My Summer of Carbon Rage
The iniquities of emissions trading will bring thousands of
protesters to the climate camp in the City of London
Kevin Smith. Weds 25th Feb 2009
In Monday's Guardian, Julian Glover drew parallels between carbon
trading and the notoriously corrupt practice of the Medieval church
in selling pardons. He concluded by calling for "a modern Martin
Luther to nail a shaming truth to industry's door: Europe's whizz-
bang carbon market is turning sub-prime."
Good news: The Camp for Climate Action intends to bring the failure
of carbon markets centre-stage this year. On the 1st of April
thousands will set up camp in the City of London outside the
European Climate Exchange – the biggest trading platform for the EU
Emissions Trading Scheme.
It may seem like a strange place to set up camp, as there is no field
nor obvious target like a dirty power station or a proposed runway.
Yet, for the past two years thousands of people have camped against
new carbon-intensive developments, like the proposed coal-fired power
station at Kingsnorth, and Heathrow's Runway 3, and each time have
been confronted by government and industry stating that these
developments are justified because carbon-emissions permits will be
bought by the companies.
Is the EU trading scheme so bad? Phase 1 of the scheme gave away the
right to pollute for free. Bingo! The biggest polluters then made
billions in windfall profits. Phase 2 and in the wake of market
meltdown, the price of carbon is again at rock-bottom. The EU scheme
is providing all manner of opportunities to pollute and make money,
which is why companies from e.on to BP to BAA are all supporters. As
a mechanism to reduce emissions it has been an out and out failure.
Carbon markets have been aggressively promoted as a solution to
climate change, because of its compatibility with the market-obsessed
economic agenda of recent decades. In short, include a price on the
climate change impacts from emitting carbon, and the market will
solve the problem. Yet the financial crisis has shown that markets
can, and do, get it spectacularly wrong. Of course, on climate, if
markets fail nature will not bail us out.
The Climate Camp's plans to target the carbon markets on the 1st of
April were among those protests that were described in today's
Guardian by Superintendent David Hartshorn as kick-starting a "summer
of rage". Let's hope so, as climate change is a serious threat to our
future and people are right to feel enraged that governments are
failing to address the crisis. We do need to reduce emissions and
carbon markets are not achieving this.
Of course, Superintendent Hartshorn does not mean this, he is using
the recession-provoked threat of social-unrest to justify
increasingly draconian policing of protest in the UK.
This has been exemplified by the attacks on the Climate Camp over the
years. In 2007 our Heathrow protest apparently required some £7
million of policing and surveillance. Anti-terror laws were used
against us, until it was picked up by the media and exposed. In
2008, our Kingsnorth protest required an almost £6 million operation
and violent incursions by riot police. The home office told
parliament that 70 officers had been injured while dealing with the
protesters. This was a lie. The real number was zero. The home office
apologised for misleading parliament. Yet, we know of no police
investigation to find out who lied to Vernon Coaker, Home Office
minister.
And 2009? We will see what happens. But on past evidence it is fair
to conclude that the police will misrepresent those who protest about
climate change on April 1st. Superintendent Hartshorn's comments are
yet more evidence, as former Head of MI5 Stella Rimmington puts it,
that people in the UK are made to feel that "live in fear and under a
police state". The April 1st protest in the square mile will be
about carbon markets, and it seems democracy itself.
posted by thevacuumcleaner at
10:45
