The G8 Summit in St. Petersburg is now just weeks away but last weekend saw the city host a meeting of the G8’s Finance Ministers. Although there was said to be “plenty of smiles and warm words about friendship and collaboration”, the politicians failed to find unity over the sensitive issue of energy security.
Despite this, the Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said the meeting was a great success, that “confirms that St. Petersburg is not only a window to Europe but to the whole world.”
Energy security is the central theme of Russia’s first presidency of the G8 but despite Kudrin’s fine words, the meeting failed to address concerns about it, especially after Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine earlier in the year. The Russians are now saying they won’t cut supplies off again, but many European politicians are still sweating over being too over-reliant on Russian gas.
And you know what they say, too much of one thing can be bad news. Its beginning to look that way. Rather than being a transition fuel between oil and renewables, gas is turning out to be a troublesome fuel in its own right.
July 15, 2006 International Day of Direct Action for Climate Justice, against Climate Change and the G8!
A call to action from Rising Tide North America and Earth First! Climate Caucus
Rise Up Against G8 Policies,
Target Fossil Fuel Industries
in Your Community or Bioregion!
On July 15th, the “Group of 8” (G8) richest industrialized countries will convene in St. Petersburg, Russia to plot their continued domination and commodification of the planet, this time under the euphemistic banner of “Energy Security.” A leaked G8 “Communique on Energy Security” calls for trillions of dollars in new investments in oil, gas and coal production worldwide, plus wide-scale global expansion of nuclear energy. With runaway climate change* looming just over the horizon, such neoliberal business-as-usual poses a direct threat to the continuation of life on Earth as we know it.
Resistance is self defense. The G8 agenda promotes petroleum-dependent “Energy Security” that pollutes our land and atmosphere, exploits communities everywhere, and scorches the Earth’s climate. Their recipe for catastrophe must be met with our global resistance!
July 15th will be an International Day of Action Against Climate Change. As G8 energy ministers promise trillions in new subsidies to the industries destroying our planet and our future, we will take action to shut them down! This is a call for autonomous, decentralized actions appropriate for your town, city, or bioregion. Use this international day of action to support local struggles against oil refineries, gas pipelines, road expansions, strip mines and coal-fired power plants. Disrupt the financial backers of the fossil fuel industry. Host teach-ins to spread sustainable post-petroleum living skills. Find a weak point in the infrastructure of resource exploitation and throw a literal or symbolic wrench in the works. Visit your local polluters and give ’em hell!
The July 15th International Day of Action Against Climate Change is being mobilized by Rising Tide North America, a new network initiated in the US by the Earth First! Climate Caucus, with inspiration and support from the UK’s vibrant Rising Tide direct action movement for climate justice and against climate change. Rising Tide North America is actively mobilizing July 15th actions in local bioregions, as well as reaching out to environmental justice, climate action and radical sustainability movements in all the G8 countries plus the Global South.
Rising Tide North America is building a large collection of outreach and agit-prop/educational materials that can be used by groups around the continent (and the world) to organize locally. These materials will be downloadable from http://www.rtc.revolt.org and from the website of Rising Tide North America (comin’ soon).
Join the Rising Tide North America network! Endorse the July 15th International Day of Direct Action against Climate Change and the G8! Tell us about July 15th actions for climate justice being planned in your community or bioregion! Contact us at efclimatecaucus@wildmail.com.
Get more information and updates about July 15th international actions against climate change, plus news and links about additional global resistance against the 2006 G8 Summit from July 14th to 17th! Go to http://www.rtc.revolt.org.
Learn about the global Rising Tide movement! Visit http://www.risingtide.org.uk and read “Rising Tide Takes the Helm: Mapping Strategies for Climate Justice” in the May-June 2006 issue of Earth First! Journal: http://reclaimthecommons.net/article.php?id=316
Learn about the origin and purpose of Rising Tide North America! Read “Earth First! Climate Caucus: A New Birth in the No Compromise Movement” in May-June 2006 Earth First! Journal:
http://reclaimthecommons.net/article.php?id=317
*19 of the 20 hottest years on record have occurred since 1980. Islands in the South Pacific are already evacuating due to rising sea levels. Storms and hurricanes are growing more severe. Polar bears are drowning as their icy habitat breaks apart and drifts out to sea. Greenland and Antarctica are melting. Everyday we spew more greenhouse gases burned from fossil fuels into the atmosphere; everyday we are one step closer to what scientists refer to as “the tipping point,” on the verge of catastrophic and irreversible climate chaos.