Eco-campaigners have announced plans to take their anti-coal Kingsnorth protest to the waves during a week-long demonstration, Yourmedway reports.
The Camp for Climate Action said a flotilla of rafts would be launched into the River Medway in August to help in their efforts to “shut down” the plant.
The green fleet will set sail between August 3 and 12, coinciding with the Kingsnorth camp, expected to be attended by more than 2,000 eco-activists.
Protestor Sarah Jenkins, one of those coordinating the sea-borne strike, said: “Once on the river we will swim towards Kingsnorth like a giant shoal of disobedient fish, all with one simple and achievable aim in mind: shutting down the climate criminal.”
Fellow organiser Christine Ellis added: “At last year’s event we started planning the day of action at the camp.
“This year we’re already way ahead of the game. Maps have been distributed, affinity groups formed and our four-prong mass action approach is going to be a spectacle to behold.”
The naval announcement comes just a week after Camp spokesman Mel Jones told Grain villagers and police of their plans to shut down the power plant during the protest, an exclusively revealed by Yourmedway.
Despite police warning action would be taken against any law breakers, the group stood by their plans.
Spokesman Isabelle Michel said: “The Camp for Climate Action has collectively decided that we will aim to shut down Kingsnorth power station.
“Coal is the dirtiest of fossil fuels and has no place in a sensible strategy to deal with climate chaos. There is only one thing to do with fossil fuels: leaving them in the ground.
“Some participants in the camp will be prepared to break the law as sometimes it is the only way to induce the changes that are necessary.”
The Camp for Climate Action and fellow eco-activists Greenpeace have hit out at E.ON’s plans to build coal-fired units at Kingsnorth, saying the plant would emit more than eight million tonnes of CO2 each year – making it “one of the most climate-wrecking plants in Europe”.
The environmental implications of the controversial proposal were championed by Conservative leader David Cameron in his ‘Blue/Green Charter’, which suggested that the Kingsnorth plans would not go ahead under his premiership.
He said: “Our generation has the chance to change our whole relationship with coal and transform the way we generate energy.
“By capturing the carbon dioxide produced in generation and burying it underground, carbon capture and storage (CCS) could reduce our coal-based carbon emissions by up to eighty-five percent.
“We really could get the energy we need without harming our environment.”
POSTED: 19/06/2008 16:53:47