By Heidi Russenberger
I am writing this from HMP Bronzefield, where I was sent in October 2025 after conviction for public nuisance. My crime? Climbing up a gantry on the M25 in November 2022 to demand that the then Conservative government pay heed to the dire warnings of climate scientists, the UN and the IEA amongst others and shelve its plans to issue over 100 new oil and gas licences. In 2024 the new Labour government met our demand.
I’ve been asked a couple of times by various people how I feel about serving a prison sentence after protesting for greater action on the climate crisis. I guess it would be understandable if I said I was angry, frustrated or aggrieved, especially when the current government’s messaging on energy security and the importance of transitioning away from oil and gas – in order to avoid the impact of highly volatile oil and gas markets as well as to avoid the existential threat of climate collapse – is striking similar to the demands that Just Stop Oil was making in 2022, when I was arrested for being a ‘public nuisance’. But I’m not. I’d describe my feelings towards my imprisonment as a kind of calm, neutral acceptance, rather than anger.
A large part of this is because I am very lucky. I have a huge amount of love and support from family and friends who are always happy to send endless letters and books or just listen on the phone while I rant about the illogicalities of the prison system. I know roughly when I might be released on tag – unlike many people held in prison on remand or indeterminate sentences with no idea of how long they might be behind bars. I don’t need to worry about finding accommodation or work as soon as I’m released as I hope to return to my PhD studies.
Now, when all I have to do is read, drink tea and watch red kites and buzzards through the window of my cell and just wait until I’m eligible for release, it’s hard to justify being angry at my situation. There are too many other things happening around the world that are deserving of my anger.
I’m angry that this current government is still intent on further restricting the right to protest and limiting access to jury trials. I’m angry that governments across the world continue to commit or threaten to commit war crimes and act with impunity. I’m angry when bombs are dropped on schools and hospitals and children are killed or seriously injured, and governments just shrug their shoulders and call it a fact of war.
I’m angry that businesses and corporations continue to exploit workers and communities, pollute the air we breathe and the water we drink and irreversibly destroy ecosystems just to add a few more dollars to their profits and share values.
I’m angry that the failure of governments and businesses across the globe to make a just transition to a fossil fuel free economy means that ecosystems are being destroyed, species are going extinct and the poorest people around the world are suffering from increased droughts, wildfires, floods and famines, while those who are causing the damage face no consequences.
There is too much injustice in the world for me to be angry about, to waste my anger on my own prison sentence.