Join with us in 100 days to end oil.

[lynx@gn.apc.org]

  >Dear friend,
  > 
  >I am writing on behalf of a growing coalition of groups and individuals
  who, over the next 100 days, will be organising public events and non
  violent direct action in order to raise awareness of the issues involved
  with oil, and fossil fuels generally. 
  >Now is a crucial moment when real change to phase out fossil fuels
  altogether is politically possible. We are seeking others to join in this
  'hundred days' by organising events, promoting concerns around oil use or
  taking action.
  >So far groups including Reclaim The Streets, Greenpeace, Corporate Watch,
  Oilwatch, Cardigan Bay Earth First! and Delta have got involved. Would you
  be interested in taking part?
  > 
  >
  >We've had enough of oil.
  >
  >Many of us have been challenging the oil industry for years, whether it be
  for its environmental impact (local or global), for its involvement in human
  rights abuses, or for the power structures it creates and depends on. There
  is an increasing consensus within the campaigning community that our
  society's addiction to oil has to end.
  >So far however most campaigning effort has been spent focusing on the
  effects of the addiction (whether it be car culture or human rights abuses)
  rather than taking on the drug itself.
  >
  >One difficulty of fighting the oil industry is that it has an incredibly
  sophisticated public relations machine. While campaigners point to paradigm
  cases of the impact of oil (such as Shell in Nigeria), the industry paints
  them as one-off lapses of good practice, or criticises the over-emotive
  "stories" the campaigners tell. Despite the huge potential of renewable
  energies and energy efficiency measures, it likes to nurture the attitude
  that mankind is utterly dependent on oil; that to abandon it would be to
  step back into the middle ages. The lesson we are learning is that we must
  now explicitly challenge the industry as a whole as well as case by case;
  that its        abuses are inherent to its nature, and that we can, indeed
  must, learn to live without it.
  >
  >
  >Kyoto, COP3 and climate change - an opportunity.
  >
  >Now there is a platform from which to make that challenge. On 3rd December
  1997, heads of state will meet in Kyoto at the Third Conference of Parties
  to the Framework Convention on Climate Change. In the case of climate
  change, there is no amount of technology, or adoption of ethical business
  principles, that will allow the industry to continue sustainably. We can
  only burn a quarter of known fossil reserves before climate change becomes
  intolerable, if not catastrophic. This is not environmentalist
  doom-mongering. It is the view of over 2,000 climate scientists on the
  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The logical response to avoiding
  climate chaos is not just that emissions need to be cut. The fossil fuel
  industries themselves need to be phased out.
  >
  >World Leaders at Kyoto do not currently have the will to place restrictions
  on the core business of the world's largest transnational companies, however
  urgent it is that they do so. Without public pressure they will not act. It
  is for this reason that we have chosen this moment to take on the oil
  industry, and to celebrate the strength of the human spirit which will
  overcome it. 
  >
  >
  >100 days to begin the end of fossil fuels
  >
  >For 100 days in the run-up to the Kyoto summit groups, including
  yourselves, are invited to organise events and actions locally and
  nationally, to participate in this celebration, to stimulate public debate
  about whether we need oil. The 100 days begin on 23rd August.
  >
  >Actions and events will fall under the banner of "100 DAYS OF ACTION", in
  order to raise the profile of our concerns and to generate increasing public
  interest and involvement. Only by raising public awareness can we hope to
  achieve our aims. There may not be an action on every one of the 100 days.
  But it will be a period when it will be made clear to the oil industry and
  government that the time has come for change.
  >
  >
  >Join us.
  >
  >The first meeting of the coalition has already happened. But we hope this
  coalition will become broader as the 100 days progresses - this invitation
  to you is part of that. The next meeting (sorry about the short notice!) is
  on Wednesday 20th August, at 9 Norwich Rd, Forest Gate, London E7. Meetings
  will be held at intervals of roughly two weeks thereafter in different
  places around the UK. A fortnightly newsletter is being put together, which
  will both update on actions that have happened and give details of upcoming
  actions. It is also an opportunity to advertise your own campaigns and
  relevant news to likeminded folk. To publicise your actions and events or
  get details of meetings, you can call Jim on +44 171 865 8234, or e-mail
  100days@waveland.org or write to 100 days, c/o Corporate Watch, Box E, 111
  Magdalen Road, Oxford OX4 1RQ, UK
  >
  >We hope you will want to be involved in this campaign. The issues, which
  are wider than just climate change, are amongst the most urgent of any
  facing the environmental and social justice movement. You might prefer to
  emphasise issues of human rights, militarism, oil spills, danger to marine
  life, arms trade, petrochemical pollution, health and safety, treatment of
  workers, cars and transport etc; we're using Kyoto simply as an opportunity
  to bring everyone together in one concerted push. If you arrange the events,
  we'll publicise them for you; we'll also let others know. Please get in
  touch if you want to receive the update, if you want to be involved or if
  you want to know more.
  >
  >Many thanks,
   Corporate Watch UK
  >
  
  
  Please forward details on actions about Shell to DELTA:
  
  ******************************************************
  
  DELTA: News and background on Ogoni, Shell and Nigeria
  Box Z, 13 Biddulph Street, Leicester  LE2 1BH, UK   
  tel/fax: +44 116 255 3223   
  e-mail: lynx@gn.apc.org       
  http://www.McSpotlight.org/beyond/delta2_nov96.html
  
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  nick jukes    (lynx@gn.apc.org)