My hero

Following COVID, Nigel and I are just getting our mojo back.  

Something that helped to stir our blood were these facts about private jet flights:

• Up to 50 times more emissions per passenger mile than an ordinary commercial flight.
• Average number of passengers per private jet flight last year was 2.5 with 40% of flights taking off empty. People are even using private jets to ferry their pampered pets about.
• There's an illusion these flights are for VIPs on very important state business. But the busiest day at private jet terminals is Valentine's Day. Hmm.

So when we got the call to march through Farnborough and demonstrate outside the private jet terminal there, we said yes.

Our role on the march was to step out in the road and hold up a banner to stop traffic just while the marchers passed swiftly through.

This meant we were ahead of the rest of the march.

The guy beside me said, 'Have you seen who we are holding up the traffic for?'

I looked behind me at the head of the march.  'Who is it?  I can't see anybody I recognise.'

'Look again, on the right.'

And when I peered closely an unassuming young woman in a plain grey coat turned out to be Greta Thunberg.

I learned later that she was in the UK for her trial, following her arrest in October.  She sat down in the road in front of the Intercontinental Hotel in London where oil bosses and bankers were meeting to discuss how to make the most possible money out of fossil fuels while frying our planet to death. 

(Nigel was sitting there too, but the police didn't get around to arresting him.)

It was definitely worth making the effort to get out and march.  Seeing our young hero made it even more special.

Valentine's Day treat.

Private jets are one of the most flagrant emitters of massive amounts of carbon.  The busiest day for taking a private jet is Valentine's Day. This refutes the claim that VIPs are using them only for trips vital for business and politics. 

Frankly, they are happy for the rest of us to drown as sea levels rise or to scorch in heatwaves. They are rich enough to have insulated mansions on high ground with guards to protect their food stores. 

So for our Valentine's Day, Nigel and I and around forty friends carried out an act of love for the planet and demonstrated outside the two most-used private jet terminals in the country, at Luton.

Faced with the problem of cutting free people who had locked themselves to a boat and to oil drums, the police made no arrests. 

We were among friends and when the Samba band arrived and the sun came out, and a member of airport security brought us some chocolate biscuits, it was really rather lovely. 

I certainly enjoyed it more than an overpriced dinner in a crowded restaurant and a dozen wilting roses.

How to name a Hedgehog

We are sheltering a young hedgehog until it gains weight and can safely be allowed to hibernate.

I am reluctant to name it since it is a wild creature.

However, Nigel and Carenza insist it should have a name.

And that the name must begin with H.

Nigel favours Hodgkins, but it reminds me of Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Carenza advocates Hannibal, but its far too Silence of the Lambs.

I continue to call it ‘The hedgehog.’

The other evening when Nigel was in a meeting, I went to the bathroom (where its cage is) to give the hedgehog its brimming dish of catfood.

Only to discover that the cage door was open and there was nobody at home.

I stared at the open door catch.  Was this a ‘Clever Girl’ moment as in Jurassic Park when the velociraptor learns how to work doorhandles?

Or was it just another sign of my own decrepitude – had I perhaps failed to lock up after mucking the cage out that morning?

On hands and knees, I peered under every bed, seeking Hannibal-Hodgkins.  But I did not call its name as it would freeze, curl up and go silent. Which is exactly how a wild animal should behave.

And, more importantly, calling its name would also have alerted Nigel to the fact I had let the hedgehog escape.

Eventually, a slight rustling led me to a cosy nook beside the chest of drawers in our room.

With garden gauntlets, I returned the thwarted hedgehog to its cage, and the compensations of  nest-box and catfood.

But I do at least now have a name for it.

Houdini Hedgehog.

Photo by Alexas_Fotos on Unsplash

The Time of Year For Action

I remember my Latin teacher at school explaining that Autumn was her favourite time of year – it marked the start of the academic year and for her it was a time of new beginnings.

I agree.  In addition, Autumn russets are the colours which suit me.  Not only that, but I have an Autumn birthday. 

As the leaves turn gold and the clocks shift back, there is usually an anticipation of cosiness and hibernation.

This year, however, the UN’s climate conference, COP26, is about to take place in Glasgow, and it means we must not settle into the inertia of winter just yet. 

If we want to see more golden Autumns, it is vital that we try to influence the world leaders in any way we can to curb Climate Catastrophe. 

So get involved in signing petitions, campaigning and marching.  Politicians only act when they can see how important an issue is to their electorate.  Please help convince them.

Take part in the Global Day of Action, November 6^th.

https://cop26coalition.org/gda/

For readers in St Albans, Friends of the Earth is organising a peaceful rally, meeting St Albans Arena, midday Nov 6^th and marching to the Clock Tower for speeches.

Elsewhere, google or consult the Facebook pages of your local Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion.

Climate Catastrophe is Happening Now

I didn’t blog recently, not because nothing was happening, but because too much was. 

Extinction Rebellion had a fortnight of protests in London.  XR’s original mission was to draw attention to climate change as a reality, in spite of reassurances from the fossil fuel companies.  Since the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued its recent ‘Code Red for humanity’, there are few climate deniers left.

Extinction Rebellion’s updated quest is to get the government to act on climate change.  Despite making reassuring promises, they are supporting the opening of the vast new Cambo oilfield in Shetland and a new coalmine in Cumbria, while spending £27 billion on new roads and devastating an irreplaceable swathe of countryside with their HS2 white elephant project.

During the fortnight’s XR activities, Nigel sat down as an act of peaceful protest and offered himself for arrest twice, once chained to the pink table in the West End and once on a junction just north of Tower Bridge.  It is his way of shouting aloud ‘Stop the harm!’

I found myself surrounded by police cordons on at least three occasions and lost count of the number of times I was threatened with arrest. 

Extinction Rebellion causes disruption and this is controversial.  But the argument is that this is only the slightest fraction of the disruption which will be caused by climate catastrophe if it continues unchecked – ask the inhabitants of Germany or New York who suffered in recent flash floods.

There will be no ‘Business as Usual’ on a dead planet.

However, if the techniques of XR (Extinction Rebellion) seem uncomfortable to you, please still act to protect your planet by joining one of the other green organisations and following their advice to write to politicians and sign petitions.  We must act now.

Home - Extinction Rebellion UK

 Greenpeace UK

https://www.greenpeace.org.uk

 The Green Party | Home

Friends of the Earth | Home

https://friendsoftheearth.uk

 

Inside the women's action at Oxford Circus

An Arresting Experience 2

I already blogged last week that Nigel was arrested as part of the Extinction Rebellion protests.

A few days later, in complete contrast, we were driving down to Cornwall with Pascoe in the back, aiming to meet Perran and Carenza for a family holiday.

It would be a time of regeneration after the stress of protest.

So what we weren’t expecting was a flashing blue light in the rear-view and police asking us to pull over. We pulled over.

Nigel hadn’t been speeding - he stays below sixty to conserve fuel and limit pollution. 

So what was this about?

To show that we were upstanding citizens with a clear conscience, we sprung out of our car and walked round to greet the police.

But as I looked across at Nigel, I saw that he was still wearing his Extinction Rebellion badge.  Not something which puts the police in a good mood. 

However, they were polite and pleasant.

It turned out that our number plate, caught by police surveillance camera, was showing up as uninsured. 

Very luckily, Nigel had proof on his phone that we ARE insured. 

It turned out that when we removed the twins from our insurance earlier in the summer, the company had inadvertently flicked a switch on the database which made it look as if nobody was insured.

It was weird to feel for a moment as if we might really be on the wrong side of the law.  It contrasted with Nigel’s arrests for Extinction Rebellion where he is doing something very RIGHT.

Please follow the links below (which will take you swiftly and easily through to your MP’s email) and ask your MP to support the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill which will be debated during this session of Parliament.

Find everything you need to take part here: https://digitalrebellion.uk/cee-bill