Ende Gelände in 2015 and 2016 were the largest protests against coal Germany and Europe have seen. Many of you were part of the actions. You joined me and thousands of others walking into the largest coal pit in Europe and blocking the world’s largest digging machinery with just our bodies. We stopped the diggers, stopped the power plant and stopped CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
Those were beautiful and powerful moments – thousands of us peacefully resisting and standing up for what we know to be true. To avoid climate catastrophe we need to keep the vast majority of coal, oil and gas reserves in the ground. And to achieve that we need to challenge the status quo, the governments that still support climate-wrecking companies and the assumption that we will need to continue burning coal for years to come. We need to challenge those lies that deny the threat of climate change and tell us that 100% renewable energy is not possible. We know it to be inevitable.
And so we took action. And we will keep doing so in 2017.
What we did might have been illegal but it was legitimate.. We put our bodies on the line for climate justice but we also put ourselves at risk of legal consequences and repression. And so, we mustn’t forget that once the action is over our fight continues.
RWE has started to sue some of our bold fellow Ende Gelände participants. People we stood next to in the pit, people who tended to us when we were tired or hurt by police. People who took a risk to be there with us and hold the line. They had our backs and now it is up to us to have their backs. Many have received declarations to cease and desist and by signing them they agree to never step on RWE property again. Some bold-hearted people decided to not sign such a declaration. They are not up for playing RWE’s game.
As those legal processes take place they give us an opportunity to discuss publicly the need for a coal phaseout and RWE’s climate-wrecking business model. However, these cases are also costly. And this is why we ask you for help. Our friends in the Ende Gelände organising team have started a new campaign to fundraise for the legal costs. If you support this you will ensure that our protest will be alive and well in the future and for the coming protests that are planned in the Rhineland in August 17.
Let’s have each others backs just like we had when we were in the pit together. Please support the campaign untenlassen.org/en/unterstuetzen by making a donation or in any other way you can.
Onwards, with courage!
Tine and the rest of the 350.org team.