Press Coverage
Ctrl Meets Climate9
Ctrl Alt Shift. Richard Lemmer 05.07.10
Last weekend (June 26), nine activists were found guilty of trying to save the environment. In the early hours of a March morning last year, the nine members of Plane Stupid occupied part of Aberdeen Airport, disrupting and cancelling flights for hours. The group sees their action as saving tonnes of CO2 being emitted into the ozone – their judge saw it in a different light. The activists will find out in August if they will face a fine, community service or even prison.
But for 26 year old Climate9 member Dan Glass (the defendant and now potential inmate), it is a great result. “I’m very good. Feeling happy… we’ve made a great impact.”
Dan isn’t the kind of guy to be devastated by the prospect of a criminal record; in 2008, Dan super-glued himself to Gordon Brown and confronted him about the need to tackle climate change. “I’m happy to get into a little bit of trouble for a good cause,” Dan says, “but it has to be strategic, support the right to life and stop the problem at its source.” And prison…? Dan adds: “I’m fine to go to prison. I have no dependents. If we are sent to prison, it will just create another campaign to create interest in the issue. And community service won’t be a problem, but how will that work as a punishment? Our direct action against the aviation industry is a community service.”
Direct action may be Plane Stupid’s forte, but direct action against who? When the group caused widespread disruptions at Stansted airport last year, a disgruntled flyer provided an easy soundbite for the Guardian: “In the modern world we live in, people want to travel. Cheap flights allow us to have homes elsewhere.” Is Plane Stupid just annoying the very people it should try to convince? “We know it’s easy to just stick your head in the sand when it comes to climate change. But that doesn’t make it right. We have to confront the issue. And we know the majority of people do their bit. It’s not the average homeowner doing their recycling and trying to cycle more that is the problem. It is only 10% of the population which take 46% of the flights. Climate Change is as much about poverty and wealth as it is about the environment. It’s about those with power – the government and big business – being held accountable for their actions.”
Dan is echoing another Plane Stupid member who claimed it was “The Generation of Donald Trump and Alex Salmond” which has failed the next generation, and Dan’s words help to explain why the group have specifically targeted private jets.
“I’m happy to get into a little bit of trouble for a good cause, but it has to be strategic, support the right to life and stop the problem at its source… If we are sent to prison, it will just create another campaign to create interest in the issue… Our direct action against the aviation industry is a community service.”
Yet Dan is quick to point out that while the responsibility may be distributed unevenly, the problem is affecting – and being tackled by – a great number of people. “We had a huge number of people giving their support during the trial. It’s one of the best things to come out of the campaign – so many different organisations and groups are banding around this one issue.”
“We think it has really shocked the government to see young student activists gardening with OAP’s from the WI,” Dan says, referring to the group’s work revitalising an allotment in the town of Sipson which was threatened by the proposed third runway at Heathrow. The group also created a resident scheme; activists vowed to campaign on behalf of an elderly resident and even oppose the bulldozers if the runway plan was not scrapped (thankfully, it has been). “But the groups showing an interest are so disperse,” Dan says, “We’ve had support from trade unions, women’s rights groups, racial equality groups. Even ex-oil workers and people within the aviation industry.”
Dan is keen to stress the importance of the scientists who testified for Plane Stupid at the recent trial. “It’s easy to forget Copenhagen and all the research that has been done. But we have to stay focused on the issue of climate change, and then we have to find ways to deal with it.” At the trial, Dr Alice Bows said that “The UK government’s committee on Climate Change policy of 80% reduction in emissions by 2050 only gives us a 50:50 chance of avoiding dangerous climate change – you wouldn’t go to sleep in a house that had a 50:50 chance of burning down in the night.”
With just a 50% chance of stopping dangerous climate change, should we start preparing for the worse now? There are certainly pundits who think so. Fred Pierce, an environmental commentator for the Guardian, has claimed that climate change is happening and will continue to happen, and there is not going to be a revolution in terms of drastically altering the way we lead our lives; so we should find ways to deal with population displacement. 
Is Plane Stupid wasting its time? Should we focus on mitigating outcomes rather than correcting problems? “There is still so much to be done in terms of changing our carbon heavy lifestyle. It needs to change or our problems will become worse and worse,” Dan says. “And if we throw up our hands at this hurdle, dealing with these problems of cutting down waste and flying less and less, how are we going to deal with problems later on? If we can’t find away to cut our emissions now, we won’t be able to deal with the problems it will cause.”
It’s clear action and change is needed – now. So if a young person is engaged by this issue and they want to make a positive change, what is the best thing they can do start taking positive action? Joining a group, or starting a group, publicity, or becoming informed? “All of them. Everything,” Dan says. “They should become informed, read up on the issue, debate with their friends, change the way they live their lives, support each other through the process and take the necessary action. Think how their actions – their consumption, their car ride, their flight – will literally change the planet. And they can get involved with any one of countless groups – not just Plane Stupid. Now is a great time to be passionate about the environment.”
Even if it gets you arrested? (I asked).
“It doesn’t have to get you arrested,” Dan says. “And you’ve got to remember – it could get you a very close handshake with the prime minister.”
Climate campaigners found guilty of disrupting Aberdeen airport
Nine climate activists who disrupted Aberdeen airport in protest against greenhouse emissions last year have been found guilty of breaching the peace.
The nine were convicted at Aberdeen Sheriff’s court on Friday afternoon and are scheduled to be sentenced in August.
The defendants had argued that the capitalist system was responsible for the destruction of the planet.
One of the nine, Dan Glass, a community worker from Glasgow, said: “There can be little doubt that capitalism is a cancer that robs people of their autonomy as well as their labour.
“It relies on limitless growth, externalises costs, refusing to even count the things that matter and in the end there is simply no way to quantify the value of an ecosystem in terms of money – so this system must end if we are to save our planet.”
Commenting following the nine activists’ conviction another of the defendants, Jimmy Kerr from Paisley, said: “This verdict shows that the mechanisms of the Establishment won’t stop runaway climate change.”
Dan Glass Found Guilty
You might remember Dan Glass (he’s on the right in this picture) from our Green Special in Will Young’s Guest Edited issue last November. Dan was one of our ‘Green Gays’.
Dan is a member of anti aviation climate change group Plane Stupid which is trying to bring attention to the huge threat that scientists say we face from climate change.
Today Dan and 8 other people who have been named the Climate Nine were found guilty in court in Aberdeen of Breach of the Peace for breaking into Aberdeen Airport last August to protest about the expansion of airports and the fact that the government is not doing what the highest scientific institutions in the world say we should be doing to fight climate change.
The 9 now face heavy fines or a jail term and will be sentenced in last August. The court heard controversial evidence from the police who said their protest delayed the launch of a helicopter from the airport that was on an emergency mission to help a sick baby. The air ambulance company director has since claimed that the protestors had nothing to do with the delay, and that it was caused by operational factors. Nevertheless when the protestors heard about this at the time of the protest last year they brought it to an end.
It seems fairly crazy that people like Dan Glass are risk being sent to jail while companies like BP get to pollute the world, destroying peoples lives and get away with it. Peter Tatchell has said many times that climate change is a direct threat to gay people because when the climate shifts start affecting the worlds economies in a significant way, we could see a depression that makes the recent recession look trivial. These are the times when the far right traditionally do well – so it could be the case that long before the climate collapses, gay rights may come under threat – which is a point we continue to try and make in attitude.
Scientists including Stephen Hawking, the Chief UK Scientist, James Hansen the head climatologist from NASA as well as thousands more from the worlds leading scientific bodies are telling us we need to take serious action against climate change now and that it’s almost too late – yet we aren’t.
Who’s acting in a recklessly dangerous way and who’s breaching the peace? Seems clear to us.
Aberdeen airport climate change protesters found guilty
Plane Stupid activists face fines or jail after jury finds that direct action is not justified by fight against climate change.
