Action Briefing Dec 2002 - Jan 2003
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

Motor Showdown in Brum

Well it finally happened! Activists from as far apart as Brighton and north Yorkshire converged on the British International Motor Show (and the Warehouse!) on October 23rd to join Birmingham FOE in a “Climate Chaos Party”. With help from a “Drive Time NEC” radio show broadcast from a solar powered sound system, 30 protesters wearing tyre-track marked wet weather gear attempted to engage passing representatives of the car industry in dialogue about climate change.

For those that didn’t know, the protest was timed to coincide with the first day of the COP8 Climate Talks in New Delhi, and formed part of a series of anti-car actions, including (non-FOE) a banner drop on the M6 and a successful invasion of the BNRR site that stopped work on one section for an entire day.

It was filmed for an Undercurrents documentary about the show, including interviews with car manufacturers. Their comments when questioned on the issue of the car’s contribution to climate change were interestingly characterised by the words “errr...”, “I don’t know”, “no comment”, or occasionally “f*** off”. We look forward to the finished film.

Don’t get me wrong, the FOE event was fantastic in that so many people came from so far away to join the party, especially as it was midweek. We did manage to hand out leaflets to a lot of the people going in, and seeing as this was the trade day that was pretty amazing as well. But if the action highlighted anything for me, it was that we’ve got a lot more work to do. The limited media coverage we got centred on “greening” cars, which was not what we were there to say. We were calling on the industry, the public and the government to take a more responsible approach to the massive problem of climate change, and to actually get out of their cars, which it seemed was a little to radical for even the sympathetic journalists.

Anyone looking at the Birmingham Post that week will have noticed the proliferation of pro-car advertising posing as news, often going so far as to feature the Motor Show 2002 logo. Next year we’ll be ready for them. We’ll be following up our action with letters and lobbying at every opportunity, so that by the time the British International Motor Show is back in Brum in 2004 (2003 it’s Earl’s Court), we’ll be ready and waiting. For more information on the Motor Show Protests and plans for next year, keep checking www.anticarshow.org. Also look at www.undercurrents.org for footage of this year’s protests (including myself and Karen in scary extreme close up being interviewed at the NEC!).

Jenny Thatcher