising Tide join Hinkley Point anti-Nuclear blockaders

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:53:42 +0200

Anti-nuclear protesters declared the mass blockade at Hinkley Point on 3rd October as a victory over EDF Energy. The nine-hour blockade in Somerset attracted supporters from all over the UK including Rising Tiders from London, Bristol & Plymouth. Several people came from as far afield as France, Ireland, Germany and Belgium as numbers topped 250.

Convoys of protesters began to arrive at the main gate shortly before 7am. The entrance is just yards away from where EDF Energy is making a bid to build two new mega-reactors.The blockade was launched with the arrival of a theatrical troupe Nuclear Investigation Team who enacted a nuclear disaster scenario similar to Fukushima. Stop New Nuclear spokesperson, Andreas Speck, said the blockade has put the government and EDF on the back foot. ‘Following the interest this blockade has attracted, both regionally and nationally, the government and EDF can no longer claim that the we need nuclear energy to keep the lights on.’ He continued: ‘Germany has committed to a nuclear-free future without buying nuclear power from France or building new coal-fired power stations. The German government is looking at a decentralised energy model with a mix of renewables and Combined Heat and Power (CHP) to bridge the gap left by withdrawal from nuclear.

CONFRONT BHP BILLITON

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 19:50:40 +0200

Once a year, the board of directors of the world’s largest mining company meet in London.
Be there to... *CONFRONT BHP BILLITON*

*WHAT: *The Annual General Meeting of BHP Billiton
*WHERE: *Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster
*WHEN: *Thursday Oct. 20, 10am

*Plus, on Wednesday Oct. 19, there will be a public event with special guests to talk about BHPB’s operations around the world.*

Camp Frack, Fri 16th Sept - Sun 18th

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 15:17:45 +0200

What is fracking?: The process - called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking - involves pumping a mixture of water, sand and drilling fluids at high pressure into the rock, to split it apart and release the natural gas it contains. This process has already, in its relatively short history, caused a great deal of controversy, due to environmental problems and risks posed to human health, including water contamination and higher rates of air pollution than that of coal production. And now fracking has recently begun in the UK starting with several sites near Blackpool.

Cue Camp Frack!
Fri 16th Sept - Sun 18th 2011
Location: Manor Farm, Hesketh Bank, Lancashire