Severin Carrell, The Guardian. Friday 25 June 2010
A group of climate activists have failed in their bid to persuade a jury that direct action against aviation is justified as part of the battle to tackle global warming.
The nine activists from the protest campaign Plane Stupid face heavy fines or jail terms after being found guilty of breach of the peace at Aberdeen sheriff court for occupying the taxiway at Aberdeen airport for five hours in March last year, disrupting around 20 flights.
There was controversy during the trial over police claims that the occupation was endangering an emergency flight to help a critically-ill baby in Inverness. Fears that the child was at risk led the protesters to cut short their occupation, but the air ambulance company director later denied the protesters were to blame; he said the flight was delayed solely by operational problems.
During the action, seven protesters built a make-shift cage on the asphalt. While five locked themselves to the structure with bicycle-style D-locks around their necks, two played mini-golf using plastic childrens’ golf sets in an attempt to ridicule plans by US billionaire Donald Trump for a £750m golf resort north of Aberdeen.
The other two activists scaled the main terminal building, and occupied the roof with a banner stating: “Nae Trump Games With Climate Change.”
The prosecution dropped vandalism charges against all nine during the trial. But the majority verdicts by the 15-person jury, which followed a two-week trial, is another setback for the climate movement, coming soon after the failure of the Copenhagen climate summit to reach a definitive decision on cutting emissions.
The protesters, who had dubbed themselves the Climate9, had hoped to repeat the success of the Kingsnorth power station activists who were acquitted in Kent in 2008 after arguing that their occupation of the power station had “lawful excuse” because they were preventing “a higher crime to humanity through carbon emissions”.
They produced expert witnesses, including Dr Alice Bows, a climatologist with the Tyndall centre at Manchester university, who told the jury that aviation was a major contribution to climate change.
Bows also said the UK’s carbon emissions target of cut CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050 were not enough to prevent “dangerous” climate change. “If we want to have a chance of avoiding climate change, our emission reductions would have to be more,” she told the jury.
Speaking after the trial, one of the defendants, Dan Glass, 25, from Glasgow, said climate protesters now had to step up their campaigns of civil disobedience after their defeat. He said he was not surprised to be found guilty.
“We were in the self-titled oil capital of Europe and to get climate change in front of a jury is an achievement in itself. To get one of the top sheriffs in Aberdeen to say let’s not dispute that climate change is man-made is an achievement,” he said.
“Two weeks talking about the important civil disobedience and protest and freedom of expression in the face of runaway climate change is an achievement. We now know the importance of non-violent direct action in the fact of inaction from the courts.”
Another defendant, Tilly Gifford, 24, from Glasgow, said: “We set out to show in court that policies such as the aviation white paper contradict what the science demands. Now that the court has heard expert witnesses testify to the imperative need to cut emissions, they are mandated to prosecute the real criminals, the corporations who are profiting from polluting.”
A police video of the protest, which was today released by PlaneStupid on YouTube, shows a Grampian police inspector stating that the protest was preventing an emergency flight taking off.
The police commentary said: “Protesters have just been advised of the situation that there is a critically ill baby that is requiring to be airlifted from Raigmore to Glasgow with a helicopter requiring to lift off from Aberdeen airport using this taxiway. They are now deciding amongst themselves what to do.”
A transcript of the statement twice substituted the words “the Isles” for “Raigmore”, the main hospital in Inverness.
A police chief inspector then tells Glass: “The position is it has to come through here. That’s what I’ve been advised. It’s leaving here, to go up to Raigmore to pick up this baby. [I'm] not lying to you. This is the information I’m getting now.”
However, during the trial Steve Wright, operational director of Gama Aviation, which operated the air ambulance, said the flight was late taking off only because of an “operational delay caused by medics”. It had been due to take off at 0800 hours – an hour after the police alleged the emergency flight was being impeded. It eventually took off at 0835. “We have no complaint regarding this matter,” he said in a statement.
The nine defendants were Glass; Gifford; Emilia Kawowska, 19, Josie Hanson, 25 and Jonathan Agnew, 22, all from Glasgow; Mark Andrews, 25, from Edinburgh; James Kerr, 34, from Paisley; William Boggia, 43, from Ballater, Aberdeenshire and Kate Mackay, 20, from Shipley, West Yorkshire. They are due to be sentenced on 25 August.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/25/aberdeen-climate-change-protesters-face-jail
Climate-change protesters ‘are not criminals’
Nine were exercising their right to protest – claim
By Catriona Webster. Press and Journal
Published: 25/06/2010
An allegation that nine climate change protesters accused of causing disruption at Aberdeen Airport were breaching the peace has been dismissed as “baloney”.
Five men and four women are on trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court accused of having forced the airport to close, prevented aircraft from landing and taking off and putting people in a state of fear and alarm on March 3 last year.
The nine accused are Mark Andrews, William Boggia, Matilda Gifford, Daniel Glass, Emilia Karwowska, James Kerr, Katherine MacKay, Jonathan Agnew and Josephine Hanson.
Defence counsel for the protesters gave their closing speeches yesterday.
Advocate George Gebbie, counsel for Mark Andrews, said that far from shutting down the airport, aircraft were “whizzing” into the sky during the protest.
He told the jury: “I suggest to you there is an element of baloney in this case.
“We are told that this was a peaceful protest. If it is a peaceful protest, how can it be a breach of the peace? It is a contradiction in terms.
“These are peaceful protesters, careful protesters and caring protesters, and what they are protesting about is a reasonably-held, serious concern.”
He dismissed the prosecution claim that the actions of the nine interfered with the running of the airport as “rubbish” and “inflated”. Advocate Allan Macleod, for James Kerr, said: “The right to protest is a fundamental right in a democratic society.
“These are people who care passionately about environmental issues that affect us all. They are not criminals.”
Advocate Frank Gallagher, for Katherine MacKay, said the decision to prosecute the case by way of a jury trial was “complete overkill”.
But fiscal depute Alan Townsend urged the jury to set aside personal views on the issue of climate change and focus on whether or not a criminal offence had been committed.
He said: “I am not suggesting that it might not be an important issue for another forum, but is it relevant to this particular case?
“Are the motives relevant to the matter of whether or not a breach of the peace had been committed?
“I would invite you to take the view that they are not.”
Boggia, 44, of Abergeldie Cottage, Ballater; Andrews, 26, Edinburgh; Gifford, 26, Glass, 26, Karwowska, 20, Agnew, 24, Hanson, 25, all of Glasgow; Kerr, 35, of Paisley; MacKay, 21, of Shipley, Yorkshire, all deny the charge of breaching the peace.
The trial continues.
Expert warns flooding set to get worse
Witness at climate-change trial says rate is increasing
Press and Journal. -By Catriona Webster
Published: 24/06/2010
Flooding in the north-east will get worse if no action is taken to stop global warming, a court heard yesterday.
Expert witnesses were giving evidence at the trial of nine climate-change protesters accused of causing disruption at Aberdeen Airport as the defence opened its case.
The five men and four women are on trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court charged with forcing the airport to close, preventing aircraft from landing and taking off and putting people in a state of fear and alarm on March 3 last year.
Dr Geoff Meaden, an expert in biogeography and coastal hazards, told the court about his research on flooding.
Dr Meaden said it was his opinion that climate change and global warming were having an impact on the rate of flooding in the area.
He said: “Within a period of six weeks last year there were three very, very major flooding incidents in the Elgin area which were unprecedented.
“The ferocity of each of these three floods were what we would normally classify as a once-in-200-years event.”
Dr Alice Bows, a climate scientist at Manchester University, also gave evidence, telling the court that in the UK, air travel contributed 6% of carbon emissions.
Shelagh McCall, defence counsel for one of the accused, asked: “Am I right in saying that the less planes, the less emissions and the more chance we have of starting to begin to try and meet the challenges that we face?”
“That’s correct,” Dr Bows replied.
The experts gave their evidence on the same day that vandalism charges against the protesters were dropped.
