greenpeace content

in a few hours i'll be flying off to manila after a very long stay here in thailand, finally i'll be able to see all my loved ones again.
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as you may be noticing much of the content of this blog has now become almost (if not all) greenpeace stuff keeping this in mind i think that i ought to start a blog that specifically pertains to my life with greenpeace seeing as to how it has now become like my christian faith and politics become an inseperable part of my life. i'll keep you guys posted for that.

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i'm also having way too much stuff to do that i feel as though i cannot be as transparent as i was with my thoughts like before in this blog. so i've been entertaining thoughts of finally putting to rest m35b. but this isn't certain yet.

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in the meantime feel free to visit PayItForward and Pinaybloodrush. thanks.

my life as a human barricade

As I sit here in the office now, I cannot help but look back at my first direct action with Greenpeace as a volunteer activist.

Now as I look at the picture of myself at the website where chained with other activists I cannot even begin to tell of how many things this action has brought about in my personal perspective towards Greenpeace and the cause it advances. Nor do I have the luxury of time to put in writing all of what happened. So with this I could only make do with what very little skill I have in writing to give you some sort of glimpse to what has transpired during the blockade at the BLCP plant construction site.

So here it goes...

With barely a couple of hours of sleep (if the mere closing of your eyes, and struggling to not be awake is considered as sleep), I got up just when the sun was rising. You might think that I'm being poetic or something but no, it just happened to be the exact time wherein I opened my eyes for the action. I left my toiletries at the place that I was staying because I was supposed to be on camp up until midnight but last night tension was high, when security people went to the Rainbow Warrior and cut the mooring lines, causing some of the crew to fall overboard, thankfully no one was hurt and so it was decided that all of us should stay on the camp.

I'll skip the part where I did the morning rituals and others and go directly to the part where I along with other activists started to board the van where we dressed up in our green coveralls and started started locking ourselves to the pipe locks and handcuffs that we'll be using to blockade the plant's entrance and exit points.

So the moment the van went on a u-turn towards the gate we calmly rushed towards our position and strapped each other in a single line. Wherein we spent a greater part of the day blocking and cutting accross our message which can be summed in the message of Greenpeace International's Jean Francois Fauconnier: "Coal plants like BLCP are the main cause of climate change."

A lot went through my head at the time, as the sun got higher and the sweat drenched my clothes and I can't help but feel helpless as we are at the moment with our food and drink being hand fed to us in fact even scratching our noses were done by other hands. Its strange how things are when you can't understand what people are talking about, because Thai's don't speak a lot of English you can't help but think that we're screwed everytime someone from the plant would raise their voice. Also you can't help but anticipate anything but the worst as the negotiations go about, and the suspense was killing me.

So it came to a point when the workers at the project are going home and the trucks carrying them were also blocked and its already ok for us to leave since the Thai National Economic and Social Advisory Council of the Prime Minister's office, has committed to review of the Government's energy policy. All in due time since our action coordinator was saying to us as we were withdrawing from the scene that the crowed was cheering: "kill! kill! kill!" in Thai.

It ended with Tara the local campaigner saying: "this a major victory for the Thai people". In looking back I can't help but feel proud of myself, that I was there and a part of that action, which in a way is a step forward in advancing the call for 'clean energy'.

It was over.

And I am here to tell the tale.

Thank God it was over.

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If you're wondering where I am on the picture I am the 3rd person from the right with the New Balance sneaker. 
You can read more about the action here

Ignorance is Bliss

The camp has been up overnight and generally there isn't any sign from the BLCP folks to force us out or at the least do something about our presence here. They seem to be just ignoring us.

If we'd look at it closely their general attitude towards us is the very same attitude of apathy that the coal industry displays towards climate change and its impacts.

Another aspect that fascinates me about this camp is the fact that we're powering all the equipment that we have here with solar and wind energy that we input in a power inverter and then store in a battery.

So basically, what we're trying to do apart from highlighting the impacts of climate change we're also spreading the word that energy demands could be met by utilizing renewable sources like wind and solar power.

