The Axe Drax campaign, which is pushing back against energy firm’s grandiose greenwashing campaign, is planning to confront executives at their upcoming AGM.
In the face of a strong campaign to close Drax down which saw a major climate camp set up in 2006 and a series of high-profile direct actions since, bosses have gone to great lengths to portray it as a nimble company switching over to “zero carbon” biomass.
However the reality is that the firm has simply taken advantage of clumsy EU rules which designate wood pellets culled from commercial forests as sustainable biomass — allowing Drax Group to pose as environmentally responsible and even pick up government subsidies. However beyond the clear continuing climate impact of massive industrial scale wood burning, the wood pellet industry itself has come under heavy fire for unscrupulous practices.
Organisers with Axe Drax said in a statement:
Drax is a dangerous waste of bill payers’ money, receiving £1.5 million in subsidies every day to destroy forests and contribute to climate change. Drax burns more wood than any other power station in the world, and more coal than any in the UK.
Join us for a colourful protest outside Drax’s 2017 AGM in London – date tbc but we think it will be in late April. The AGM is a great opportunity to let Drax’s management and investors know what we think.
After the AGM we may drop in on one of Drax’s major investors in the city of London.
We will be having at least one meeting and one prop-making session before the AGM, so watch this space, or London Biomassive on Facebook, for more details.
For more information about Drax, see our detailed #AxeDrax campaign page, or watch this short movie by Jo Syz. For more information about the impacts of coal, see coalaction.org.uk.
More details to come, including possible simultaneous events closer to Drax and other parts of its supply chain – watch this space, or see the Facebook event page for updates.
Main pic from Indymedia UK