The group is alleged to have entered the airport premises, climbed on to the terminal building roof, behaved in a disorderly manner and refused to leave when asked.
Sheriff Colin Harris ruled there was not enough evidence to continue prosecuting the demonstrators on the basis that they destroyed or damaged airport property.
A further change was made to the remaining charge, meaning the demonstrators were no longer alleged to have “forcibly” entered the airport.
William Boggia, 44, of Abergeldie Cottage, Ballater; Mark Andrews, 26, of 33 Panmure Place, Edinburgh; Matilda Gifford, 26, of 108 Wilton Street, Glasgow; Daniel Glass, 26, of 1 Willowbank Street, Glasgow; Emilia Karwowska, 20, of 40 West End Park Street, Glasgow; James Kerr, 35, of 27 Newton Street, Paisley; Katherine MacKay, 21, of 36 Birklands Road, Shipley, Yorkshire; Jonathan Agnew, 24, of 958 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, and Josephine Hanson, 25, of 40 West End Park Street, Glasgow, deny the remaining charge against them.
The trial continues today.
UK emission cuts ‘not radical enough’, airport protest trial told
Wed 23rd 2010
Climate scientist giving evidence for the Plane Stupid defence says 80% target will not prevent ‘dangerous’ climate change
Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent, Guardian online
Government plans to cut UK carbon emissions by 80% over the next 40 years are not radical enough to prevent “dangerous” climate change, a trial of nine climate protesters heard today.
The climate scientist Dr Alice Bows, a specialist from the Tyndall centre for climate change research, also told a jury that the growth in aviation was a “big issue” because its emissions caused particular harm at higher altitude.
Bows was giving evidence for the defence at the trial of nine members of the Plane Stupid protest group, who were facing breach of the peace and vandalism charges for occupying Aberdeen airport and disrupting flights in March last year.
The jury at Aberdeen sheriff court heard yesterday that the vandalism charges against all nine accused – five men and four women – had been dropped by the prosecution because of insufficient evidence.
Bows, who has a PhD in atmospheric physics, said the Scottish government’s climate change programme, which seeks to cut emissions by up to 40% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, was “welcome” but not enough. The UK government has a similar 2050 target.
“That’s a very big challenge but not high enough,” she said. “If we want to have a chance of avoiding climate change, our emission reductions would have to be more. “If we achieve the short term and the 80% target, we have a 50-50 chance of avoiding dangerous climate change. The later you leave it, the harder it gets.”
Bows added that the aviation industry was of particular concern.
“Condensation trails, or the white trails, are also causing climate warming. On a UK basis, air travel contributes 6% of carbon dioxide emissions. If you compare that to other sectors, it’s quite a significant contribution,” she said.
“The big issue with aviation is the level of growth. The UK has a high level of emissions compared to the rest of the world.”
Finding and introducing a greener alternative to kerosene could take between 30 and 50 years to develop. She said: “There would be certain people, certain sectors of society, you might want to encourage to fly less.”
Dr Geoff Meaden, a geographer who gave evidence at the trial of the Kingsnorth power station climate protesters, said rising temperatures due to climate change were already affecting weather patterns in the north-east of Scotland.
While sea level rises and hotter summers were hitting southern Britain, flooding was becoming a particular problem in the Aberdeen area. “In a period of six years, there were three major floods in the Elgin and Lossiemouth areas and these were unprecedented,” he said.
“If we look back at the historical records, we have not seen that frequency in the past – it was a one in a 200-year event. It can be avoided if sufficient and urgent action is taken. There has to be a different outlook on energy production. We have to stop burning fossil fuel. That’s the one major thing we can do.”
The nine defendants, Dan Glass, 25, Emilia Kawowska, 19, Tilly Gifford, 24, Josie Hanson, 25, and Jonathan Agnew, 22, all from Glasgow, Mark Andrews, 25, from Edinburgh, James Kerr, 34, from Paisley, William Boggia, 43, from Ballater, Aberdeenshire, and Kate Mackay, 20, from Shipley, West Yorkshire, all deny the charges.
