Just Stop Oil Pauses Public ‘Disruptions,’ Though It’s Not Going Anywhere
Image via Just Stop Oil
Just Stop Oil just stopped oil protests, though this is only temporary. The anti-fuel coalition says its antics will be “escalated” against the UK government if the latter continues to enable fossil-fuel production and use.
In the recent months, the climate activist group has been making headlines, most notably when its members targeted beloved artworks. They glued themselves to paintings like Vincent van Gogh’s Peach Trees in Blossom and Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, and splashed tomato soup onto Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, to name a few.
Protesters also smashed cake into a waxwork of King Charles III at the Madame Tussauds museum in London, and “painted the town orange” by drenching the entrances of luxury stores like Harrods and Rolex in orange paint. Besides the art-forward stunts, they regularly blocked roads to get the attention of authorities.
Museum officials have grown to be able to recognize when vandalism by the organization is about to happen. Last Thursday, guards at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris managed to stop an attempt when they spotted a woman taking off her sweater to reveal a T-shirt reading “Just Stop Oil.” The protester was around a group of people who were holding cameras.
Now, Just Stop Oil has announced that it is rolling back on civil protests, after executing the campaigns for about a month.
“From today Just Stop Oil will pause its campaign of civil resistance. We are giving time to those in the government who are in touch with reality to consider their responsibilities to this country at this time,” the group notes in a press release.
The government has until this Friday to make immediate steps to terminate new licenses and efforts “for the exploration, development, and production of fossil fuels in the UK.” If nothing happens, the campaigners warn that they’ll intensify legal protests.
“If, as we sadly expect, we receive no response from ministers to our demand by the end of Friday, November 4, we will escalate our legal disruption against this treasonous government. Our action will be proportionate to the task of stopping the crime against humanity which is new oil and gas.”
The activists say allowing the mining of fossil fuel is a “crime” because it accelerates the warming of the planet and could ultimately lead to the destruction of lives.
“For 32 days we have been peacefully blocking roads to demand that our government take action to protect our country, humanity and life on Earth. Do they really want us to continue in civil resistance, or will they come and talk to us, and promise us a livable future without oil?” the group concludes its message.
[via LADbible and Evening Standard, cover image via Just Stop Oil]
