Anthill Mob reinforce anti-expansion message during Copenhagen climate talks
Activists in east London have painted two mega-messages against growth in aviation - and flights at London City Airport in particular - to coincide with the Copenhagen climate summit. One message saying, ‘Still climate criminals!’ is written in giant letters on the top of a 60ft hill situated just south of City Airport, which planes pass directly over.
"It’s a message to the delegates flying to and back from Copenhagen," explains Elsie Wai, spokesperson for local anti-expansion group, the Anthill Mob. "The conscientious will be taking the train but the selfish will be flying. We’re reminding the selfish delegates that they’ll remain climate criminals until they start thinking green."
The group are also angry about London City Airport’s continuing attempts to increase business and private flights. The airport currently has approximately 80,000 commercial flights a year but aims to increase this to 170,000 by 2030. "That means more pollution, more global warming and more misery for local people," says Elsie.
The Anthill Mob’s second message is written in 10ft high letters along the boundary fence of Tate & Lyle’s sugar refinery - situated beside the Docklands Light Railway approach to the airport. The message reads: ‘Drop the sweet talk: no flight expansion at City Airport.’
"You only have to look around the area next to the airport to see that it is in terminal decline," says Elsie. "The airport has made millions in profits but all we get in return is more noise and pollution. Pretty much everything at City Airport is automated. As it stands, a tiny number of people benefit from employment at the airport while the wider community and the climate suffers."
Cases of asthma and child mortality are already above the national average in the borough of Newham – where the airport is based. Expanding the airport means a massive increase in pollution which will further blight one of the poorest areas in London.
Heathrow campaigners storm Architect Awards to warn off third runway bids
Plane Stupid activists along with three residents from Heathrow have targeted one of the potential third runway designers at this year’s Architects of the Year Awards held at London's Intercontinental Hotel. Architect group Pascall and Watson, nominated for Transport Architect of the Year, have been at the forefront of airport expansion since the early 1960's.
The activists stormed the podium and gave a short speech before offering Pascall and Watson the ‘We don't give a Shit’ award in recognition of their 50 year aviation portfolio which includes expansion at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Birmingham, Manchester, Dublin and Abu Dhabi airports.
Other activists handed out leaflets to the audience. Once the award had been presented the activists left of their own accord.
Tracy Howard, 35 year old mother of two and barmaid at the King William IV pub in Sipson - which will be destroyed if a third runway is allowed to go ahead - said:
"We're here today to let the architecture world know about the diverse and growing movement against the third runway and airport expansion across the country. Those involved with airport expansion will have to include this growing opposition in their designs and in their budget".
Joe Ryle, 18, Plane Stupid activist and Heathrow resident said:
"Architects bidding for the third runway contract, or any other new runway, can expect to see a lot more of us. We presented them with the 'We don't give a Shit' award both to recognise their contribution to destroying our homes and to say that trying to build a green airport is like trying to polish a turd."
Plane Stupid turf Virgin Atlantic out of their seats at the PR awards
Last night seven Plane Stupid activists and one Heathrow resident popped over to the PR Week Awards and hijacked a table reserved for Virgin Atlantic. Virgin Atlantic have been strong advocates for the third runway at Heathrow and expansion of Britain's airports, which we thought they shouldn't get away with.
Dressed in glamourous evening wear, the activists entered the glitzy awards, which celebrates the highlights of the year's public relations work. They occupied Virgin Atlantic's table and refused to leave.
Christine Taylor, who lives next door to Heathrow and whose mother is due to lose her home if Heathrow’s third runway goes ahead said:
"It's crazy to build more runways around London - we already have six. My mother wants to live out her days in her own home, but the bully boys of aviation think their profits are more important. Tonight at the PR awards we gave them a taste of what it’s like to be turfed out of your rightful place."
Anthill Mob send message to LCA frequent flyers
Passengers flying over East London now have a new landmark to spot. A group of activists known as the Anthill Mob left the Camp for Climate Action earlier this week, climbed a 100ft tor in Thamesmead and sprayed 'Climate Crime' in indelible paint.
The message - believed to be large enough to see from aircraft flying overhead - comes as a gentle reminder to passengers to stop flying so bloody much. London City Airport recently received local authority permission to expand its commercial flights from 80,000 to 120,000. The airport aims to increase this total to 176,000 by 2030, despite vocal and organised opposition by local people.
A spokeswoman for the group, Penny Pitstop, said that "We are only months away from talks in Copenhagen and big business cannot get away with thinking it can pollute its way out of carbon reduction."
The high-flying habits of the wealthy often come at a severe cost to local residents. Newham - where London City Airport is based – is one of the most economically deprived areas of England. Residents not only fail to reap any significant benefits from the airport but they’re having to deal with the ground level impact including high rates of asthma and respiratory diseases, as well as constant noise.
