My name is Victoria Lindsell, I’m 66 and have lived in Warwickshire for the last 36 years. I was due to appear at Birmingham Crown Court today for failing to turn up at a hearing for breaking the injunction that surrounds the Kingsbury Oil Terminal. I have instead stayed away and am therefore in contempt of court.
I am taking this action as part of Just Stop Oil and because I feel it is my moral duty to stand up for the truth and to express this as strongly as possible. The government is failing to act to avoid the undeniable and catastrophic effects of the climate emergency. They are planning to open over 40 new oil fields. This is genocidal.
You don’t have to take my word for it.
In 2021, Professor Sir David King, the Former Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK government said “We have to move rapidly. What we do over the next three to four years, I believe, is going to determine the future of humanity. We are in a very very desperate situation.”
In April this year, when the IPCC Climate Report was published, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said “We are on a fast track to climate disaster. Major cities underwater. Unprecedented heatwaves. Terrifying storms. Widespread water shortages. The extinction of a million species of plants and animals. This is not fiction or exaggeration. It is what science tells us will result from our current energy policies”
He went on to say that “Climate activists are sometimes depicted as dangerous radicals. But, the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels.”
The 2021 Chatham House Climate risk report said that if emissions do not come down drastically before 2030, then by the 2030s, 400 million people globally each year are likely to be exposed to temperatures exceeding the workability threshold and there will be tens of millions of heat related deaths as a result.This will mean millions of people will be forced to leave their homes. The international thinktank the Institute for Economics and Peace predicts that 1.2 billion people could be displaced globally by 2050 due to climate change and natural disasters.
Therefore Just Stop Oil is simply demanding that this government ceases to issue new fossil fuel licences as recommended by the International Energy Agency in 2021. Our oil and gas reserves will keep production going for the next 8 years, which gives us time to promote renewables and cut our dependence on fossil fuels by implementing a major programme of energy efficiency and home insulation. We have the answers but this government is choosing to put profit before people.
I am also writing this letter to appeal to the people of Warwickshire, Staffordshire and the full length of the HS2 line as they will be experiencing first hand the indescribable misery of living with the HS2 works – another hugely destructive and totally unnecessary project made up to make profits for the construction industries. It is not too late to stop this. There is a court case in Birmingham relating to this on 26, 27 and 30th May challenging the injunction that is protecting this genocide – please go and lend your support. The destruction to our ecosystems, ancient woodlands, farm land, sites of scientific interest let alone peoples homes, businesses and quiet spaces is beyond tragic. This is why I and many others are doing all we can to bring more people on board and stand up for the right to live – the situation is that desperate.
