Fwd: September Push Europe Newsletter - Dirty Energy Month, a Polar Bear Uprising & much more!

[Emma Jarvis]

Hey!

Below is the latest edition of the Push Europe newsletter, lots of news about what's happening across Europe in the climate movement & also features Push Sverige as the group of the month!

Enjoy! :)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Push Europe <em...@pusheurope.org>
Date: 18 September 2013 11:29
Subject: September Push Europe Newsletter - Dirty Energy Month, a Polar Bear Uprising & much more!
To: emm...@gmail.com

Welcome to the Push Europe Newsletter for September! View this email in your browser Hello!    Welcome to the second edition of our new look newsletter!  After our slight summer sabbatical, it's a busy time for Push Europe with preparation for Reclaim Power (Global Month of Actions on Energy), and the climate talks in Poland (COP19) high on the agenda. You can read more about our current activities below. Browse through the rest of the newsletter to meet our group in focus - PUSH Sweden, hear some good news on anti-fracking in the UK, and watch a video of a polar bear uprising at Shell (my personal recommendation)!  We've also added a new section in which we will link to three of our favourite blogs from the last month. But enough from me. Kick back, relax, (maybe have yourself a nice warm mug of tea) and take a read about our latest updates on European climate campaigning. Tom - Push Europe Coordinator Push Europe Update          Month of Action on Energy -  Reclaim Power (11/10/2013-11/11/2013)   You may notice a recurring theme throughout this newsletter is dirty energy & thats because at the moment we are focusing all our energy on the upcoming Reclaim Power initiative which will be a global, month long campaign against dirty energy supported by a whole host of organisations & being coordinated in Europe by Push Europe.     With less than one month to go to Reclaim Power now is the time to head on over to our snazzy mini site where you can find out more about the campaign, how you can get involved & see where actions are happening already. Whether you want to organise a march in your local area, take non-violent direct action, swamp Shells Facebook & Twitter or send letters to local decision makers there's something for everyone. Planning to do something for Reclaim Power? Let us know! ma...@pusheurope.org   Shell clean up your mess!  Shell have been drilling for oil in Ogoniland, Nigeria for decades and they have got away with some pretty terrible things.  Two years ago the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released a report stating that the area was heavily contaminated by oil and that only large scale clean-up could restore the livelihoods of the local people.   Push Europe is supporting the international call for Shell to take action and clean up their mess in Ogoniland.  We say enough is enough, shell are dragging their feet and have done almost nothing to address the problems in the Niger delta. Please help support the people of Ogoniland and demand that shell take action and clean up their mess in the Niger delta by signing the petition on our shiny new mini site! Group of the month    Each month we'll throw the spotlight on one of the groups fighting for climate justice in Europe. We want to share your successes and show what we, as a movement, are achieving every day.     Want to be next months 'Group of the Month'? Email us at he...@pusheurope.org Group of the month    PUSH Sweden is a quite young organisation, but has already achieved great things. We aim to connect all young people and youth organisations in Sweden who want a sustainable future. Our core values are based on social, ecological and economic sustainability, and every member has to sign that they agree on those core values. In six months the network has reached 250 members and over 30 member organisations, we have presented our comments on Sweden's roadmap to 2050 in person to the environment minister, met with the environment minister on TV and we are running a campaign showing how many young people care about climate change by a video action of a giant scream of worries for what is happening with the climate. Please join this universal campaign and film your scream and send it to sk...@pushsverige.se Last weekend the PUSH Sweden team arranged a national Power Shift with around a 100 young people. It was a beautiful weekend with discussions about economics and sustainability. It resulted in ten different working groups with potential campaigns and/or projects. One of the groups is focused on the IPCC report that will be released in Stockholm in a couple of weeks. If you want to find out more get in touch with Johanna at or...