Anti-fossil fuel protest takes to wheels

July 7th, 2011
[by David Armstrong]

Buoyed by the strong turnout at the recent 'Hands Across the Sand' gathering at Motueka Quay, organisers of the Coal Action Network Aotearoa are planning a cycle ride up High Street to demonstrate for the phasing out of the burning of fossil fuels.

The 'Bike Ride for Renewables' will take place on Saturday, July 30th, starting at 12 noon. It will start at Toad Hall, and ride in convoy to the museum where they will hear from Labour MP, Damien O'Connor, about the issue. The ride will take about 5-10 minutes.

The event was originally planned to be on Friday evening at around 5.30pm, but organisers have switched to a time when there will be less disruption to traffic.

'Hands Across the Sand' two weeks ago drew an estimated 130 people who joined hands to "draw a line in the sand" over government plans to increase coal mining and oil exploration.

"Let your presence on the ride swell the tide of support for a renewable energy future and opposition to oily beaches and new fossil fuel exploration," say 'Bike Ride for Renewables' organisers.

They advise those who want to join the ride to wear high visibility clothing, obey traffic rules (you can ride two abreast except where there are cars parked on the side of the road, when you must go single-file), not to obstruct traffic (the aim is to inform, but not annoy people), and respond politely to heckling or not at all.

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