It’s not every day you find yourself, along with a thousand or so other people, surrounding a coal-fired power station, chanting:
“E-On!
Kingsnorth!
Is this what our planet’s worth?”
But on Saturday, after a walk through undulating wheat fields in the baking sun, this is just what I did. I was accompanied by my husband, Chris, and two year old Clementine, possibly the youngest of the Green Party’s ‘Young Greens’.
We were there to highlight the fact that new coal-fired power stations cannot be the allowed if we are to meet the Government’s aim of a reduction in Carbon emissions of 80% by 2050. Talk of ‘carbon capture’ is just that – talk – and whilst we continue to bury our heads in the sand and think coal, we neglect to invest in and to develop renewables – which could provide jobs for millions.
Kingsnorth is in many ways a litmus test – if it is allowed to go ahead, we will be giving the green light for more of the same. If cancelled, perhaps we will have the courage to leave coal behind and build really sustainable solutions.
My own belief is that there is not just one solution, but an amalgamation of many would be the answer. There are lots of questions still to answer but surely we should be investing more and more in finding those answers now, before it is too late?
It was an inspiring day, visiting the site which has already made history, after the so-called ‘Kingsnorth 6’ climbed the cooling tower there are wrote ‘Gordon’ down the side. I highly recommend Nick Broomfield’s short film on the subject, by the way – I should think it will inspire many people to become activists:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sidpgz8iGQ8
We’ll certainly be needing an army of those over the next few years!
