'Plane Stupid' protest puts short-haul flights under the spotlight 02 October 06

News from last week suggests that at long last a direct action campaign against climate change is really beginning to kick off. On Sunday 24 September twenty-six ‘Plane Stupid’ protesters established a temporary climate camp – not in a field next to a power station this time, but on the taxi-way of East Midlands Airport. The airport – called a “climate change factory” by the demonstrators – was chosen because it specialises in mega-polluting short-haul flights, which could easily be replaced by train travel.

Whilst there they listened to a Baptist minister preach from a makeshift pulpit that, at a time when 160,000 people are dying from climate change impacts every year, “flying is a sin”. The Rev. Malcolm Caroll’s former parish was in nearby Nottingham. The activists managed to stick it out for 4 hours before being removed by police, and all 26 were arrested and charged with aggravated trespass. Needless to say, the real criminals – those operating the airport and the airline companies – continue with business as usual, protected by the full force of the law.

A few days later, the Met Office issues a press release: September was the warmest on record in the United Kingdom “by some margin”. Is anyone listening?