Come to the Kingsnorth Summer Fete for free!!

Dear activists, This is a call to action to remind you about the event on 4th July to say NO to a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth! I'm sure you saw the coverage about Greenpeace's action to stop a ship bound for Kingsnorth at the weekend (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jun/22/greenpeace-kingsnorth-...). If any of you are worried about what is planned at the Mili-Band rally on 4th July, please be assured that this is a fun, family day out with no illegal protesting involved (sorry if that is a disappointment to some!). We are working very hard with E.On and local authorities to make sure that we are 'welcome' visitors and that everything is planned in advance. You may well also have seen Ed Miliband on Newsnight yesterday (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/newsnight) discussing America's Climate Bill, where he sidestepped most of the issues, but did claim that the UK has the "toughest environmental regulations on coal of any European country". When challenged by a Greenpeace representative about the plans to build a new coal fired power station at Kingsnorth his response was to call once again for more public action. "How do you change the politics? With more of a campaign, more of a mobilisation". If Ed Miliband wants a mandate from the public to make bold decisions, let's give it to him! There are signs that the future of Kingsnorth is seriously in the balance as E.On are concerned about tight time constraints on building the plant and an obligation to include potentially economically unviable carbon capture and storage technology. So let's jump on this opportunity and tip the balance in favour of our climate! Please pass on the information about the day (a bit more text below) to all your friends and family - and if you haven't already done so, please sign up for the free coach (from Bristol or Birmingham) at: www.oxfam.org.uk/miliband. If you are coming please email me to let me know as we may be able to use you in local media coverage - are you dressing up for the day or do you have an interesting story to tell? Thank you!

Hi All! Hope you've managed to sign up to the Facebook site if you can come to the Summer Fete at Kingsnorth. I thought you might like to see this response from Oxfam as to why Kingsnorth and coal are being targeted. The Kingsnorth site is supposed to have the new technology 'Carbon Capture and Storage to significantly reduce it's emissions. Oxfam's response is as follows: It is correct that E.ON have used the testing of CC&S as a justification for building a new coal power plant, but they only plan to capture 20% of emissions - at best, meaning that 6 tonnes of CO2 will still be emitted per year - the equivalent of 25 developing countries' combined emissions. Testing of CC&S is already going on a Longannet in Scotland where Scottish Power are testing the new technology (see http://www.fairhome.co.uk/2009/06/01/carbon-capture-trial-switched-on-in...), so the argument for testing is not valid. Even at Longannet, however, the carbon captured is still being released into the atmosphere as the technology is at such an early stage. Our position is that a plant such as Kingsnorth should not be built until the technology has been proved and can be operationalised at a significant level. We are still 10 or 15 years away from that, during which time Kingsnorth will continue to emit unacceptable levels of CO2. Even if CC&S is not an effective technology for many years to come - once the money is spent, the plant is built, and the country dependent on the power it produces, the government's pledge will be meaningless as there will be little anyone can do to limit the plant's impacts. Global emissions must peak by 2015 so building a new coal-fired plant in the UK when CC&S will not be technically proven or economically viable until 2020 at the earliest is illogical. There are at least five other applications for new coal-fired plants ready to be submitted if E.ON is successful, so this could set a very dangerous precedent and commit the UK to a new generation of coal power.