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Press Release August 26,2017
Erkelenz, August 26. This morning about two thousand activists are setting off to another mass action of civil disobedience, aiming to shut down the operations of the Garzweiler mine near Cologne. The activists belong to „Ende Gelände“, an action alliance that campaigns for climate justice and an immediate coal-phase out. Yesterday the activists blocked the tracks of a coal shuttle for nine hours. As a consequence, the coal-fired power plant Neurath had to reduce its operations by 37 percent. Other groups managed to enter the open-cast mine.
Lignite (soft coal) is even more damaging to the climate than other types of fossil fuels. The lignite operations in the Rhineland include three open-cast coal mines and four power plants that belong to Europe’s most polluting. The energy corporation RWE and the German government plan to continue lignite mining until 2045. Despite the expansion of renewable energies, 40 percent of Germany’s electricty mix is still generated from coal.
„The German government is famous for its rhetoric about energy efficiency and mitigation“, says Insa Vries, spokes person of Ende Gelände. „However, it is impossible to protect the climate without phasing out coal. As long as politicians ignore the elephant in the room, the energy transition remains a hoax.“
„ The time period in which we can avoid the worst impacts of climate change is closing fast“, continues Insa Vries., „Since neither corporations nor the government take solutions forward, it’s up to ourselves to take coal-phase into our own hands.“
Ende Gelände is a grass-roots alliance for climate justice. Last May 4000 activists blocked mining infrastructure in the Lusatia coalfields in East Germany. This year, „Ende Gelände“ is part of large-scale protests against lignite mining in the Rhineland coalfields, such as the human chain demonstration „Red Lines“ (26 August), and small group actions.
Contact:
Janna Aljets: 0049-163 4434034
Insa Vries: 0049-1520 4560800
See photos about the actions in our flickr account:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/133937251@N05/albums/72157688054440285