Extinction Rebellion tour bus arrives in Newark to demand action on climate change
Climate concerned members of the public gathered at the Holy Trinity community centre in Newark for a public meeting following the arrival of the Extinction Rebellion (XR) national tour bus.
Activists from London, Norwich and Lincolnshire addressed the meeting and answered questions from the audience.
Information was given about the urgent need for a change of direction from local and central government if the worst effects of climate change are to be averted.
An invitation had also gone out to all Newark Town Council and Newark and Sherwood District Council members. Laurence Goff attended from the District Council, Lisa Geary and Esther Cropper both attended from Newark Town Council.
One of the main topics of the evening was the proposal for citizens’ assemblies, where a representative sample of the population would be invited to listen to expert information on climate change and debate what action should be taken to limit its effects.
The idea is that the outcomes then guide government policy in the best interests of all, free from the influence of lobbying and short-term electoral gain.
Rosemary Robinson, one of the XR guest speakers, is a former East Lindsey district councillor and parliamentary candidate. She said: “The only way we can get the change we need now is from the grass roots and from people power.
“People would be randomly selected for citizens’ assemblies, so that a cross-section of the population in age, gender, ethnicity and educational background would be invited, with everybody allowed to have a voice.”
She said this had worked well to overcome a political impasse in Ireland over abortion rights reform and the percentage of citizens’ assembly members in favour of changing the law led to a referendum. The referendum result closely matched the result of the citizens’ assembly, with 66 % of voters in favour of a relaxation in the laws on abortion.
Jim James from Norwich XR said that the Government’s target of reaching Net Zero by 2050 was too late and that the target should really be set for 2025.
Jim also warned of a tipping point when climate change could race out of control — possibly by 2030 — when an ice-free Arctic ocean would begin to absorb heat energy rather than reflect it back out into space. A warmer ocean releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which then leads to further warming: “At that point we don’t know what happens. It will be fascinating to watch and terrifying to experience, probably.”
Newark XR member, Wendy Patterson, said: “If we could get rid of the House of Lords and replace it with an assembly of ordinary people, we would have a permanent body that could call the Government to account.”
Haringey XR member, Marcus Carambola, added a more optimistic note: “The good news is that tipping points also happen in the social system, when people change their opinion, as happened with smoking, which people now know is very unhealthy.”
Marcus said that XR was to organise a mass protest in London next April with 100,000 people engaged in civil disobedience and non-violent direct action to bring about vital changes in government policy.
“We need everyone on board." He said.
"This is the biggest issue facing humanity... Unless we come together with care and love and goodwill, how are we going to solve the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced?”
The meeting ended on a high note when Marcus puled out his guitar to perform a self-penned satirical song about methane — the greenhouse gas which is 100 times more damaging than CO2.
The bus and its team had arrived from Lincoln and were due to move on to Chesterfield, Nottingham, Derby and Leicester as part of a UK-wide motivational tour.