#weshutdown

early wednesday morning (15 nov. 2017), over a 1000 climate activists occupied excavators and conveyor belts at Weisweiler power station in the Rhineland, thereby blocking the coal supply to the plant. the action ended up making the power plant run at only 10% of its capacity. by climbing on and chaining themselves to machinery and using tripods, the activists prevented the emission of 12.000 tons of CO2.

WEshutdown writes that they do not trust the so-called world leaders at the still ongoing COP23 to do anything about climate change, therefore they are taking action for climate justice themselves. while big companies from the West are profiting from fossil fuels, the climate change they cause is felt hardest by people from the global south. capitalism reproduces colonialist structures.

“When we speak of climate justice, it means: we do not want privileges for some at a great cost to many. To work toward a world where all people can lead a good life, the coal power plants here have to stand still. Because they are a part of the capitalist system of domination, that produces destruction and poverty.”

13 people were arrested by the Aachen police at the action, most of whom have been released after a few hours. three of them will be brought before a judge tomorrow.

you can read the full explanation of the action by WEshutdown here (in German): https://www.zuckerimtank.net/?page_id=295 more pictures of the action: https://www.flickr.com/photos/153594030@N02/with/26654619979/