Climate Justice Collective

[Catrina Pickering, COIN]

Dear fellow East Oxford Low Carbonites,

I’m contacting you both as a local resident and a member of the
Climate
Justice Collective (CJC). CJC are a grassroots UK network of
individuals
and groups taking action against the root causes of climate change:
our
economic and political systems, which prioritise profit over the needs
of
people and the environment. Our network is newly formed, having built
itself up from Climate Camp, which you may have been aware of over the
past few years. See http://climatejusticecollective.org/ for more
info.

We’re getting in touch to let you know about our upcoming actions, to
offer whatever support we can to your group, and to see how we can
learn
from you, share resources, and potentially work alongside you.

Linking up Energy Struggles
One of the key aims of CJC this year is to “link up Energy Struggles”.
We
are challenging the corporate controlled energy systems that we
currently
have, and are calling for ‘Energy Democracy’: where communities
control
their own energy. We believe that energy projects such as LCEO are
part of
the solution. So in the medium/long term we would like to learn more
about
your projects and see how we can work together. And in the short term
there are a few things we could do -see below.

The Big Six Energy Bash: 3rd May
We are organising an event in London on May 3rd called ‘The Big Six
Energy
Bash’ . On this day, CEOs from the UK’s ‘Big Six’ energy companies
will be
meeting with government ministers at the ‘UK Energy Summit’. At the
Summit, behind closed doors, decisions will be made on the basis of
what
will secure the energy companies’ profits, whatever the costs in terms
of
poverty and climate change. In response, we are organising a mass
event to
challenge the corporate control of energy and to speak out for a
democratic energy system. The event will have a focus on direct
action, as
we believe this is one of many diverse tactics that are valuable in
achieving our aims. We want the event to be accessible to all: it will
incorporate a chance for people to share ideas and experiences around
fuel
poverty, climate justice, corporate control and energy democracy, and
will
feature a family friendly, carnival atmosphere. However, the event is
still in its planning stages, so you can get involved and help make it
what you would like it to be. See the website for more information
about
the action and the reasons for it. There are several ways that you
could
get involved with the Big Six Energy Bash:

Sign up to express your support for the event
LCEO could sign-up to express your support for the Big Six Energy Bash
and
its aims. This would mean a link to your website and info about your
group
on our website and publicity.

Guest blogging
You could write guest blog posts for our website, promoting your work
and
explaining how it links into the messaging and themes of the Big Six
Energy Bash.

Media
There will be opportunities for you to gain media exposure by doing
interviews about your work and how it links into the Big Six Energy
Bash.

Networking on the day
There will be plenty of opportunity to, for instance, give out flyers
and
information on the day. We plan for the event to include a big family
friendly carnival space – if you would like to bring a stall for this
space, then that would be great.

Workshops and speakers
We hope to organise a series of workshops at the main carnival space
of
the event. Specific workshops are to be confirmed, but it would be
fantastic if you would like to put on a workshop or send a speaker to
be
part of a panel discussion.

Possible next steps
- We could meet up, face to face, to discuss these things and how we
could
work together into the future
- A couple of people involved with CJC could attend one of your
meetings
and explain who we are and what we’re doing
- You could, as a group or as individuals, get involved with CJC and
the
Big Six Energy Bash!

Coming up we have:

Sunday 15th April: The Big Six Energy Bash national organising
meeting,
venue and times tbc, check the website for updates.

Tuesday 17th April, 7pm at the Grayston Centre, 28 Charles Square, N1
6HT:
CJC London meeting.

Future meetings after the 3rd May event will happen, dates tbc.

Please do get in touch if you have any questions, would like to meet
in
person or take up our offer of having a couple of members of CJC
attending
one of your meetings, or would like to get involved in CJC or The Big
Six
Energy Bash in any of the ways listed above.

Many thanks and I look forward to hearing back from you,

Danny and the Climate Justice Collective
dannyc...@excite.com