A remarkable legal precedent was set Wednesday as six Greenpeace protestors were acquitted by a UK court. The court ruled that they had ‘lawful excuse' for defacing the chimney of Kingsnorth power station. It may sound a little technical, but if you'll bear with me, this could be both a historic and a dangerous ruling. 

The case refers to a protest in October last year, when six campaigners entered the Kings north power plant and scaled the 200-metre tall chimney. Kingsnorth is an old coal-burning power station that is due to be refurbished as part of the government's energy plan. As Celsias readers will be well aware, there's no place for coal in a sustainable energy plan. Through this protest, and the climate camp this summer, campaigners have made Kingsnorth something of a defining symbol of government hypocrisy over climate change - proposing the climate change bill on the one hand, and approving new roles for coal on the other. 

In response, Greenpeace intended to scale the great chimney in the middle of the Kingsnorth complex and write ‘Gordon, bin it' on the side. (A pun on the old expression of disbelief, ‘Gordon Bennett', as well as a cease and desist to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.) They got as far as painting ‘Gordon' before they were talked down, but this still represented £30,000 worth of damage. As a result, the six protestors were arrested and charged with criminal damage. 

The case, which has been in the courts for the last week, hinges on the fact that although all six defendants admitted defacing the chimney, they pleaded not guilty on the grounds of ‘lawful excuse'. Lawful excuse implies that there is a good reason for damaging property - breaking a window to pull someone out of a burning car, for example. In other words, they weren't guilty because their actions would be saving lives through helping to prevent climate change.

This left the court in a difficult position, because they suddenly weren't ruling over a vandalism case - they were ruling on climate change. In order to deliver a verdict, the court would have to decide if climate change is man made, and if Kingsnorth power station was contributing to it. The defence called Dr Geoffrey Meaden to the stand, a leading UK expert on climate change, and then James Hansen, a NASA director who has given evidence before the U.S. Senate. Zac Goldsmith, a senior environmental campaigner and former editor of The Ecologist gave testimony the following day. Finally, Inuit leader Aqqaluk Lynge told the jury how climate change is affecting his people in Greenland.

After a day of deliberation, the judge delivered the verdict yesterday: not guilty. This is significant for a couple of reasons. Most importantly, it is legal recognition that coal contributes to climate change. It dramatically demonstrates the short-sightedness of government plans for coal, and this will be very embarrassing for them. If campaigners can make use of this legal ruling, it may make the government's position untenable - a court of law has ruled that coal-burning power stations are a credible threat to life, both in the UK and around the world. That's a real breakthrough for Greenpeace and the environmental movement.

More dangerously though, the case has set a precedent for using climate change as a defence. The campaigners admitted defacing the chimney and causing £30,000 of damage. They were acquitted of this crime because this was deemed to have saved lives in the longer term. Although I admire the campaigners, this is difficult legal territory. If I were to slash the tyres on an SUV in my street, could I use the same defence? What if I set fire to a local butcher's shop because meat-eating contributes to climate change? It's quite possible that other campaigners will be more likely to break the law in their protests because of this. While this may sometimes be justified, the environmental movement is finally on the brink of the mainstream. The last thing it needs now is to be associated with criminality.

Either way, the Kingsnorth story isn't over yet. Gordon Brown is due to make his decision on the refurbishment at some point in the next few months. Let's see if this case changes his mind.

Further Reading:

• Identity Politics in Climate Change Hell
• Coal Scuttled
• Why Environmental Protests Aren't Taken More Seriously