Category: Reposts
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The earth is at the heart of the struggle for Palestine
Today, in the Middle East, the lives and health of people in Gaza, Palestine are being systematically obliterated. The Israeli military have bombed hospitals, homes, refugee centres, schools, and places of worship. At the time of writing, 25,700 Palestinians have been killed and 1.7 million people, nearly three-quarters of Gaza’s population, have been displaced.1 Many…
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A walk to Torness
It’s 45 years since 4,000 people occupied Torness, East Lothian, as part of an incredibly vibrant campaign to oppose nuclear power in Scotland, a campaign which could be credited with helping to root Scottish independence in environmentalism: something of a miracle given the movement’s deep connection with “Scotland’s oil”. The plant eventually came on line…
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My tips for taking good protest photos
I like taking photos at protests. I think everyone should. Usually we only spend time in crowds because we’re queuing for something. At a protest it’s because we’ve decided to huddle together purely so we may be counted and seen as a group with an aim. It can, and should be, empowering and exciting –…
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Preview Clip: Around St Fittick’s Kirk
This post is a preview of my completed film about Torry, available here. St. Fittick’s Kirk, Torry, used to look out across a wide open beach: the Bay of Nigg. A popular bathing spot in the early 20th century in more recent years it was a haven for dog walkers and surfers. That was until…
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Fossil fuel industry spills money and power in year of tumult
When a ship is plain sailing, it’s hard to knock it off course. That’s been the conundrum for us rubber-dinghied climate activists for decades now as we try our best to push the supertanker that is the global economy towards sustainability. But in 2020 the ship hit the rocks – and hard. As the keel…
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Just & Green Recovery letter sent to the First Minister
As the peak of the first wave of the Coronavirus pandemic passed I worked with colleagues at Friends of the Earth Scotland and elsewhere to draft a letter to the First Minister about what a just recovery should entail. The letter was initially signed by 82 civil society organisations from across different sectors of Scottish…
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Glasgow University’s fossil free first – interview
October 2014. It’s a cold morning in Glasgow and the start of a new academic year. Most students are in class – or in bed. But Živilė Mantrimaitė and a small group of activists are on a mission, sneaking around the University’s iconic Gilbert Scott Building looking for places to hide. “We were looking for…
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The Brexit Vote
In recent weeks it has been said ad nauseam that Labour’s main problem in this election is it’s Brexit policy. I do not agree. In fact I would go so far as to say the Labour Party has, by a country mile, the best Brexit policy of the main parties. This is not glowingly self-evident,…
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How to divest a nation from fossil fuels
Scotland as a nation is still heavily invested in the companies most responsible for climate change. To get a glimpse of how we might turn this situation around we need only look across the Irish Sea. The Republic of Ireland’s world-beating divestment policy provides a fantastic example for Scotland to follow as it moves to…
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The truth behind Shell’s big story
When it comes to Shell and the climate, we should be very wary. As major UN talks on climate change begin in Poland, UK-based oil company Shell have made a big announcement, and if you care about climate change, it’s worth getting to grips with.