Protesters form human chain around Kingsnorth
Updated on 04 July 2009
More than 1,000 green protesters formed a human chain around the controversial Kingsnorth power station.
Demonstrators from the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition came from across the country to create the "Mili-band" around Kingsnorth in a bid to persuade Climate and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband to reject plans for new coal-fired plant at the Kent site.
After marching towards the site wearing yellow sashes bearing the words "Climate change kills", the protesters circled around the power station and used them as banners which they held to form a chain.
The demonstrators chanted slogans like: "Oi Ed Miliband, keep the carbon in the ground" and "Miliband, don't be a silly-band."
They say energy company E.ON's plans to create the first new coal-fired power plant in Britain for 30 years at Kingsnorth will be a step backwards in the UK's commitment to fight climate change.
Environmentalists insist that coal is the most environmentally harmful way of generating electricity.
Figures released by the World Development Movement claim that creating a new coal plant could lead to 100,000 more people in the developing world losing their water supply during dry seasons.
They also believe 60,000 more people may suffer from drought in Africa and around 30,000 more people could lose their homes every year due to coastal flooding if the Government approves the plant at Kingsnorth.
A spokeswoman for Kent Police said the demonstration had passed peacefully and there had been no arrests.
Last month ten climate change protesters were arrested and bailed after they boarded a coal freighter on its way to Kingsnorth.
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