Greenpeace activists stage coal protests in Europe
Friday, 30 Oct 2009
AP reported that climate activists from Greenpeace dumped 18 tonnes of coal in front of the Swedish government's headquarters in a protest designed to pressure European countries to close coal fired power plants.
The action was part of a wider campaign by Greenpeace and other environmental activists calling for a global deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions at a UN summit in Copenhagen in December.
Elsewhere in Europe, Polish protesters blocked cargo trains at a coal transit point, while nine Britons spent two nights this week camped on the chimney of a coal firing power station. The activists hope the attention grabbing stunts will also influence European Union leaders meeting this week to discuss a common position for the Copenhagen talks.
Coal burning plants account for about one third of the European Union's electricity production. Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic are among the biggest producers and users of coal in the 27 nation bloc.
Greenpeace activists said that Sweden must set a better example. Even though the country relies mostly on nuclear and hydro power for its own energy needs, its state owned utility Vattenfall runs several coal plants in Germany and Poland.
The activists said that they trucked 18 tonnes of brown coal from Germany and dumped it outside the government office in Stockholm in a protest aimed at Vattenfall and Swedish Prime Minister Mr Fredrik Reinfeldt.
Mr Anders Hellberg, a Greenpeace spokesman, said that "There are only a few weeks left before the climate summit in Copenhagen. Mr Reinfeldt must show the climate leadership that he talks about. That's hard when he allows the state owned energy company to continue to invest in coal power."
Vattenfall spokesman Mr Mark Vadaszs said that the company was a European leader in developing alternative energy sources, such as wind, hydro and solar power, and has devoted billions on carbon capture technology. He added that "It's not possible to switch off the coal plants because then the world would stop."
Greenpeace activists also staged a protest in Poland, blocking cargo trains at a coal transit station in Malaszewice. They appealed to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and other European leaders to agree to a 40% reduction of carbon emissions at the EU summit starting Thursday in Brussels.
