Climate campaigners plan four-day protest at gas power station

Climate campaign group No Dash for Gas has revealed that it is to stage a four-day protest at the Nottinghamshire power station that it successfully shut down for a week last October.

Twenty-one activists scaled chimneys at West Burton, forcing it to close for seven days. Energy firm EDF, which owns the plant, tried to sue the group for £5m but then dropped its civil action because of intense public pressure.

It did however impose an injunction on the activists, preventing them from entering its power stations in the future. And while the original 21 might not be in attendance at the planned protest this summer, The Guardian reports that No Dash for Gas expects the turnout to be “in the high hundreds”.

“The government’s policy of increasing our reliance on gas is pushing millions into fuel poverty. This – coupled with ruthless cuts to essential services – leaves many with an impossible choice between heating and eating”, the No Dash for Gas website says.

“And the same policy guarantees that we’ll miss even our modest carbon reduction targets. Both the financial and the climate crises are related to the pursuit of profit above all else, in the interests of the few and at the expense of the many.”

No Dash for Gas claims West Burton produces 4.5m tonnes of CO2 a year when operating at full capacity. “This is more than the annual emissions of Paraguay”, it adds.

Further reading:

No Dash for Gas celebrates victory as EDF retracts lawsuit

EDF under fire as thousands back No Dash for Gas in online petition

Budget 2013: green measures neglected as Osborne favours fracking

Me and my friends are being sued by EDF. This action should concern us all