Hundreds expected to camp for climate justice in Co. Offaly

national | environment | press release Wednesday August 12, 2009 15:59 by Climatecamp - Climate Camp - Action for Social Justice info at climatecamp dot ie www.climatecamp.ie 085 7851241

For peat's sake- Ireland's first climate camp to highlight destruction of the bogs.

Ireland's first ever Climate Camp will start this Saturday the 15th of August in Shannonbridge, County Offaly. The gathering of activists from all over Ireland will continue for nine days and culminate in a day of action against peat burning on the 22nd of August.

Climate Camp - Co. Shannonbridge, Co. Offaly, in a sea of orange cut bogs

For Immediate Release
12.08.09

Hundreds expected to camp for climate justice in Co. Offaly
For peat's sake- Ireland's first climate camp to highlight destruction of the bogs.

Ireland's first ever Climate Camp will start this Saturday the 15th of August in Shannonbridge, County Offaly. The gathering of activists from all over Ireland will continue for nine days and culminate in a day of action against peat burning on the 22nd of August.

The climate camp has four main aims - Education, Sustainable Living, Movement Building and Direct Action against the root causes of climate change.
The camp is called Climate Camp - Action for Social Justice and is a broad gathering of people many of whom are particularly concerned about the justice impacts of climate change.
A spokesperson for the camp explained "It is people in the Global South who are being hit first and worst as a result of climate change. Its simply unjust that we are destroying a carbon sink and burning a fossil fuel such as peat. People are losing their lives as a result of climate change and we need to act now to reduce our emissions and stop catastrophic climate change."

The Climate Camp will draw attention to the climate impact of the ESB-owned power station in Shannonbridge where peat is burned. The peat is extracted and supplied to the station by Bord na Mona. Peat is the most climate-polluting fossil fuel that is burned in Ireland for electricity.
According to a spokesperson for the camp
"We should be proud and protective our our bogs in Ireland. Intact peat bogs actually absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The makes them an extremely valuable resource that we should be protecting. Instead Bord na Mona are ripping the heart out of our country to extract a dirty fossil fuel, and the ESB are buying it and burning it."
ENDS

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