On Valentines Day, Friends of the Earth ran a ‘Fossil-Free Friday’ event at University House, to mark People and Planet’s fossil fuel divestment campaign. Students and staff wrote Valentines Day cards to local MPs to refuse donations from the fossil fuel industry and spoke to FoE volunteers about the current fracking plans at Barton Moss near Eccles. A massive tin of heart cookies helped sweeten the debates, and a film by campaign group 350.org was shown in the Boardroom.
The day served to spark some debate and open dialogue about energy futures- with a growing population and growing demands for high-consumption lifestyles, we need to ask vital questions about how we serve essential energy needs equitably while respecting environmental limits: considering the resource requirements and potential risks of various options is key.
Val Day cookies: “It’s me or the fossil fuels”
Manchester Friends of the Earth campaign and act on issues from bees to bikes
Students chat to volunteers