"It’s now increasingly the champagne-sippers of society who can afford to maintain their commitment to the aviation industry. This is particularly so at London City Airport where most of the flights are business-related," Pitstop continued.
Plane Stupid and AAA crash Virgin Atlantic 25th birthday party
Monday the 22nd of June was Virgin Atlantic's 25th Anniversary. Branson has been pushing the joke that biofuels are the solution to another 25 years of aviation growth, so we decided to team up with Action Against Agrofuels and join in the party. Our tickets must have got lost in the post, but we dressed up and strolled along anyway.
The balloon banner rose through the main lobby of Terminal 3, and minutes later Heathrow tube shut. The underground crew got out just as the station was closing, and despite the fact that the area was now full of fluro vests and cop cars, two stewardesses calmly unfolded their collapsible ladder and climbed onto the roof of the porch entrance to departures.
Check out the photos on our Flickr photostream.
Their escorts unravelled a giant banner, and two more stewardesses emerged from inside the building. They tossed around handfuls of banner confetti that read ‘biofuels, no way out’ and gleefully squirted silly string on the growing group of intrigued travellers. Meanwhile on the roof, our ladies in red were applying their lipstick and arranging thier coconut pillbox hats.
The headgear was a reference to Virgin's biofuel experiment last year. The flight from London to Amsterdam contained just 5% coconut oil, yet the journey still required 150,000 coconuts for a one-way flight from London to Amsterdam. Yep, that’s 150,000 thousand coconuts. To cover just 5% of one flight. Across the Channel. To put it into perspective, that's enough coconuts to make 300,000 pina coladas.
There’s a farcical discrepancy between how biofuels are dressed up, and what their actual impacts are. The evidence suggests that agro fuels take more carbon to produce than just using kerosene outright, and bring with them the complications of deforestation and mass hunger.
After half an hour or so of falling into step with amused Virgin stewardesses and friendly banter with passengers, the police decided that everyone was having far too much fun and proceeded to arrest everyone. Heathrow is covered by SOCPA - the legislation that ‘protects’ parliament from spontaneous protest. 9 people were taken away on suspicion of aggravated trespass and breach of bylaws.
Apparently the airport's cherry picker had left from the far side of the runways as soon as it heard of the protest, it’s just not very fast, and Heathrow is very, very big. So the two on the roof held out till 1pm, as the re-enactment of Virgins maiden flight was boarding.
Everyone was held without charge till 11 that night and bailed to return.
Manchester Plane Stupid disrupt industry gala dinner
Just hours after disrupting an aviation conference with rape alarms and helium baloons, Manchester Plane Stupid targeted the aviation industry's gala dinner held at the town hall. Protestors scaled two lamposts and erected a 15m banner reading, "Aviation Industry Conference - Climate Criminals Inside".
The banner drop created a lot of attention from the public and continued the pressure on the aviation industry who are attempting to greenwash the climate issue. The Aviation conference included the launch of a new initiative to make airports carbon neutral. However, this does not include the emissions from flights which currently account for around 13% of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions.
"It's time for the aviation industry to wake up and to start a just transition to replace aviation jobs with emerging sustainable industries such as wind turbines," said Vanessa Hall, former city councillor and Green parlimentary candidate for Manchester Central.
"There is no such thing as a 'carbon neutral' airport, 'carbon neutral' is a term used for offsetting projects that rarely result in any real reduction in emissions. This project is even more deceptive as it won't include the massive emissions from planes," said James Alden, Green parlimentary candidate.
Manchester Plane Stupid disrupts industry greenwash conference
Campaigners disrupted an airport industry conference today using rape alarms tied to helium balloons. The protesters from the group Manchester Plane Stupid entered the Manchester Central conference venue and sent the helium balloons reading 'Happy Retirement' to the top of the ceiling where they remained with the alarms ringing.
This occurred just as the industry delegates were posing for a photo shoot for the launch of a new carbon reduction scheme at European airports - which will not include emissions from aircraft. Meanwhile, other protesters held a banner outside the entrance reading, 'Aviation Industry Conference – Climate Criminals Inside'.
Check out the photos on our Flickr photostream.
The group were protesting against the aviation's growing contribution to climate change. Megan Sims from Manchester Plane Stupid said, "The airport industry is recklessly pushing ahead with expansion plans across the UK and Europe despite all the warnings about climate change. We cannot pursue this growth agenda if we are serious about tackling global warming."
"Their latest back-patting exercise is yet more greenwash from the airport industry. They provide the growth of the facilities for aircraft to operate and encourage more flights, more emissions and more climate change."
The three day conference was being hosted by Airports Council International. The conference was suspended whilst house staff struggled to remove the floating alarms from the ceiling.
