In echo of Kingsnorth Six, US climate change activists go on trial

[bananas]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/16/climatechange-energy-activists-dominion11

In echo of Kingsnorth Six, US climate change activists go on trial
• Eleven face criminal charges after blockading $1.8bn plant
• James Hansen offers to lend support

Elana Schor in Washington
guardian.co.uk, Friday October 17 2008 09.07 BST

Eleven climate change activists are due in court today on criminal charges after they blockaded a planned $1.8bn coal-fired power plant, providing an American echo of the Kingsnorth Six trial.

The activists were arrested last month in rural Wise County, Virginia, at the gates of a power plant being built by Dominion, the No 2 utility in the US. The 11 chained themselves to steel barrels that held aloft a banner, lit by solar panels, challenging the utility to provide cleaner energy for a region ravaged by abusive coal mining.

Charged with unlawful assembly and obstruction of justice, the group has been dubbed the Dominion 11 in homage to Kingsnorth. Dr James Hansen, the leading US climate change scientist, has followed his testimony on behalf of the Kingsnorth protesters with an offer of help to the Virginia activists.

The Americans have yet to attract the national attention won by their counterparts in the UK. But for Hannah Morgan, a member of the 11, her case is only one chapter in a long battle against the coal industry that has been raging under the general public's radar.

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[Nihil]

1. Well done to Hansen for his support!

Here's hoping for a successful conclusion to this one too.
:toast: