Around 25 supporters of Just Stop Oil have disrupted traffic on two roads leading to Vauxhall Bridge, in London today. It is the seventh day in a row that action has been taken to demand that the government halts all new oil and gas licenses and consents. [1]
Several groups have blocked roads to the North and South of Vauxhall Bridge, sitting down with banners and glueing themselves to the road.
Grace lally, 43, a mother of two and childcare worker from Hastings said:
We are not only facing climate collapse – as more parts of the world become uninhabitable through fires, droughts and floods, and more harvests fail, then we are actually facing societal collapse. Once we really confront this reality how are we expected to continue with life as normal?
We all know the science and the facts, so our leaders who are doing nothing to transition away from fossil fuels are either fools or psychopaths. Either way I’m not prepared to let them lead us over a cliff without putting up a fight. We are nonviolent but we must use every means in our power – protests, strikes, occupations – to try to stop the fossil fuel companies and their political defenders from destroying everything we love.
Phil Snider, 37, a delivery driver from Southampton said:
“I’m taking action because I looked at the science, read the quotes from Sir David King and the UN and was horrified. I’m doing this because I believe we all should do what we can. I’m in a position where I am able to take action, so I am doing this.
“It makes me sick to see climate disasters in the paper – people suffering in countries that have not contributed to this catastrophe in the same way that rich countries have. The government needs to get a grip and stop all new oil production, tax the wealthy and corporations that have caused this disaster and go full pelt in the direction of green energy.”
Today’s action brings to an end the first week of continuous disruption by supporters of Just Stop Oil. This disruption, which has largely targeted roads in and around Westminster, takes aim at the government’s inaction on both the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis.
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said:
“We will continue in Civil Resistance because it is the right thing to do when faced with a harmful government. The coming weeks will see the disruption in the capital increase until the government makes a statement to ‘end new oil and gas’. Beginning the process of winding down fossil fuel production in this country is not rocket science, it’s not brain surgery. The government is throwing water on the fire that is destroying our only home.”
The actions are timed to coincide with the launch of a new round of oil and gas licensing in which over 100 new licences for oil and gas exploration are likely to be awarded and follow news that the government plans to fast track 5 new oil and gas projects, including the Cambo field, aiming to get the vast majority starting construction by the end of 2023. [2][3]
They also follow an energy price hike on October 1st which means almost 8 million households are expected to fall into fuel poverty by April 1st 2023. [4]
This is not a one day event, this is an act of resistance against a criminal government and their genocidal death project. Our supporters will be returning – today, tomorrow and the next day – and the next day after that – and every day until our demand is met: no new oil and gas in the UK.
We will not be intimidated by changes to the law, we will not be stopped by private injunctions sought to silence peaceful people. Our supporters understand that these are irrelevant when set against mass starvation, slaughter, the loss of our rights, freedoms and communities.
Stand with our supporters in prison, with the 1700 murdered across the global, for protecting our futures. We will not die silently, it will be ordinary people, like you, your friends, colleagues and neighbours who do what our government cannot. It will take all of us.
ENDS
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Notes to Editors
[1] Just Stop Oil is a coalition of groups working together to demand that the government immediately halt all future licensing and consents for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK. More information here: https://juststopoil.org/
[2] https://www.ft.com/content/8146804f-770e-42ee-8435-72469f92b4fd
