Bicycology is part of Heathrow squat

The British cyclists’ collective Bicycology is promoting cycling at the Camp for Climate Action, which officially started today. The Heathrow squat ends on August 21st. It’s being closely monitored by the police, who will likely stamp on any runway invasions, citing anti-terrorism laws.

Bicycology is “an open but focussed community of cyclists run on a non-hierarchical basis through regular meetings that rotate around the country.”

It “uses creative methods to encourage environmental responsibility. Its aim is to promoting cycling as a healthy, practical and enjoyable alternative to high-carbon lifestyles, and to challenge the politics and economics that have led us down the road to environmental destruction and massive global injustice.”

The Camp for Climate Action is:

Eight days of low-impact living, debates, learning skills, and high-impact direct action tackling the root causes of climate change. Why?

The science is clear: global emissions of carbon dioxide must go into rapid decline within the next decade. If they don’t, humanity faces a bleak future.

To achieve this in a way that respects global justice means 90% cuts in developed countries like the UK. How will we cut emissions and end inequality? How will we achieve this in the face of an economic system intent on expanding at any cost, with corporations stealing the language of change to disguise business as usual? Ordinary people will have to join together to create real solutions and take direct action against the root causes of the problem.

This year the Camp for Climate Action will be at Heathrow, the world’s busiest airport and a bigger source of CO2 emissions than most countries. It’s sheer lunacy in this time of ecological crisis, but the aviation industry are pushing to almost double the airport’s capacity by increasing flights and building a third runway. The battle to stop them will be one of the most important environmental battles in Western Europe.