CROWN COURT - PRECEDENT

THE GUARDIAN MAY 1 2019 - The fact of the matter is finally settled. Not the fact that if we do not stop putting carbon into the atmosphere our children will starve. That was settled three decades ago. Rather that the only way to prevent our extinction is through mass participation civil disobedience – thousands of people breaking the laws of our governments until they are forced take action to protect us. In less than a year Extinction Rebellion has gone from 15 people in a room to creating the biggest organised civil disobedience campaign in British history. In the past two weeks more than a thousand people have been arrested and as a result the climate and ecological crisis is finally on the political agenda. Everyone from the Labour party to the Sun newspaper is accepting we are right – we face the destruction of the next generation unless immediate emergency action is taken. For millions of people this week the penny has finally dropped – this is real and it’s terrifyingly serious. Even Michael Gove says he is hearing the message and held a meeting with XR on Tuesday.

The fact of the matter is finally settled. Not the fact that if we do not stop putting carbon into the atmosphere our children will starve. That was settled three decades ago. Rather that the only way to prevent our extinction is through mass participation civil disobedience – thousands of people breaking the laws of our governments until they are forced take action to protect us. In less than a year Extinction Rebellion has gone from 15 people in a room to creating the biggest organised civil disobedience campaign in British history. In the past two weeks more than a thousand people have been arrested and as a result the climate and ecological crisis is finally on the political agenda. Everyone from the Labour party to the Sun newspaper is accepting we are right – we face the destruction of the next generation unless immediate emergency action is taken. For millions of people this week the penny has finally dropped – this is real and it’s terrifyingly serious. Even Michael Gove says he is hearing the message and held a meeting with XR on Tuesday.

Of course, this does not always guarantee success but it is vastly more likely to do so than the alternatives. In the real world you have a limited number of options to choose from and a limited amount of time in which to choose. Conventional campaigning – sending emails, payments to NGOs and more reports – is not going to stop the outrageous destruction of our natural world. It is not going to stop our children entering the hell of social breakdown. It’s time to get real. We need agreement on what works on the basis of the social science – just as we insist on following the natural science on the climate crisis.

Nothing written here is new. Extinction Rebellion is humbly following in the tradition of Gandhi and Martin Luther King. We are simply rediscovering what people do when they have had enough of failure and really want to make a difference.

Dozens of people have come up to me to tell me they have just had the best week of their lives. And that highlights maybe the most important finding of social science – that after covering basic material needs humans beings are not made happier through consuming more stuff. Meaning and happiness – a sense of wholeness and calm – come from engaging with others as a community in making the world a better place. Instead of living the lie that there is nothing we can do we now have a pathway to effective action. Go out with others and break the law. Let’s get on it while there’s still time.

10 MAY 2019 - THE INDEPENDENT

The founder of Extinction Rebellion and another activist have been cleared of all charges relating to protests in which they entered Kings College London and spray painted “Divest from oil and gas” on the walls.

During a three-day trial at Southwark Crown Court, Roger Hallam, 52, and David Durant, 25, who represented themselves, did not deny criminal damage worth £7,000, but argued their actions were a proportionate response to the climate crisis.

Five weeks after the protest, the university reportedly removed £14m worth of investments from fossil fuel companies and pledged to become carbon neutral by 2025.

Afterwards, the university did not pursue prosecution for the pair, but the state took on the case.

Mr Hallam and Mr Durant had used water-soluble chalk-based spray paint.

The prosecution told the court there was “no legitimate basis for applying this spray, even if the defendants did not agree with the policy of the college”.

But despite being stopped repeatedly by Judge Michael Gledhill, QC, each time the pair mentioned climate change, because he said he did not want proceedings “sidelined” into a climate change debate, both activists were acquitted by the jury.

Mr Hallam and Mr Durant argued their actions had been lawful because criminal damage law contains exemptions that allow for damage to be done to private property to protect it from immediate danger.

They argued that private property across the world is in immediate danger of destruction to the calamitous effects of global climate change.

Speaking outside the court on Thursday, Mr Hallam said: “Not only does direct action work, but it wins in a court of law in front of the British public.”

Mr Durant said: “First we won [with] this action, and now we’ve won against the system, and we’ll keep on winning.”

According to The Guardian, Mr Hallam also said: “We are extremely grateful to the jury for following common sense … ordinary people, unlike the judiciary, are able to see the broader picture.

“We sat in the court, we watched paint dry for three days on a ridiculous charge and the jury returned the common sense verdict of not guilty.

“Chalk on the wall is obviously less important than the impending catastrophe for the planet.”

In a video released this week, Mr Durant said there had been meetings over three years with the university about its investment portfolio “that barely achieved anything”, but weeks after the direct action in 2017, “the university dropped all of its fossil fuel investments”.

Mr Hallam, an organic farmer, said: “Just over a decade ago there was a series of extreme weather events which destroyed my business and led to 25 people losing their jobs. Climate emergency is not some abstract concept. Millions of farmers around the world are under extreme economic pressure due to the climate change catastrophe now unfolding.”

IMO, LONDON

YAHOO 13 MAY 2019 - Extinction Rebellion hold Titanic-themed protest outside International Maritime Organization in London 13 May 2019.

Extinction Rebellion welcomed delegates from around the world at the International Maritime Organization in central London this morning (May 13) with a Titanic-themed protest.

An orchestra played music from when the Titanic was sinking as other protesters fumbled with deckchairs and some dressed as waiters offered out wafers.

The protesters believe we are heading towards a "climate disaster."

LINKS & REFERENCE

https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/extinction-rebellion-court-vandalism-roger-hallam-kings-college-southwark-crown-a8907796.html

https://www.facebook.com/ExtinctionRebellion/

https://www.facebook.com/events/2371322099568928/

https://rebellion.earth/

G20 - Like it or not the Group of 20 most industrialized nations are leading us to an irrecoverable end. You can imagine that when these incredible creatures roamed the earth, that they thought they were invincible. It's hard to imagine these creatures existed, but they did and we can learn from them - if that is we want to survive.

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