Saturday 16th October was a long and busy day as Bristol Greenpeace members managed to launch the new 'Go Beyond Oil' campaign at two key city locations. Wilf led a select team of volunteers at the Yate, 'It's Your World' Festiva,l whilst Natasha and Richard anchored the main event outside the Council House where the Schumacher Conference on Zero Carbon Britain was being held. Brandishing a new banner, the 'Go Beyond Oil' campaign was well and truly launched on the streets of Bristol. There seemed to be a positivity in the air - the sun was shining (at times) on a glorious autumn day, Schumacher delegates were being aspired into action and the nearby 'Festival of Desperation' exuded a 'carnival' atmosphere with street performances on College Green. Along with the enthusiasm of our Greenpeace members we engaged the public and encouraged a good number of people to support the campaign. In total we got a fantastic 218 postcards completed (151 Council House & 67 Yate). Well done to all who helped out. Pictures have been posted on the Bristol Greenpeace Facebook site.
The principle aim of the day was to invite people to fill out postcards that asked their MPs to take action to stop oil exploration in deep waters off the UK coast and to support a forward-looking economy based on clean energy. The campaign specifically targets MPs who will be debating the forthcoming Energy Security and Green Economy Bill this winter. As it stands the Bill proposes to water down key election promises yet, offers a 'green light' for risky deepwater drilling and new nuclear power. Greenpeace will be lobbying and campaigning hard to include provisions in the Bill that moves the economy beyond oil, limits emissions and kick starts a vibrant and prosperous low carbon economy for the UK.
The street campaign builds on the excellent actions involving the Greenpeace ship Esperanza that majorly inconvenienced the explorations of oil companies off the coasts of Greenland and the Shetland Isles. Not forgetting a bit of local 'subvertising' up and down the country (wink wink)!
Be assured that Bristol Greenpeace will be taking to the streets again very soon to push the 'Go Beyond Oil' message to as many people as possible.
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