In this weeks digest: Actions 1. End the scandal of fuel poverty - in the UK and around the world (WDM) 2. Help us choose a school to Run on Sun (FoE) Events Mon 5 Jan: Support Public Ownership of Britains railways (The Peoples Assembly) Tue 13 Jan: MFOE full group meeting, Green Fish Wed 21 Jan: Anti-fracking Petition Hand-in and 7 day Countdown (Preston) Advance Notice: Tuesday 27th January 2015. Manchester Friends of the Earth Annual General Meeting and Social Some more dates for your calendar: Sat 14 Feb: Friends of the Earth NW gathering training day Fri 12 - Sun 14th June: Basecamp - ticket sales now open News 1. Almost 7,000 UK properties to be sacrificed to rising seas (Guardian) 2. Clean air and resource efficiency: Brussels caves in to the dinosaurs (Friends of the Earth) 3. Environment Agency investing pension fund in industries it regulates is clear conflict of interest (Independent) 4. Pope Francis’s edict on climate change will anger deniers and US churches (Guardian) 5. German energy use sinks to lowest level since reunification (Business Green) 6. Revealed: Police using pre-charge bail to muzzle protesters (Guardian) Other 1. Friends of the Earth North West Campaigner (maternity leave) 2. Heritage Trees & Red Rose Forest Job Vacancy There will be lot more actions, campaigns and events to get involved with in the New Year as 2015 promises to be even busier! Best wishes from all at Manchester Friends of the Earth. If youre a social media fan, dont forget that you can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter. This digest is compiled by volunteers and is kindly sponsored by Gaeia. If you come across anything of interest for future digests, please email us or add it to our wiki - all contributions welcome! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACTIONS -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. End the scandal of fuel poverty - in the UK and around the world (WDM) Last winter over 6,000 people died in cold homes in the UK. Tragically, an elderly person will die every 7 minutes this year because they can’t afford to pay for heating. The causes of energy injustice in the UK are the same around the world. Privatised energy prioritises corporate profit over people’s access to energy. In a just world, everyone should have access to affordable, sustainable energy. But corporate control of energy puts the profits of the few ahead of the many. Around the world, 1.3 billion have no access to even the most basic electricity, essential for lighting and heating. But there is an answer. Our UK allies Fuel Poverty Action have put forward an Energy Bill of Rights to end the scandal of fuel poverty. It works as well for people in the UK as it does for people all around the world. Please join the struggle for energy justice by asking your MP to support the Energy Bill of Rights. action.wdm.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1784&ea.campaign.id=34247 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Help us choose a school to Run on Sun (FoE) Good news: we’ve raised the £15,000 needed for one lucky primary school to win free solar panels! Thanks so much to everyone who donated. Now all we need to do is pick a winner – can you help us decide which schools should make the shortlist? There might be a school near you or a school that you nominated to take part that you’d like to support. But even if there isn’t, the wonderful creative entries are bound to put a smile on your face. The winning school will not only make solar savings. It will also show just what we can do when we work together to build the clean energy future that we urgently need. Vote for your favourite entry today and help get them on the shortlist for free solar panels. Voting on the shortlist closes on the 9 January. After that we’ll be in touch to send you the finalists so that you can vote for a winner. foe.co.uk/page/run-sun-competition-gallery -------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVENTS -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mon 5 Jan: Support Public Ownership of Britains railways (The Peoples Assembly) On Friday January the 2nd train fares are due to increase again, again above the rate of inflation. We already have some of the most expensive fares in Europe. We also have the most fragmented service, and it is the case that the government is now subsiding railways (and the franchises) MORE than when British Rail was de-nationalised. Between 1997 -2012 Virgin Trains’ West Coast Mainline paid £500 million in dividends after pocketing£2,5 billion in subsidies. By contrast, the publicly owned East Coast Mainline has returned nearly £1bn to the government since 2009.The arguments for public ownership are overwhelming. The environmental case for switching to rail and other public transport is also overwhelming. Hence, with the support of Action for Rail, the Campaign against Climate Change are teaming up the Peoples Assembly, Bring Back British Rail, Compass, the Green Party and a variety of other groups to organise leafleting of commuters at railways stations on Monday January 5th. Later that week the Green Party MP, Caroline Lucas, will be presenting her private members bill calling for public ownership of railways. We are looking for people who are prepared to volunteer to distribute leaflets at their local railway station. Are you prepared to help? If so please contact Peter Robinson at peterfrobinson@ntlworld and say which station you can attend and state a preferred time. Stations agreed so far can be seen at: thepeoplesassembly.org.uk/public_ownership_for_railways_protest Manchester leafleting: Meet at the Cornerhouse Café, 5th Jan at 4pm ready to leaflet Oxford Road at 4.30. If there are a good few of us then some people could also do Deansgate or Piccadilly. When: 4pm, Monday 5th January, leafleting from 4.30-6pm. Where: Cornerhouse House cafe, Oxford Road Station, Manchester ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tue 13 Jan: MFOE full group meeting, Green Fish Join us to plan our activities for the year, and share any ideas for campaigns we could run, topics or speakers for future meetings, or training sessions youd us to run. All welcome - hope to see you there. When: 6.45 for 7pm - 9pm, Tuesday 13th January Where: Green Fish Resource Centre, 46-50 Oldham Street, Manchester, M4 1LE More info: Email [email protected] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wed 21 Jan: Anti-fracking Petition Hand-in and 7 day Countdown (Preston) With just 7 days until Lancashire County Council decides whether to allow Cuadrilla to frack in Lancashire, join us in Preston as we hand in our anti-fracking petition to Council Leader Jennifer Mein. Bring along your placards and banners ready to show the level of opposition to fracking in Lancashire. After the demo join us upstairs in the Station Hotel for tea and coffee and a chat about next steps. Latest details on Facebook event page https://facebook/events/1561108674104194/ When: 9am - 11am, Wednesday 21st January Where: Outside County Hall in Preston, PR1 8RL -------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Almost 7,000 UK properties to be sacrificed to rising seas (Guardian) Properties worth over £1bn will be lost to coastal erosion in England and Wales over the next century, with no compensation for homeowners, as it becomes too costly to protect them theguardian/environment/2014/dec/28/7000-uk-properties-sacrificed-rising-seas-coastal-erosion ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Clean air and resource efficiency: Brussels caves in to the dinosaurs (Friends of the Earth) This week, everybody has been talking about air pollution and resource efficiency. Why? Europe had a big choice this week. Whether to retain plans to tackle air pollution and use precious resources more carefully, or give in to the dinosaur lobbyists who are only interested in short term profits. Thousands of people across Europe were outraged to hear that the European Commission wanted to drop these plans. Together we stopped these packages being permanently shelved. There is a lot of work still to do. The Commission did withdraw the packages, but importantly claimed that ‘more ambitious’ proposals on resource use will be submitted in 2015, and that air quality plans will be dealt with later too. Friends of the Earth says stronger programmes should have been agreed now. And there’s a risk the plans wont come back at all. Read more at: https://foe.co.uk/news/clean-air-resource-efficiency-brussels-caves-dinosaurs ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Environment Agency investing pension fund in industries it regulates is clear conflict of interest (Independent) The Environment Agency (EA) has been accused of having a clear conflict of interest after an Independent on Sunday investigation found the UK regulators pension fund invests millions in controversial industries which it then regulates. In the UK the EAs pension fund – worth a huge £2.3bn – invests in companies investing in fracking, incineration and nuclear power, all of which the Agency is involved in regulating. independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/environment-agency-investing-pension-fund-in-industries-it-regulates-is-clear-conflict-of-interest-9946597.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Pope Francis’s edict on climate change will anger deniers and US churches (Guardian) Pontiff hopes to inspire action at next year’s UN meeting in Paris in December after visits to Philippines and New York theguardian/world/2014/dec/27/pope-francis-edict-climate-change-us-rightwing ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. German energy use sinks to lowest level since reunification (Business Green) New analysis by AG Energiebilanzen suggests energy demand fell by nearly five per cent in 2014 businessgreen/bg/news/2387622/german-energy-use-sinks-to-lowest-level-since-reunification ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Revealed: Police using pre-charge bail to muzzle protesters (Guardian) Exclusive: Data obtained by the Guardian substantiates claims that hundreds of innocent people banned from attending lawful demonstrations theguardian/uk-news/2014/dec/25/revlealed-police-using-pre-charge-bail-muzzle-protesters ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other 1. Friends of the Earth North West Campaigner (maternity leave) Starting salary: £23,205 to £31,935. (For part-time hours, the salary is a percentage of that) Maximum salary: £31,935 Location: North West with working from offices in either Manchester or Liverpool. Home working would be considered. Hours per week: 35 Closing date: 19 Jan 2015 (9:00am) Please note this role is a maternity cover position and therefore the contract is up to one year. We are looking to interview Thursday 29 and/or Friday 30 January in Manchester or London. Purpose of the role: The role of Regional Campaigner is central to the ethos and delivery of Friends of the Earths campaigns. As an organisation that works at both grassroots level and international level through our sister organisations we truly do local to global campaigning. As a regional campaigner you will be the eyes and ears of the organisation in the North West, acting as spokesperson, ambassador and networker. You will be part of an England-wide team that operates in the various regional hubs, working collectively with the Team to make our campaigns the most impactful they can be on the ground, and helping to deliver organisational goals. More details: https://foe.co.uk/job/campaigner-maternity-leave ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Heritage Trees & Red Rose Forest Job Vacancy We are recruiting! We need a lively and experienced individual to help deliver the Heritage Trees project. Please see redroseforest.co.uk/web/content/view/31/138/ for details relating to the position of Heritage Trees Engagement Officer and also how to apply. The deadline for applications is Friday 16th January 2015.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 18:33:33 +0000
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