And this attitude of ignoring us is an indication too of how a lot of people are either uninformed or willfully ignoring the urgency and the potentiality of shifting from fossil fuels to renewables. Its an interesting but also a sad note that a lot of us are experiencing the effects of climate change and that the solutions is readily available but there just seem to be a lack of will to act upon the matter with urgency.

Vindicated

There’s something about securing your boat onto a target location that kind of reminds me of the Allied landing at Normandy.

Or it just might be because I’ve so often watched, Saving Private Ryan beside my father at home during the holidays. But I can’t help it there is somewhat of a resemblance as I see the constructed smoke stack on the horizon get larger as we approach.

As I stand on the boat in a Douglas McArthur stance beside me was Arthur, on top of us in the bridge were the media, taking their precious footages; and Tara the Climate and Energy Campaigner was behind us, whispering stuff in Thai, it may be just him practicing his statement, or perhaps praying, maybe humming a song or mumbling out words of poetry for all I know. After all they say that ‘Rayong is the province of poets’ it may very well then be poetry for all I know.

With the constructed coal plant in full view, the boat captain decides to stop our engine to see what’s up ahead of us. Then as the sunlight was glaring the vast ocean landscape, there it was: the Rainbow Warrior, entering dramatically into the scene, charging swiftly towards the plat. It was accompanied by a couple of inflatables carrying the Greenpeace activists all suited up in their orange cover-alls and ready for action.

From there on it started, another environmental exploit unfolds before our very eyes. As it was happening a Thai Marine Police boat, approached our vessel with its two crewmen boarding our boat so as to chat with Tara and the others in our boat.

I was quite nervous at the time, but I was later on reassured by the smiling and friendly facial expressions of the crewmen that boarded us, which in a way conveys a message to me that all would seem to end up well.

You may be asking why I got nervous?

There was a very good reason for me to be nervous, after all it was the police, and also because earlier on in the Philippines a similar action was met with violence by plant personnel.

But this time it was different.

By the time the climbers were able to display the banner that read: “BLCP, Climate Killer” alongside the other banner from the boat that exhibited the familiar phrase: ‘clean energy now!’ No gunshot was fired, no breaking noise was heard, no news of someone getting hurt were reported in the radios. All was well.

The activists were safe the banner and is message was shown off, for the videos and still cameras to record and broadcast it for the world to see.

And for me there was this certain feeling of vindication, because at this moment the banner and its message was hung, and there was no violent resistance from the plant as compared to the other action that I spoke of earlier. I gives you a sense of hope that the coal industry must really be at the very least listening to our demands.

This moment was excellent.

As the video camera rolled and shot Tara speaking his campaign message with the banners on the background, his words to me sounded like lines of poetry. So as he parted his message with the line: “…clean energy now!” The action went on as arranged.

Our message was cut across, it’s a victory in itself, but the energy revolution is far from over. There are more battles to be fought and won, all for ensuring a future that is unthreatened by climate change.

Become a part of the Greenpeace People's Power Camp

Hi friends,

I’m asking for a few minutes of your precious time to support this non-violent direct action that Greenpeace Southeast Asia is conducting this time.

At the moment there is an ongoing action inside a coal plant that’s under construction, in Rayong, Thailand.

Volunteer Greenpeace, climbers have climbed onto the pylons situated inside the
said, plant, to hang banners and to write messages against the destructive coal industry.
You can be part of this action by becoming a cyber activist who’ll be participating in the ongoing ‘virtual camp’ that coincides with this action. All you have to do is visit: http://www.asiacleanenergy.org/camp/, and write down your message of support for the climbrers, and your voice of opposition against coal.

Whereupon, after receiving your message the climbers will write down your message on the banners that they are hanging inside the pylons.

We are hoping for your support for this action, and to the cause of advancing the energy revolution in Southeast Asia.



For more information visit
Greenpeace.org/seasia/en or asiacleanenergy.org


Spread the word about this cyber action!

Feel free to forward this message to your friends, or post it in blogs, online forums and friendster bulletin boards.