The trial continues today.
Airport trial told carbon emissions cuts ‘not enough’
BBC Online. Wednesday 23rd June 2010.
Plans to dramatically cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2050 are not high enough to prevent “dangerous” climate change, an expert has claimed.
Dr Alice Bows made the warning while appearing for the defence in the trial of nine people alleged to have caused major disruption at Aberdeen Airport.
She said the aviation industry caused particular harm to the environment.
The trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court follows an incident at the airport in March 2009.
A group called Plane Stupid was involved in the incident.
Dr Bows, from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in Manchester, said government carbon reduction plans were “welcome” but not enough.
The defendants are Mark Andrews, 26, from Edinburgh; William Boggia, 44, from Ballater, Aberdeenshire; Matilda Gifford, 25, Daniel Glass, 26, Emilia Karwowska, 20, Jonathan Agnew, 24, and Josephine Hanson, 25, all from Glasgow; James Kerr, 35, from Paisley, Renfrewshire; and Katherine Mackay, 21, from Shipley, West Yorkshire.
All nine deny the charges.
The trial continues.
Plane Stupid activists on trial for disrupting flights from Aberdeen
Climate campaigners charged with breach of the peace and vandalism
Monday 14 June 2010. The Guardian
Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent
Nine climate activists from Plane Stupid are expected to go on trial today after staging a protest which disrupted flights at Aberdeen airport last year.
The nine protesters have been charged with breach of the peace and vandalism after they allegedly occupied part of the tarmac and a terminal building at the airport before dawn in March 2009.
The action led to disruption for 10 of the 350 scheduled flights at Aberdeen, a busy regional airport which specialises in European flights servicing the city’s oil and tourism industries and providing “life line” services to outlying Scottish islands.
The trial, before a sheriff and jury, is expected to last two to four weeks. The nine protesters are expected to plead not guilty, arguing they were attempting to prevent the wider and more serious damage to the environment threatened by climate change.
Nine face Aberdeen Airport protest trial
14th June 2010. BBC Online
Nine people who allegedly forced Aberdeen Airport to close down during a protest have gone on trial.
It follows an incident at the airport involving a group called Plane Stupid in March 2009.
The nine face charges including breach of the peace and vandalism.
About 40 climate change protesters gathered outside Aberdeen Sheriff Court before the start of the trial, which is expected to last several days.
The accused are said to have cut a security fence and locked themselves to fencing they erected on an aircraft taxiing area, preventing take-offs or landings.
The nine – eight from Scotland and one from England – are also charged with climbing on to the roof of the terminal building and displaying a banner.
Airport security officer Claire Sandison, 26, told the trial she spotted a group of people piecing together a square of metal fencing when on patrol in the early hours of 3 March.
Under cross examination by defence lawyer George Gebbie QC, Ms Sandison said when she carried out her patrol at 0100 GMT the airport was open to emergency flights only, and there were no such flights that morning.
‘Safe area’The witness agreed with Mr Gebbie when he said: “Effectively, Aberdeen Airport was shut at that time.”
She also agreed the site of the fencing, the holding point on the taxiway, was a “safe area for vehicles to taxi on”.
He said: “When you are here, you don’t present any danger to what is on the runway? It is, by definition, a safe area?”
Ms Sandison agreed, but later said it was a safe area “when there’s permission”.
She agreed that air traffic control gives clearance for people to use the taxiway “to stop dangerous situations developing”, and said the people she saw had not been given permission.
The defendants are Mark Andrews, 26, from Edinburgh; William Boggia, 44, from Ballater, Aberdeenshire; Matilda Gifford, 25, Daniel Glass, 26, Emilia Karwowska, 20, Jonathan Agnew, 24, and Josephine Hanson, 25, all from Glasgow; James Kerr, 35, from Paisley, Renfrewshire; and Katherine Mackay, 21, from Shipley, West Yorkshire.
All nine deny the charges against them.
The trial continues on Tuesday.
Scottish climate activists in the dock hope to set legal precedent
14th June 2010. The Ecologist
Climate activists who broke into Aberdeen Airport hope to convince jury their actions were justified in preventing larger crime of runaway climate change
The trial of nine climate activists accused of breaching the peace and vandalism after breaking into Aberdeen Airport in a protest against airport expansion begins today.
The activists, who forced Aberdeen Airport to shut down for two and half hours in March 2009, say plans to expand all seventeen Scottish airports could triple the country’s aviation emissions at a time when we should be cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Legal representatives will argue that their non-violent actions were justified because of the Government’s failure to tackle runaway climate change and danger it poses to humanity.
Kingsnorth six
The activists are hoping to use the precedent set under English law by six Greenpeace campaigners who were cleared by a jury in 2008. The ‘Kingsnorth six’ had been accused of causing £30,000 of criminal damage to the Kingsnorth power station in a protest against the expansion of coal-fired plants.
They were acquitted after arguing they had a ‘lawful excuse’ because they were acting to protect property around the world in immediate need of protection from the impacts of climate change, caused in part by burning coal.
Environmental lawyers say another verdict in favour of climate activists by a jury could mark a shift in ‘social values’.
‘In the civil rights era in the United States protesters sometimes broke the law because of their moral views and were exonerated by juries. Prior to that during the era of slavery juries would sometimes refuse to convict those who helped slaves escape from their owners,’ said ClientEarth CEO James Thornton.
‘Environmental protests that intentionally go over the edge of the law, and which sometimes lead to the protesters being exonerated, are a laboratory where we can see society adjust to environmental facts taking place,’ he added.
A statement on behalf of the nine activists said they were prepared to ‘pay the price for speaking the truth’ and bring justice for those detrimentally affected by climate change.
‘Whatever happens to us, the Climate 9 trial is an opportunity to spread the need for urgent action and to challenge the authorities with pride and confidence,’ they said.
The trial is expected to last two weeks.
Top Press Stories
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/aug/25/climate-change-activists-broke-law Yes, we broke the law as climate change activists. And this is why – We’re not terrorists, we’re people who believe delivering our message on climate change is worth being charged and fined
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/572294/climate_activism_is_the_trial_more_important_than_the_protest.html (also in http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/26/climate-activism-trial-protest ) Climate activism: is the trial more important than the protest? They came in the night, wielding plastic golf clubs and D-locks, playing mini-golf on the tarmac of Aberdeen airport before locking themselves to a barricade to disrupt the morning’s flights.
Video http://news.stv.tv/scotland/193889-aberdeen-airport-climate-protestors-fined/ Aberdeen airport climate protestors fined: Plane Stupid activists were fined £5000 for causing disruption in March.
Video http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/25/aberdeen-climate-change-protesters-face-jail A Grampian police inspector tells activists their protest is preventing an emergency flight taking off – Aberdeen airport climate change protesters found guilty: Plane Stupid activists face fines or jail after jury finds that direct action is not justified by fight against climate change
Sentencing/ Post Trial
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/8353631.Shipley_student_fined_over_airport_climate_change_protest/ Kate MacKay climbed onto roof at Aberdeen Airport
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1889155?UserKey= Convicted activists who shut runway hint at more action
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1889155?UserKey=#ixzz0xjeT1ck0 Plane stupid outcome: Punishment does not fit the crime
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1888465/?UserKey= Airport protesters claim win over costs
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/transport-environment/airport-protesters-claim-win-over-costs-1.1050564 Nine Plane Stupid activists fined for Aberdeen airport stunt
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/25/plane-stupid-activists-fined Aberdeen Airport climate protesters fined £5,000
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-11074426 Actions Vindicated – “willing to go to prison” to continue fighting climate change.