Plane Stupid stage corporate takeover of London City Airport
5 eco activists have shut down operations at London City Airport. The group, who are wearing pinstriped suits and bowler hats entered at 2.30 am today. They cut through the perimeter fence and formed a human wheel clamp around one of the airport’s business jet fleet at the west end of the runway. The need to avoid sparks around highly flamable aviation fuel could mean that the normal process of cutting them out of their armtubes could be severely hampered.
Check out the photos on our Flickr photostream.
The ‘eco-takeover’ puts the spotlight on the selfishness of private jet use:
“Because of their low passenger capacity, small jets emit between five and 10 times more carbon per passenger than commercial flights,” said spokeswoman Nancy Birch. “In an age where we face potentially catastrophic climate change, this is no longer an acceptable form of transport. It’s time that private jets were grounded for good.”
Until the downturn, the private jet business was the fastest growing segment of the aviation sector. Over the last ten years it has expanded by almost 50%.
“This is yet another example of the insane rush towards massive airport and flight expansion,” Birch concludes. “The aviation industry seems to think it can pollute its way out of climate change. But anyone with half a brain will know that this is just plane stupid.”
London City airport blights the lives of some of the poorest people in London. Newham experiences air pollution levels which regularly exceed EU safety limits for hightly toxic chemicals such as nitrus oxide and has the highest levels of mortality in under 30s in the UK from asthma, a matter that AsthmaUK are currently investigating.
While it seems the group have successfully shut down the private jet centre, locals are reporting that public flights started running from City from 7am.
Photos by Phil Ball.
Plane Stupid Scotland: four arrested over peaceful banner drop
Four activists from Plane Stupid Scotland were arrested after a peaceful banner drop near Edinburgh airport. After dropping a banner reading 'Airport expansion is stupid' from the fourth story of a car park opposite the terminal building they were taken to St Leonard’s police station and charged with Breach of the Peace. The four were to appear in court on Friday, but the case was thrown out moments before the court opened.
The action was highlighting the double standards of the Scottish government committing to an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emission by 2050 whole planning to expand all of Scotland’s airports. The group also questioned the logic of 60% of flights from Edinburgh airport being to UK destination.
One of the protestors, Natalie, said "Ordinary people like us must realise that if we don't take action to save ourselves then no one else will. Overwhelming Scientific evidence points to the fact that we have very little time left before our emissions take us to the point of no return and aviation is the fastest growing cause of carbon emissions in the UK. Yes, Climate science is complex but some things seem very clear cut; expanding airports at a time when we need to be dramatically curbing our emissions is stupid."
After causing no alarm and agreeing to peacefully take the banner down, the protesters were unexpectedly taken to St Leonard's police station in Edinburgh, along with a friend who was simply taking a photo of the stunt. It became apparent the real reason for their sudden arrest was for CID to aggressively interrogate the four, part of their on-going efforts to find informers from within the group. Laughably, the CID men compared the group's "leaders" to Hitler and warned the protesters that dogs could easily have been set on them!
This is yet another heavy handed arrest by police treating protestors in the UK on the same level as criminals and terrorists. After recent reports from last year’s Climate Camp showing police included confiscation of soap "because protesters might use it to make themselves slippery and evade the grip of police" more and more protestors are denied their freedom of expression and ending up in custody for speaking out against Government policy.
Johnny Agnew, a spokesman for Plane Stupid Scotland said “It feels as if this country is becoming a police state. The police are so nervous about public protest that they will arrest and charge us over anything possible. Every day we are confronted by endless advertising from powerful corporations and yet normal people cannot make their voices heard.”
Plane Stupid slimes Peter Mandelson
6th March - Early this morning a Plane Stupid activist covered Peter Mandelson in green custard to protest his involvement in the dodgy decision on a third Heathrow runway, as he arrived at a government summit on low-carbon technology.
Leila Deen, 29, said:
"That such a clearly corrupt human being is still in government, despite being unelected, is an affront to democracy and a threat to any hope we have of stopping the impact that climate change is already beginning to have on our lives. We have a tiny window left to stop climate change. I want to tell my children that I did not stand back and applaud as Mandelson ruined our last chance."
Photos available on Plane Stupid's Flickr photostream. All photos licensed under Creative Commons.
Play Leila Deen - Custard Queen here...
"The only thing green about Peter Mandelson is the slime coursing through his veins. That Mandelson is today trying to make political capital out of climate change just days after reports that he met BAA's top lobbyist several times in the run up to the Heathrow decision is an insult to our intelligence and to our whole generation that will suffer from climate change."
"We know that Mandelson is best buddies with BAA's top lobbyist Roland Rudd, and reports suggest it was him who bullied Ed Miliband into accepting a third runway. We can't let the Prince of Darkness cast his shadow over West London."