@pushsverige.se Warsaw Train Update Two weeks from the deadline for applications and the train to Warsaw has now hit over 400 participants! The plan is simple, a hired train full of climate campaigners traveling from Brussels across Europe (stopping at Aachen, Cologne, Berlin and Poznan) to march in Warsaw and urge governments to take significant action at COP19! The train will provide a great place for campaigners to meet, share and discuss issues, with vegan food, drinks and music all adding to the experience. Accommodation will be provided in local schools, while the march is planned for Saturday 16th November between two important COP venues, the national stadium and the palace of culture. To learn more about the train or to sign up, go to: train.climatejustice.eu/ Good News Story of the Month                   Action Camp against Fracking in the UK After the innovative campaigners from No Dash For Gas shut down a gas power station for a week in October they stepped up the resistance to dirty energy and orgnised an action camp at the front line of the struggle fracking in England in Balcombe, Sussex.        The camp joined forces with the community protection camp which has been right outside of the gates of the site for over 50 days and brought 6 days of workshops, inspirational talks & direct action. On a day of direct action activists in Balcombe created a human chain around the drilling site at the same time as protesters occupied the HQ of the drilling company as well as the office of their PR company (including Tara, one of our coordinators!) The camp has shown that people will resist every step of the way as the government try to push dirty energy into our communities. To get a feel of the atmosphere at the camp, find out what it's all about and be inspired check out this short video.   End Ecocide Petition   In keeping with the theme of dirty energy our friends at End Ecocide are working to make environmental destruction a crime.They aim to put an end to large-scale ecosystem destruction or ecocide and give ecosystems a right to life.   They have created a European Citzens' Initative to End Ecocide in Europe. To achieve this throughout the EU and ensure that the extensive damage to, destruction of or loss of ecosystems, becomes a crime for which  legal and natural persons can be held  accountable. To achieve that throughout the EU (with worldwide consequences), they need 1 million signatures.  You can sign your name here   They are holding events in various cities on September 21st. If you would like to be kept  informed of and get involved, sign up to our newsletter at www.endecocide.eu. Want to get involved? Want to get involved with Push Europe, but not sure how?  Check out our brand new website here which lists a whole load of ways that you can get involved from joining the coordinating team to translating or simply sending in a story to the newsletter and you can help make the movement stronger.  News in Brief Shell face a polar bear uprising   As Shell are planning to expand their oil business to drill in the Arctic Greenpeace have increased the pressure on Shell and exposed their plans through a series of humourous stunts at the Belgian Grand Prix and at a Shell refinery in Denmark.  Check out the video it's just a minute long & worth every second.   There was more polar bear action over the weekend as the Greenpeace global ice ride took place around the world showing public support for protecting the Arctic & in London featuring a polar bear as big as a double decker bus!     News in Brief Romania protests biggest open pit mine in Europe     On the 1st of September tens of thousands of people marched throughout Romania demonstrating against the biggest open pit mine in Europe.  The gold mine would use cyanide and cause the complete removal of several villages and cut the tops of mountains as well as leaving behind a toxic lake of cyanide. More than 3 years ago the European Parliament voted on banning  the use of cyanide in mining in the EU it pased but since then the European Commission has prevented the resolution moving any further.  We stand in solidarity with the activists protecting their local environment and encourage you to write to your MEP's and pressure them for a new resolution on banning the use of cyanide in mining activities across the EU. Find out more about the issue here   Best of the blogs! 1. Push Europe Coordinator Tara describes what is was like taking direct action as part of an anti-fracking camp in the UK 2. Romania resists Europes biggest open pit mine 3. Building the worlds largest polar bear - in pictures (Greenpeace) Call for newsletter content Have something you want to shout about? Heard about a cool event?  Need help with something?  Get in touch with good news stories, calls to action and anything in between.  We want to be able to connect all the awesome things happening in Europe but we need your help to do that.  Email em...@pusheurope.org with your news! Share Tweet Forward to Friend +1 We need your help - Share the newsletter!   This newsletter is brand new & we need your help spreading the word.  If you know someone who might be interested in all the awesome things young Europeans are doing to fight climate change, please forward this email to them or use the sharing buttons above!  Facebook Twitter YouTube Website Copyright © 2013 Push Europe, All rights reserved. You are on this list because you subscribed on our website. Our mailing address is: Push Europe 97 Henry Doulton Drive Tooting Bec London, Greater London SW17 6DE United Kingdom Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences