Saving Iceland

1 October 2007

Alcoa hires a community relations manager for North-Iceland

Kristján Th. Halldórsson, Management Engineer, has been hired to handle community relations for Alcoa in North-Iceland. His primary occupation will be to communicate information about Alcoa and a possible smelter in Bakki by Húsavík to the community in North-Iceland.

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A demonstration against Iceland’s persecution of environmental activists will take place in London on Tuesday 2nd October, meeting at Sloane Square (nearest tube: Sloane Square) at 1pm.
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Saving Iceland
26 September 2007

On Friday 21st September, Saving Iceland activist Miriam Rose was presented with a letter from the Icelandic Directorate of Immigration threatening her with possible expulsion from Iceland. The letter claims that due to her participation in two actions at smelter sites she may be considered a threat to ‘public order and security’ and ‘fundamental societal values’. The letter also claims that Saving Iceland pays activists for being arrested, a claim repeatedly denied and proven to be false.(1)

Miriam has already served 8 days in prison for protesting against the destruction of Icelandic wilderness, for which the UK Green Party Principal Speaker Dr Derek Wall accused the Icelandic government of political harassment and demanded her immediate release.(2) In Radio 1 Icelandic news program Spegillinn yesterday, the police admitted that this was to be the first of many attempted deportations of activists.

Protest Response! Tuesday 2nd October, London Click here for more details.
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Green Party UK
27th Sep 2007

ICELANDIC AUTHORITIES CRACKDOWN ON POLITICAL ACTIVISTS

Greens back British woman threatened with deportation

Twenty-three year old ‘Saving Iceland’ activist Miriam Rose was held for 8 days by Icelandic police in July of this year, after protesting against the Icelandic government’s support for heavy industry, in particular Rio Tinto Alcan’s Straumsvik smelter in South-West Iceland. She has now been threatened with deportation. (1)

Icelandic Police on Friday presented her with a letter stating that they judge ‘the professed aim of the organization “Saving Iceland” is to disturb public order and threaten fundamental societal values.’ The police are also said to have admitted that this was to be the first of many attempted deportations of activists. (2)

Saving Iceland are a network of people of different nationalities who work to drive away what they describe as the ‘corporate threat’ to Iceland. Currently, 8 new smelters or enlargements of existing smelters planned in Iceland.

Green Party Principal Speaker Dr. Derek Wall today urged the Icelandic authorities to reconsider their actions with regard to Miriam Rose and other environmental activists.

“The Icelandic authorities, not satisfied with arresting and holding Miriam Rose as political prisoner, now seem intent on expelling her from Iceland.

“It’s vital that we protect the right to peaceful protest .

“Non-violent direct action is one of the few weapons we have to affect change, and government’s around the world must be called to account when they try to repress it.”

“I support the Left-Green party in Iceland’s call for an independent investigation into the conduct of the Icelandic police against Saving Iceland protesters in the the years of 2005 and 2006, and am appalled by what looks to be systematic persecution of Miriam Rose as a political and environmental activist.

“I urge the Icelandic authorities, especially the Icelandic government, to reconsider their actions in this case. ”

ENDS

Notes for Editors

(1) & (2) More info on Saving Iceland and the arrest of Miriam Rose can be found at www.savingiceland.org

http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/3171

Jamaica Bauxite Environmental Organization – Excellent video section showing the horrors of the mining of bauxite…

6 October 2007

Concerts, info, movies of 2007 SI summer actions, vegan food, bar, a lot of beautiful people and a big party!

Sleeping places available if you let us know: savingiceland@riseup.net

Click here for a flyer to print and distribute

September 11th, 2007

News from the blog of Satan. The repetition of Alcoa’s constant claims at being environmentally friendly only empower our hatred of them. We know that if they didn’t have so much guilt to hide they wouldn’t need to regurgitate their practically messianic image in every single text they vomit. Would you believe a man stalking you at night when he keeps shouting “I’M NOT GOING TO HURT YOU!” or would you take that as further reason to get the hell away or beat him up until the monster’s out for the count?

Alcoa’s greed makes the world bleed.

Alcoa Opens New Anode Plant in Norway to Serve Fjardaal and Mosjoen Smelters

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Alcoa (NYSE:AA) announced that it has opened a new 280,000 metric ton per year anode plant in Mosjoen, Norway. The facility will produce anodes for Alcoa’s Fjardaal aluminum smelter in Iceland [ie: Alcoa’s Reydarfjordur smelter] and the Mosjoen aluminum smelter in Norway. Alcoa built the facility with managing partner Elkem Aluminium ANS, which has a 36% share in the Mosjoen anode plant. Alcoa owns 50% of the partnership Elkem Aluminium ANS, which operates aluminum smelters in Mosjoen and Lista, Norway.

Anodes are the electrodes toward which current flows during the smelting process of making aluminum. Anodes from the new plant have already been delivered to the Mosjoen smelter and the first shipments to Fjardaal are expected to start this month.

“This new plant was completed on time and safely and it is one of the world’s largest and most environmentally friendly facilities of its type,” said Bernt Reitan, Executive Vice President of Alcoa and Group President, Global Primary Products, who attended the event. “This facility will enable us to continue to reduce production costs and maintain our competitiveness in the marketplace.”

Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg participated in an inauguration ceremony held on August 30.

Alcoa in Norway

Alcoa established a presence in Norway through a 1962 partnership with Elkem ASA. Today, Elkem Aluminium NS, the partnership owned 50/50 by Orkla and Alcoa, operates smelters in Mosjøen and Lista and supply the European aluminum market. Alcoa’s automotive casting operation in Lista, established in 1995, produces wheel suspension components for leading European automakers.

About Alcoa

Alcoa is the world’s leading producer and manager of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum and alumina facilities, and is active in all major aspects of the industry. Alcoa serves the aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial transportation and industrial markets, bringing design, engineering, production and other capabilities of Alcoa’s businesses to customers. In addition to aluminum products and components including flat-rolled products, hard alloy extrusions, and forgings, Alcoa also markets Alcoa® wheels, fastening systems, precision and investment castings, structures and building systems. The company has 116,000 employees in 44 countries and has been named one of the top most sustainable corporations in the world at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. More information can be found at www.alcoa.com

Mines and Communities Vedanta update

Vedanta Update

7th September 2007

It’s one of the longest-enduring conflicts over a mine project in recent times. Three years ago, the Indian Supreme Court’s Central Empowered Committee (CEC) on forestry issues, condemned in no uncertain terms plans by UK-based Vedanta Resources plc to mine the Nyamgiri Hills in Orissa for bauxite. It also found that Vedanta’s alumina refinery – deliberately located at Lanjigarh, next to the hills – was being constructed in violation of forest protection legislation, and that the company had lied on several occasions in its defence of the huge project. Read More

On the 12th of September 2007, the Global Day of Action Against Heavy Industry, people in South Africa, Iceland, Trinidad, Denmark, New York, Holland and the UK protested against the heavy industrialisation of our planet. This marked the first coordinated event of a new and growing global movement that began at the 2007 Saving Iceland protest camp in Ölfus, Iceland. The common target of these protests against heavy industry was the aluminium industry, in particular the corporations Alcan/Rio-Tinto and Alcoa. Read More