INVASION FORCE

...Detailed plans are being drawn up for a mass invasion of Britain‘s third most polluting power station.

The unfolding plot follows an unprecedented vote by thousands of climate activists to determine the target of their next mass direct action, with e.on’s Ratcliffe plant in Nottinghamshire named the clear winner in an announcement made at the Climate Camp last night (Sunday).

The Camp - currently pitched on Blackheath in London - held the online poll over recent weeks. More than 2000 activists voted, with Ratcliffe establishing a clear margin of victory over Drax in Yorkshire. Groups are now forming to plot the shutdown of the station by thousands of people who will descend on the e.on plant by land, water and air.

The invasion will take place on October 17-18, but logistical preparations are already under way at the Blackheath Camp. Teams are investigating Google Earth maps and poring over detailed intelligence on how best to enter the power plant and safely shut it down. Earlier this year, 114 people were arrested for conspiracy to commit aggravated trespass at the power station. No charges have been brought in connection with incident...

from The Guardian-

...A spokesman, Peter McDonnell, said that Climate Camp wanted to shed its image of being made up of "dangerous radicals and middle-class kids" and move into the mainstream.

But the novel tactics reveal a deeper dilemma within the broader environment movement. Climate Camp and the other groups planning the October action, such as anti-aviation group Plane Stupid, know that media coverage, focusing on the aggressive policing of protests such as the G20 in London on 1 April, has earned positive publicity and public sympathy. But organisers are keen to put the focus back on climate change.

They are also aware that some people will be scared off from joining protests with an intimidating atmosphere. Yet it is much harder to get publicity without dramatic direct action... Stephen Tindale, former director of Greenpeace and founder of consultancy Climate Answers, said: "There's still a role for direct action, but it's a bit of a catch-22."

... "We are trying to broaden the movement out to Marks & Spencer clothes-wearing people," said McDonnell.

From Reuters-

An E.ON spokesman said the firm would work with local police to ensure the plant remained safe and in operation.

"We are supportive of peaceful protest but it is unacceptable to us for people to attempt to break into our power stations to shut them down," he said.

"It is not safe for people to go into power stations when they don't know what they are doing."
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