There’s a bright side to everything
I don’t know if you saw this but it seems that a jury in Britain has decided that man made global warming is such a threat that is justifies breaking the law.
The threat of global warming is so great that campaigners were justified in causing more than £35,000 worth of damage to a coal-fired power station, a jury decided yesterday. In a verdict that will have shocked ministers and energy companies the jury at Maidstone Crown Court cleared six Greenpeace activists of criminal damage.
Jurors accepted defence arguments that the six had a “lawful excuse” to damage property at Kingsnorth power station in Kent to prevent even greater damage caused by climate change. The defence of “lawful excuse” under the Criminal Damage Act 1971 allows damage to be caused to property to prevent even greater damage – such as breaking down the door of a burning house to tackle a fire.
The not-guilty verdict, delivered after two days and greeted with cheers in the courtroom, raises the stakes for the most pressing issue on Britain’s green agenda and could encourage further direct action.
Kingsnorth was the centre for mass protests by climate camp activists last month. Last year, three protesters managed to paint Gordon Brown’s name on the plant’s chimney. Their handi-work cost £35,000 to remove.
My first response was anger and that thought that this would set a precedence for other acts like this in the future, but then it dawned on me. This happened in Britain which isn’t the United States. That means that for the Greens to get the same kind of treatment, they would have to go to Britain. All this led me to the conclusion that this ruling will lead to a massive exodus of Environmentalists to Britain (and more importantly, out of the United States).
Isn’t this wonderful? This Brits have given us a great gift: giving the Greens an incentive to leave our country (where it is illegal to do this kind of crap).
Thank you Britain, thanks for taking one for the team.
Oh and at the very least, I’m sure this ruling has helped the sign industry by spurring the energy plants into buying this sign.
H/T Drudge
Ha! I love global warming, it makes me feel all warm inside.
finding an excuse for 35k damages is like an excuse for anarchy…what insanity.
Someone wrote a big bill for cleaning up a chimney and that kind of cleanup bill is OK , whereas cleaningup the pollution we cause (which our health care system and our descendants pay for) isn’t? The longer we wait the more extensive the damages caused by our irresponsible polluting actions and the more costly the clean up will be – according to the Stein report. Another Brit – must be a conspiracy, aye?
Oops – I guess I just gave myself away – I’m, a Canadian happily NOT living in the USA (where people like you condone things such as ‘tresspassers will be shot’).
In my humble opinion, those of us who do not respect the earth we inherited are the real tresspassers – although I would not go so far ast to advocate shooting anyone.
First off Mrs. Zimmermann, I agree with you completely, pollution is a bad thing and industry should be held responsible for polluting. With that being said, I fall into the category of a “denier” who believes that CO2 isn’t a pollutant. I do believe that some things that these power plants release should be monitored but CO2 isn’t one of them. Unless you have a scientific report that directly links CO2 to health problems (Ex. breathing more CO2 causes cancer) the “CO2 is bad” argument doesn’t work on me.
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Oh and since you live in Canada, a word of advice: be careful of what you say on your website. I would hate for someone to find something offensive and prosecute you under Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. Luckily for me, I am happily living in the USA where my right to speak my mind is currently protected by our Constitution. Feel free to move on down here if you ever feel your rights are being trampled on.
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Oh, but please be careful not to trespass since “people like me” condone shooting people who do… Jeez, do people in Canada not recognize a joke when they see it?
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