I went up to Newcastle on the weekend, and had a brilliant time, protesting against the export of Australian coal.

Australia’s coal exports have roughly the same impact on the climate system as all emissions from domestic sources, and work is underway to double the amount of coal exported from Newcastle, already the largest coal port in the world. At any one time, literally dozens of coal ships are parked outside Newcastle’s harbour, waiting to be loaded. It is truly the Australian nightmare. It is not possible to ignorant of the presence of these ships sending devastation around the world, as they sit in plain view of the Eastern beaches, which the affluent suburbs look out from. If the surf-clubs and sunbathers represent the ‘Australian dream’, the spectre of an Australian nightmare was all too visible.

There was little possibility of truly shutting down the port, given the overwhelming presence of the force-using arm of the state (the police), but for five hours we performed a symbolic action, speaking out publicly of our distaste. It was fun, it felt good, I met loads of brilliant people from around Australia and I didn’t get too sunburnt!

Flickr photoset here. I particularly liked this flag…

It used to be that environmentalists could be accused of caring only about environments, for their beauty, their ‘inherent’ value, and other subjective attributes. Similarly, an action of destruction in one particular location would usually be considered contained in its effects, with only indirect harm to other people and other locations. Since the 1970s there’s been an awareness of the interconnectedness of environments, and a firming realisation that people are direct victims of environmental destruction. Global climate change has made this realisation globally inescapable (the toxics movement, particularly at it’s height, was also similarly successful – positive effects of those campaigns are being felt even today), although in both cases responses ranging from evasion to denial are still prevalent. So it felt mighty good to be going out there and doing something with global and significant-long-term impact.

Newcastle truly is at the forefront, and it was inspiring to see loads of activism on climate change and other issues. I even bumped unexpectedly into a friends crafty public artwork, which was quite beautiful!

And because I heard it in the car up there for the first time, here’s some Sleepy Jackson, with ‘Good Dancers’