Activists declare a "Climate Crime Scene" at Range Rover factory in the UK which makes SUVs.
The volunteers used safety shut-down buttons to cut off power to
theassembly line before handcuffing and chaining themselves to
unfinishedvehicles along the 150m long assembly line and branding
it a climatecrime scene. It's the first time anywhere in the world
that protestershave shut down a factory making Sports Utility
Vehicles.
Climate change is the greatest threat the planet is facing.
Accordingto the World Health Organisation, 150,000 people are
already dyingevery year as a result of the impacts of climate
change includingdroughts, floods and storms. Yet Land Rover
continues to makegas-guzzling vehicles, most of which will tackle
nothing steeper than aspeed bump.
The Range Rover is the UK's least fuel-efficient 4x4 doing a
criminal12 miles to the gallon in urban areas. The new Range Rover
Sport, which"has been tuned primarily for on-road performance,"
does fewer miles tothe gallon than the Model T Ford built 80 years
ago.
Making cars like this for urban use is crazy. Land Rover
aggressivelymarkets its range of 4x4s - like Discovery and Range
Rover - in townsand cities throughout the UK. It spends £3 million
on advertising inLondon alone. Land Rover's parent company Ford has
also stood in theway of government action to tackle climate change
both in Europe andthe US.
In the UK, road transport accounts for about a quarter of the
emissionsthat cause climate change, which makes it the second
biggest source ofgreenhouse gases. The trend of 4x4 vehicles as
urban run-arounds isincreasing the amount of emissions going into
the atmosphere.
Greenpeace executive director Stephen Tindale is one of the
volunteerscurrently chained to Range Rover chassis. He said: "We've
taken directaction to stop Land Rover making these gas-guzzling
urban 4x4s. Thecompany used to have a reputation for making working
vehicles, but nowthey market themselves as the car company for
people who love thewilderness while simultaneously producing cars
that threaten ourenvironment with catastrophic climate change."
Range Rover's parent company, Ford, is losing money and shedding
jobsin America because sales of their gas-guzzling models are
falling,whereas Asian companies are thriving by making fuel
efficient vehicles.With a climate crisis developing and oil at over
$US 50 a barrel,car-makers who want to save jobs have to stop
making gas guzzlers.
There's no future and no jobs in making cars that wreck the
climate.Land Rover and Ford have the technology to develop far
morefuel-efficient vehicles but they choose not to. It's time for
LandRover to stop making gas-guzzlers and time for Tony Blair to
tax themoff our roads.
Please send
an online fax to Tony Blair asking him to increase road tax for
gas-guzzlers and offer incentives for people who choose to
drive more fuel-efficient vehicles.
You can also help us halt the damage being done to our climate
andsupport clean renewable energy by signing up
online for regular updatesand action alerts.
For more information, download the Ford Climate
Crime File. Greenpeacehas not shut down production of the Land
Rover Defender, most of whichare used for legitimate agricultural
and industrial purposes.
Send a fax to Tony Blair
Demand the UK put higher taxes on gas-guzzling vehicles and offer other incentives to fuel efficiency.
Help keep us in action
Actions like these don't just happen. They take planning and effort and money. Please help keep Greenpeace in action by donating whatever you can.