Film Night will raise question of whether Harrogate could embrace a 'solar-powered energy revolution'

The group’s last major action was last year when XR Harrogate members took their ‘Poo Patrol’ on rowing boats to the Nidd at Knaresborough to raise awareness of the issue of the poor water quality in what is one of Yorkshire’s most polluted rivers.

Last November, activists staged a funeral procession to target an insurance office in Harrogate to demand that the company stopped supporting fossil fuel projects.

In July 2024, Extinction Rebellion's Red Rebels appeared at Fountains Abbey to call on The National Trust to end banking with Barclays

But it’s now a long time since XR Harrogate created controversy in the town in 2022 by unilaterally replacing fake plastic grass with the real thing in the raised planters on Cambridge Street.

This Saturday’s event is a screening of the film Power Station with a discussion afterwards.

The film shows how two artists in Walthamstow set out to make their street independent of the electricity grid, kickstarting a solar-powered energy revolution.

The question being posed by XR Harrogate is whether that sort of pro-active, community-led approach could be replicated in Harrogate.

The screening of Power House will take place at the Friends Meeting House on Saturday, March 7 at 6pm.

Entry is free but donations are welcomed (suggested £5 per person, or whatever you can afford).

The venue has disabled access and refreshments will be available.

Extinction Rebellion was formed in the UK in October 2018 in response to The United Nations (UN) Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report which stated the planet only had 12 years to halt catastrophic climate change.

The founders then launched a Declaration of Rebellion against the UK Government at the time due to its inaction on climate change.

Originally the movement was noted for its disruptive tactics and civil disobedience.

But recent times have seen it row back from the idea of “breaking the law to save the world”.

For tickets for XR Harrogate’s Film Night, visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/xr-hgt-power-station-tickets-1981536371629