Trick or Treat Climate Procession

The Manchester Band played on the Trick or Treat
Climate Procession on Halloween. They were joined
by a 15 ft high Skeleton puppet. Members of the public
were leafleted and asked to write to their M.P.'s demanding
a Climate "Treat" in Copenhagen, for example real binding
cuts in emissions and serious carbon targets rather than a Carbon
"Trick", for example classifying Palm plantations as forests
and in so doing paying countries a green subsidy to
destroy pristine rainforest and grow commercial palm oil.
Palm plantations actually accelerate climate change because
rainforests grow on natural peatland, millions of years
of dead wood. Peatland is one of the most concentrated stores
of carbon on earth. Clearing the forest on top, draining the
peat and burning it releases vast amounts of greenhouse gases
into the atmosphere. Indonesia's peatlands represent just 0.1 per
cent of the Earth's land mass, but contribute a staggering
4 per cent of global emissions. James from the band said
"It is the ultimate irony that the climate change negotiations at
Copenhagen now contain a clause permitting virgin rainforest
to be felled and replaced by commercial palm oil monocultures
because these plantations can be classed as "forests". This is like
saying it's OK to destroy a priceless Leonardo Da Vinci
painting as long as you replace it with a poster.
If these ancient forests, and their indigenous peoples and diversity
are destroyed, the Copenhagen talks will be no more than hot air and
will give us no hope of survival."

Smash EDO Carnival Against the Arms trade.

Wednesday the 4th of June 2008.

Members of the Manchester band traveled to Brighton

to play with London and Oxford Rhythms at the big

Smash EDO carnival.

The police were typicaly heavy handed as can be expected at

EDO events and one member of Manchester band

was pushed to the ground and had her expensive Hep

stolen by the Police. Otherwise

the day went well!

The campaign to close the EDO weapons components factory

has never been far from controversy.

The past five and a half years have seen violent confrontations

between protesters and police, court battles with the company

and large-scale demonstrations through the city's streets.

Protesters claim weapons components manufactured by the

EDO factory in Home Farm Road, Moulsecoomb, are used in planes

and missile systems to commit atrocities in Palestine and

elsewhere in the Middle East.

The Great Climate Swoop at Ratcliffe on Sour.

On the 17th of October the band went to
Ratcliffe on Sour power station as part
of the Great Climate Swoop.

Considering most people had come to their first
rehearsal on the Friday the day before
the band were seriously impressive by the end of
the day and there was a real buzz.

The band were at the E.ON owned power station to
demand an end to coal. With E.ON forced to shelve
the new coal plant at Kingsnorth the week before,
the Swoop was happening to keep the pressure on.
Ratcliffe will emit more CO2 than Costa Rica each
year for the next 30 years.

In the run up to the UN climate talks at Copenhagen
this December activists on the Swoop were out to
show that coal has no future if we are to avoid
catastrophic climate change.