Trial and the Campaign
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/23/uk-emission-cuts-airport-protest-trial UK emission cuts ‘not radical enough’, airport protest trial told: Climate scientist giving evidence for the Plane Stupid defence says 80% target will not prevent ‘dangerous’ climate change
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1799306?UserKey=#ixzz0wZsGzO2s Nine were exercising their right to protest – claim Climate-change protesters ‘are not criminals’
http://www.attitude.co.uk/viewblog.aspx?blogid=2659&viewuserid=1d17547e-17b6-4271-8b20-f3eb845a65d0 Dan Glass Found Guilty
http://www.ctrlaltshift.co.uk/article/ctrl-meets-climate9 Plane Stupid Climate9: “Our direct action against the aviation industry is a community service.”
http://www.planestupid.com/content/plane-stupid-scotland-shuts-aberdeen-airport Plane Stupid Blog: Plane Stupid Scotland shuts Aberdeen airport
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/25/aberdeen-climate-change-protesters-face-jail Aberdeen airport climate change protesters found guilty: Plane Stupid activists face fines or jail after jury finds that direct action is not justified by fight against climate change
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/23/uk-emission-cuts-airport-protest-trial UK emission cuts ‘not radical enough’, airport protest trial told: Climate scientist giving evidence for the Plane Stupid defence says 80% target will not prevent ‘dangerous’ climate change
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/17/plane-stupid-protesters Plane Stupid protesters did not create life-threatening impact, court told: A ‘delay caused by medics’ prevented emergency flight taking off, air ambulance operator tells trial
http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/33497/plane-protesters-breached-peace Plane protesters breached peace
http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/32227/support-jewish-green-protesters Support for Jewish green protesters: A campaign has been launched to support Jewish environmentalists accused of staging a protest which forced the closure of Aberdeen Airport.
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/509572/scottish_climate_activists_in_the_dock_hope_to_set_legal_precedent.html Ecologist; Scottish climate activists in the dock hope to set legal precedent
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10308202 Plane Stupid activists on trial for disrupting flights from Aberdeen
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1797411?UserKey=#ixzz0wZs1X1di Witness at climate-change trial says rate is increasing: Expert warns flooding set to get worse
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/14/plane-stupid-activists-on-trial-aberdeen1 Climate protesters ‘played mini-golf’ on the asphalt at Aberdeen airport: Court hears how Plane Stupid activists began playing mini-golf during anti-aviation protest
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1799306?UserKey=#ixzz0rsIUitKz Climate-change protesters ‘are not criminals’: Nine were exercising their right to protest – claim “We are told that this was a peaceful protest. If it is a peaceful protest, how can it be a breach of the peace? It is a contradiction in terms.”
www.bbc.co.uk/news/10308202 Nine face Aberdeen Airport protest trial: “When you are here, you don’t present any danger to what is on the runway? It is, by definition, a safe area?”
www.theecologist.org/…/scottish_climate_activists_in_the_dock_hope_to_set_legal_precedent.html Scottish climate activists in the dock hope to set legal precedent: ‘Environmental protests that intentionally go over the edge of the law, and which sometimes lead to the protesters being exonerated, are a laboratory where we can see society adjust to environmental facts taking place,’
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1800629?UserKey= Airport climate protesters defiant after guilty verdict They claimed their campaign had made “significant progress” and even urged the authorities to prosecute companies that were “profiting from pollution”.
http://airportwatch.org.uk/news/detail.php?art_id=4162
Aberdeen Climate 9 trial – for invasion of runway in 2009 – hope to set precedent – ‘Whatever happens to us, the Climate 9 trial is an opportunity to spread the need for urgent action and to challenge the authorities with pride and confidence,’
http://greenerhealthcare.org/events/2010/06/climate-defence-not-offence Campaign for Greener Healthcare: Climate defence is not an offence
http://www.tmponline.org/2010/05/28/climate-defence/ TMP Online The Multicultural Political Platform and Forum
Radio Interviews
Resonance FM Podcasts: http://podcasts.resonancefm.com/archives/4359 – Joss speaks to Dan Glass and Tilly Gifford of the Climate 9, a group of activists currently on trial in Scotland for an action taken at Aberdeen airport. Featuring Carine Nadal from The Gaia Foundation
http://www.dissidentisland.org/ShowArchive/2010-07-02.html Dan Glass of the Climate 9 on the recent court verdict
