Energystruggles - My speech from the nuclear-forum protests Alexanderplatz Berlin yesterday

More then 30.000 expropriated people in Germany and they shall become more. 5 more villages near Cologne and Cottbus are facing destruction through RWE and Vattenfall. Why? Because there is cheap, for the threatened people and worldwide climate change affected costly, brown coal energy for the companies.  And it doesn’t matter that they are already self-sufficient, produce even more energy than they need themselves. Self organised in solar-cooperatives, windparks and biogas facilities.

My name is Jonathan Solomon and I am from the organisational team of the climate camp 2011 in the Lausitz region. Together with the rhein brown coal area near cologne the active spaces of years of energy struggle from civil movements and locals with RWE and Vattenfall. But we don’t stand alone. We stand together with the anti-nuclear movements and are organised with German-Polish anti-nuclear camp, for we have a common goal: energy sovereignty, energy democracy.

The legal decision over CO2-ultimate disposal will be made in Germany this year. Affected through the attitude of their government is mostly Brandenburg and on long-term effects as well Berlin. Vattenfall continues their struggle by all means for securing profits from a inefficient and risky technology and accepts further destruction of woods and villages.

The societal decision, like the expiration dates of the nuclear power plants, is made by us. The political pressure of the growing resistance is getting to his climax. With the biggest demonstrations and blockades the movement has seen in ages. We now have the favour of history to exit nuclear energy and coal extraction and prevent further expropriation and ecological disasters through CO2 and nuclear waste.

That’s the reason we organise two climate and energy camps at the Rhein brown coal area at Cologne and at Jänschwalde near Cottbus. Climate camps are the attempt to build a countervailing power to the conventional climate- and energypolitics with elitist international climate summits, NGOs, governments and enterprises.

The three pillars of the camps are:

- linking of local resistance groups and exchange of ideas, experience and strategies

- low/no impact living using resources as efficient as possible

- direct action and mass civil disobedience to stop the destruction of our livelihoods

Now we have the possibility to influence central social questions of our whole civilisation:

There can’t be fake solutions of the question of our whole system. Risky, centralized and inefficient mining, transport and incineration systems like the nuclear and fossil industry belong to the past.

Right there is the chance of renewables, the possibility of decentralised energy extraction  and democratic control over production and use of direct affected of the region. The question of energy, is a question of existence and power for the big four (RWE, EnBW, Eon, Vattenfall).  The already expanding seeds of a democratic organised energy sector are public services and consensus democratical organised energycooperatives. We are a movement for energy democracy and with that also for climate justice. Living solidarity with those worldwide affected by fires, droughts, floods, storms as well as those threatened by extensive mining in Germany.

Lets start by switching our energy suppliers from Vattenfall, Eon, EnBw to civil-owned climate-friendly and no-nuclear suppliers like EWS.

Lets exchange our ideas and knowledge with our comrades for an accelerated change to 100% renewables clean, decentralized and democratic.

Lets show our government a clear refusal to engraved societal power relations articulated in the continuation of monopolistic, centralized energy systems.

And we can not stop here but have to answer the question of our enforced economic growth: how does our society in the midst of extreme weather events and shrinking resources have to look like?

This is what we want to ask, discuss and live at the climate- and energycamp 2011 from August 7^th to 14^th at Jänschwalde. Find us at www.klimacamp2011.de und www.lausitzcamp.info

Resistance and emancipation are never accorded and can’t be concluded, it must be practised and experienced.  That is what we do at Brokdorf, at Cologne, at the Wendland and at the Lausitz this year!