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Events 2004
Report from our
GLOBAL FUNERAL MARCH
For Bush's Re-election.
We marked the re-election of George Bush with a "Global funeral March" to show where his
policies are taking us ! We lost no time in showing how we felt about his re-election.
Just two days after the election on the evening of Thursday November 4th
we held our "Rally for the Planet at the US Election", which took the form of a 'Global Funeral
March'.
Hundreds of protestors gathered at Lincoln's Inn Fields to march off through the centre of
London with our familiar 'Globe in a Greenhouse' out in front, proclaiming the message that
Bush's re-election was a disaster for the global environment. There was our giant 'wobbly'
globe bearing the message "RIP thanks to George W Bush" and a host of 'mourners' in funerary,
or more colourful gear, with sounds coming from the famous 'Rinky-Dink' bicycle sound machine
- and the 'Soapbox' bicycle sound machine belting out the message, too. Early on, we marched
past the London offices of ExxonMobil (Bush's primary oil-company paymaster) where a large
boo went up as usual while a group of spoof 'climate-sceptic' scientists were taking the message
to passers-by about how US oil company money is funding a campaign of disinformation on climate
change - as well as determining Bush's climate policy (see further
www.exxonsecrets.org/ ).
At the US embassy, Phil Thornhill, CCC coordinator, exhorted America to "Wake up to the
reality of the destabilisation of global climate" and then the assembled crowd listened to
speaches from Jean Lambert, the Green Party MEP for London, Bryony Worthington from Friends
of the Earth, Dave Timms from the World Development Movement and Murad Qureshi, Labour GLA
member and representative of the Bangladeshi community.
There was nothing we could do to stop Bush's re-election but it was good to at least
get on the streets straight away and register our protest against him and all the damage
he has already done - and may do in the future - to the global environment. America may have
re-elected him but the battle to save our planet - and our future - from Bush, and his
fossil-fuel-industry-sponsored cronies, goes on !
For more photos of the Global Funeral March click here
ESF Success !
At the European Social Forum in London, 14th-17th October, the CCC played a crucial role in getting climate change into the
'Call to Action' made by the "Assembly of Movements" (which called the big war marches of February 2003, for instance) at the end of the forum.
With backing from Greenpeace, 'Friends of the Earth' and 'People and Planet' we ensured that the following was included in the 'Call':
"The destabilisation of global climate poses an unprecedented threat to our childrens' future and to humanity: We support the call
from environmental organisations for international action on climate change in 2005."
At the Assembly of Movements on Sunday 17th Phil Thornhill, from the CCC, spoke to the assembly about the gravity of the climate
threat and the urgent need for action on climate change. In effect it was largely work by the CCC, on the ground, that succeeded in putting
climate change on the map at the ESF Assembly of Movements, this year.
FILM PREMIERE ACTION
The CCC was in on the act at the Film Premiere of 'The Day After Tomorrow', In Leicester Square,
on Wednesday, May 26th. 'The Day After Tomorrow' is the big new 'disaster-movie' blockbuster
about climate change (to find out more about what is and isn't good science in the film, etc etc, check out
www.thedayaftertomorrow.org/ ). The film's got a lot of people
talking about the potentialy disastrous impacts of climate change and we hit the premiere to add
a bit of a political angle: to make sure the finger was firmly pointed at those doing the most, right now,
to make sure nothing is done about the threat from climate change - namely George Bush and his
fossil fuel corporate backers in the US.
Appropriately costumed, we got ourselves onto Sky TV and Channel 4 News amongst other things - including the BBC website where this
photo comes from
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