Fish, Forests and Facebook for February (and Oil, an Energy bill, and a new Rainbow Warrior)

Here are the notes from our meeting on Tuesday...

Thanks to Rex, Miriam, Phoebe, Annie, Marti, Ben, Alex, Antonio, Andy, Ali, Dom and George for coming along.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Saturday 26th February, 1pm: Go Beyond Oil campaigning in Hampstead.
Wednesday 30th March (TBC), evening: Energy Bill Public Meeting with local MP, Frank Dobson.
Friday 6th May, 7.15pm until late: 'Rock the Boat!' - our fundraiser gig night for the Rainbow Warrior 3.

OCEANS
It's been an interesting month, so there was lots to discuss. Marti kicked the meeting off with an update on the Princes Tuna campaign. Despite receiving 26,000 emails from us, and warning stickers mysteriously appearing on their tins in supermarkets up and down the country, Princes are still refusing to follow Tesco's u-turn last month, to agree to stop using fish aggregating devices (FADs) with purse seine nets. Fishing with FADs causes the needless deaths of turtles, sharks, rays, and juvenile tuna, because of the huge amount of by-catch. Keep up the pressure on Princes by emailing them here: http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/fishfight .

FORESTS
Annie gave us an update on the Save Our Forests campaign. Our self proclaimed 'greenest government ever' is preparing to sell off England's publicly owned forests, and dismantle the Forestry Commission. As a result, private companies could be free to chop the forests down or fence them off from the public. Join the massive swell of opposition to these plans by adding your name to the petition here: http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/save-our-forests .

ENERGY BILL
We are helping to organise an Energy Bill Public Meeting, with Frank Dobson, our local MP. The Energy Bill is currently in the House of Lords, and will reach the Commons in the spring. It could be a bill which seriously helps the UK to tackle climate change, provide energy security, and create thousands of jobs, but it still needs a lot of work, and we want to get our MPs to back the amendments that will make the bill worthwhile.
We are teaming up with Camden Friends of the Earth, and other local groups, as part of the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition's Big Climate Reconnection. The date is to be confirmed, but we're aiming for the evening of Wednesday 30th March. Alex volunteered to represent us in organising this, and Miriam & Phoebe will be helping him.

OIL
The Go Beyond Oil campaign continues, as Chevron and Hess are applying for another licence to drill for oil in the deep waters off the Shetlands, in the north of Scotland. On top of the consequences to the climate of chasing every last drop of oil from the hardest to reach places, an oil spill off the Shetlands would be disastrous for the local environment and wildlife, and could spread as far Iceland, Norway and Germany. And that's just Hess's own predictions! Have your say in the public consultation and come and help us take the Go Beyond Oil campaign to Hampstead High Street on Saturday 26th February. We'll meet outside Hampstead tube station at 1pm, and we'll be asking people to sign postcards for the local MP, Glenda Jackson. It'll be a fun day, with plenty of opportunities to get creative with paint, pastels and crayons! :)  If you can help please email me at neiljones78@gmail.com .

RAINBOW WARRIOR
At 52 years old (21 of them as a Greenpeace ship), the current Rainbow Warrior is heading for retirement. She's been shot at, rammed and impounded, but has helped Greenpeace win campaigns, stop environmental disasters and has witnessed crimes in the deep oceans that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. Greenpeace is building a new Rainbow Warrior, and we are holding a fundraising night to help pay for her.
'Rock the Boat!' will be an evening with comedians, live bands and DJs at the World's End pub in Finsbury Park (not the one in Camden!). The website to buy tickets will be up shortly, but in the meantime save Friday 6th May in your calendars, and start thinking about your sea themed costume :)
There's still some work to do before the event, and we'll need some extra help on the night. Thanks to everyone who has offered to help so far. What we really need now is a nice flyer to help us promote the night. If we have any graphic designers in the group (or if you know one), please get in touch with your ideas.

FACEBOOK
Did you know we're on Facebook? Find us here, and while you're there, get Facebook to unfriend coal by Earth Day (22nd April).

NEXT MEETING
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 8th March, 7pm, upstairs at the lovely Crown & Goose pub in Camden. Details are here.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS?
1) Rex is running a petition for Age UK to stop the cuts that are threatening to close local day centres for older people. Contact Rex at rexiebarnes@yahoo.com for more information.