Blockades, occupations and roadblocks: Extinction Rebellion rain fire on fossil fuels

Extinction Rebellion has been carrying out a series of protests against the continuing use of fossil fuels, with oil the principal target.

Multiple actions

Blackfriars, Waterloo and Westminster bridges were shut down last week, and at the weekend a Shell tanker was occupied at a petrol station. A 76-year-old woman called Lucy Harding held Blackfriars bridge on her own. She explained that she had first heard about climate change 46 years ago:

“That’s a long time to know that we are in danger and it has been really frightening to see it coming closer and closer, seeing tipping point after tipping point pass. It’s awful to be 76, to actually see the end of my life coming, and knowing what has been left behind.”

At the Shell occupation near London’s Bayswater Rd, people held banners declaring “End Fossil Filth” and “End Fossil Fuels Now”. One of the protestors who climbed on top of the lorry was Olympian Etienne Scott, who had this to say:

“I am acting to try to disrupt the toxic fossil fuel industry that is destroying everything we hold dear. I am hoping we can slow it down long enough to create a moment where everyone can stop and think where we are going and change course. We need our government to rein in these companies and stop investing in fossil fuels now, rather than allowing oil companies to continue their stranglehold on our lives and our future.”

The Olympian wasn’t the only celebrity involved over the weekend: Swampy, who campaigned in the nineties to stop the Newbury bypass being built, climbed up a monument near Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park. Roads around Marble Arch were blocked off and traffic disrupted.

Marble Arch action. Photo: XR Twitter

The protests have two aims: to disrupt the industry and daily life and to raise awareness in so doing. This is to some degree a shift in tactics towards people power and civil resistance. There were abseilers on Tower Bridge on the 8th, Lloyds of London was blockaded on the 12th, and activists entered Shell’s HQ the following day. The Just Stop Oil coalition, in which XR plays a leading role, has also blockaded oil depots.

And it wasn’t just the UK: protests took place in the US, France and around the world.

The response

A number of oil companies prevented actions through the use of civil injunctions and activists were arrested in Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Essex after launching synchronised protests at three fuel distribution centres last Friday.

Greg Hands, Minister for Business, Energy and Clean Growth responded:

“While we value the right to peaceful protest, it is crucial that these do not cause disruption to people’s everyday lives. That’s why I’m pleased to see oil companies taking action to secure injunctions at their sites, working with local police forces to arrest those who break the law and ensure deliveries of fuel can continue as normal.”

Arresting activists has provoked a further response, though, as marine biologist Emma Smart went on a hunger and thirst strike after being held by the police for over 40 hours for her part in an action at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Activists marched on Charing Cross police station to demand her release.

Jeff Waage, a professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, expressed his anger at the arrest of Smart and others:

“The arrests of scientists, keeping them from speaking out, is wrong and it’s preventing us from actually reaching the public with important scientific messages that are coming out of international research.”

Voices like Smart’s and Waage’s are important in the fight against fossil fuels, as given their expertise, they cannot be dismissed as cranks and radicals. Furthermore, after two years of limited protests due to lockdown, there is likely to be an uptick in civil resistance as campaigns regain the momentum lost in the last two years.

 There are many ways to fight climate change. XR is upping the game in the one it’s chosen. XR co-founder Clare Farrell said:

“Extinction Rebellion is calling on all peaceful, loving and determined people to step into rebellion and resistance. Our political history shows that nonviolence is a noble tradition, to which we all owe many of our most cherished rights. Coming together in our collective strength can turn the tide at the speed needed at this desperate time.”