Editing Greenpeace (section)

===Kingsnorth court case===
In October 2007, six Greenpeace protesters were arrested for breaking into the [[Kingsnorth power station]] in [[Kent]], England; climbing the {{convert|200|m|ft|abbr=off|adj=on}} smokestack, painting the name Gordon on the chimney (in reference to former UK Prime Minister, [[Gordon Brown]]), and causing an estimated £30,000 damage. At their subsequent trial they admitted trying to shut the station down, but argued that they were legally justified because they were trying to prevent climate change from causing [[Risk perception|greater damage]] to property elsewhere around the world. Evidence was heard from [[David Cameron]]'s environment adviser [[Zac Goldsmith]], climate scientist [[James E. Hansen]] and an [[Inuit|Inuk]] leader from Greenland, all saying that climate change was already seriously affecting life around the world. The six activists were [[acquitted]]. It was the first case where preventing property damage caused by climate change has been used as part of a "[[lawful excuse]]" defense in court.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/sep/10/activists.carbonemissions|title=Kingsnorth trial: Coal protesters cleared of criminal damage to chimney|date=6 October 2008|access-date=4 January 2010|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|first=John|last=Vidal|archive-date=25 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225062148/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/sep/10/activists.carbonemissions|url-status=live}}</ref> Both ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' and ''[[The Guardian]]'' described the acquittal as an embarrassment to the [[Brown Ministry]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Greenpeace Kingsnorth trial collapse is embarrassing for Gordon Brown|date=11 September 2008|access-date=4 January 2010|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthcomment/charlesclover/3351572/Greenpeace-Kingsnorth-trial-collapse-is-embarrassing-for-Gordon-Brown.html|location=London|first=Charles|last=Clover|archive-date=8 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108223618/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthcomment/charlesclover/3351572/Greenpeace-Kingsnorth-trial-collapse-is-embarrassing-for-Gordon-Brown.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Not guilty: the Greenpeace activists who used climate change as a legal defense|date=11 September 2008|access-date=4 January 2010|newspaper=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/sep/11/activists.kingsnorthclimatecamp|location=London|first=John|last=Vidal|archive-date=1 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201194228/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/sep/11/activists.kingsnorthclimatecamp|url-status=live}}</ref> In December 2008 ''[[The New York Times]]'' listed the acquittal in its annual list of the most influential ideas of the year.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/magazine/14Ideas-Section2-A-t-004.html?_r=1|title=8th annual year in ideas – Climate-Change Defense|work=The New York Times|first=Jonathan|last=Mingle|date=14 December 2008|access-date=2 April 2010|archive-date=2 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802130325/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/magazine/14Ideas-Section2-A-t-004.html?_r=1|url-status=live}}</ref>