Last weekend (June 26), nine activists were found guilty of trying to save the environment. In the early hours of a March morning last year, the nine members of Plane Stupid occupied part of Aberdeen Airport, disrupting and cancelling flights for hours. The group sees their action as saving tonnes of CO2 being emitted into the ozone - their judge saw it in a different light. The activists will find out in August if they will face a fine, community service or even prison.

But for 26 year old Climate9 member Dan Glass (the defendant and now potential inmate), it is a great result. “I’m very good. Feeling happy… we’ve made a great impact.”

Dan isn’t the kind of guy to be devastated by the prospect of a criminal record; in 2008, Dan super-glued himself to Gordon Brown and confronted him about the need to tackle climate change. “I’m happy to get into a little bit of trouble for a good cause,” Dan says, “but it has to be strategic, support the right to life and stop the problem at its source.” And prison…? Dan adds: “I’m fine to go to prison. I have no dependents. If we are sent to prison, it will just create another campaign to create interest in the issue. And community service won’t be a problem, but how will that work as a punishment? Our direct action against the aviation industry is a community service.”

Direct action may be Plane Stupid’s forte, but direct action against who? When the group caused widespread disruptions at Stansted airport last year, a disgruntled flyer provided an easy soundbite for the Guardian: “In the modern world we live in, people want to travel. Cheap flights allow us to have homes elsewhere.” Is Plane Stupid just annoying the very people it should try to convince? “We know it’s easy to just stick your head in the sand when it comes to climate change. But that doesn’t make it right. We have to confront the issue. And we know the majority of people do their bit. It’s not the average homeowner doing their recycling and trying to cycle more that is the problem. It is only 10% of the population which take 46% of the flights. Climate Change is as much about poverty and wealth as it is about the environment. It’s about those with power - the government and big business - being held accountable for their actions.”

Dan is echoing another Plane Stupid member who claimed it was “The Generation of Donald Trump and Alex Salmond” which has failed the next generation, and Dan’s words help to explain why the group have specifically targeted private jets.

“I’m happy to get into a little bit of trouble for a good cause, but it has to be strategic, support the right to life and stop the problem at its source... If we are sent to prison, it will just create another campaign to create interest in the issue... Our direct action against the aviation industry is a community service.”

Yet Dan is quick to point out that while the responsibility may be distributed unevenly, the problem is affecting - and being tackled by - a great number of people. “We had a huge number of people giving their support during the trial. It’s one of the best things to come out of the campaign - so many different organisations and groups are banding around this one issue.”

“We think it has really shocked the government to see young student activists gardening with OAP’s from the WI,” Dan says, referring to the group’s work revitalising an allotment in the town of Sipson which was threatened by the proposed third runway at Heathrow. The group also created a resident scheme; activists vowed to campaign on behalf of an elderly resident and even oppose the bulldozers if the runway plan was not scrapped (thankfully, it has been). “But the groups showing an interest are so disperse,” Dan says, “We’ve had support from trade unions, women’s rights groups, racial equality groups. Even ex-oil workers and people within the aviation industry.”

Dan is keen to stress the importance of the scientists who testified for Plane Stupid at the recent trial. “It’s easy to forget Copenhagen and all the research that has been done. But we have to stay focused on the issue of climate change, and then we have to find ways to deal with it.” At the trial, Dr Alice Bows said that “The UK government’s committee on Climate Change policy of 80% reduction in emissions by 2050 only gives us a 50:50 chance of avoiding dangerous climate change - you wouldn’t go to sleep in a house that had a 50:50 chance of burning down in the night.”

With just a 50% chance of stopping dangerous climate change, should we start preparing for the worse now? There are certainly pundits who think so. Fred Pierce, an environmental commentator for the Guardian, has claimed that climate change is happening and will continue to happen, and there is not going to be a revolution in terms of drastically altering the way we lead our lives; so we should find ways to deal with population displacement.

Is Plane Stupid wasting its time? Should we focus on mitigating outcomes rather than correcting problems? “There is still so much to be done in terms of changing our carbon heavy lifestyle. It needs to change or our problems will become worse and worse,” Dan says. “And if we throw up our hands at this hurdle, dealing with these problems of cutting down waste and flying less and less, how are we going to deal with problems later on? If we can’t find away to cut our emissions now, we won’t be able to deal with the problems it will cause.”

It’s clear action and change is needed - now. So if a young person is engaged by this issue and they want to make a positive change, what is the best thing they can do start taking positive action? Joining a group, or starting a group, publicity, or becoming informed? “All of them. Everything,” Dan says. “They should become informed, read up on the issue, debate with their friends, change the way they live their lives, support each other through the process and take the necessary action. Think how their actions - their consumption, their car ride, their flight - will literally change the planet. And they can get involved with any one of countless groups - not just Plane Stupid. Now is a great time to be passionate about the environment.”

Even if it gets you arrested? (I asked).

“It doesn’t have to get you arrested,” Dan says. “And you’ve got to remember - it could get you a very close handshake with the prime minister.”

Words: Richard Lemmer

For more information please visit: www.climate9.com

NOTE!: A Climate9 climate change/activism blog series will be coming soon right here with Ctrl.Alt.Shift...