Hambach Update: Largest Lignite Mine in Europe Shut Down by Sabotage for Two Days

by Hambacher Forest Earth First! / Earth First! Newswire

In the early hours of Monday Morning April 25, in the dark of the night, a power corridor with 10 power mains supplying current to the massive diggers, conveyor belts and all other facilities of the Largest Lignite Opencast Mine in Europe have been set ablaze resulting in the whole mine being shut down for 2 days and continuing to operate to this moment in limited capacity. This act of ecotage follows by a week damaging of a power pylon to neighbouring Indien mine. Both mines exploit lignite which with its high moisture and contaminant content and low energy coefficient is only used to supply power generating plants, a series of which surrounds the mines with one power plant exclusively powering the the Hambach mine.

This act of ecotage and destruction of equipment without the injury or loss of life has taken aim at the industry which according to still rather conservative 2015 study of World Health Organisation on the Effects of Airborne Fossil Fuel pollutants is responsible for seven million deaths around the world each year, making it the single greatest environmental health risk, contributing to one out of every eight global deaths. Even more drastic and irreversible effects on climate change (not included in the above mentioned study), to which coal is the leading contributing factor, estimated to reach a run-away effect at 2 degrees centigrade global change by IPCC committee with a new consensus forming placing that point at 1.5 degree annual temperature change on which brink we are presently. Having already caused global bleaching and die-off to the rainforests of the oceans – the coral reefs, the combined temperature change and the increased acidity from carbon absorption to world’s ocean is about to make this largest habitat on earth unlivable to the next most sensitive organisms: plankton. Plankton which constitutes the very foundation of the whole ocean eco-system causing in effect unprecedented global die-off and decimation of life, putting one of the largest human-caused planetary extinctions already taking place into higher gear still.

As this March became the hottest month on record and as Greenland ice cover underwent unprecedented melting a month ahead of its usual time, and as empty non-binding promises are made at more and more policed, militarised world climate summits all of this as the world slides into the future of chaos and instability it is in this case at least that the future generations will be able to know that not all stood silent and complacent when faced with a global hegemony of extreme energy extraction and its not so silent partners of disinformation, apathy and repression. We are however still at a very high risk of these same future human descendants and ecosystems facing a dire reality in which so little has been done.

That is why Hambach Forest Earth-First salutes those responsible for reminding all that it is not a crime to commit a lesser “crime” in order to prevent a much larger one of global destruction, death and ecocide from taking place as it has for so long in full impunity and in broad daylight……

Hambacher Forest Earth First!