Dorset Olympian among oil refinery protestors
Extinction Rebellion protestors chain themselves to boat at Fawley refinery entrance.
Last updated 28th Oct 2021
A Dorset Olympic sailor is among Extinction Rebellion protestors at Fawley Oil Refinery in the New Forest today.
Protestors arrived around 6am this morning and some have locked themselves to a pink boat.
Seven of the protestors have scaled two 50 foot oil silos and unfurled two banners which proclaim: “Climate Emergency” and “No Future in Fossil Fuels”.
It comes after the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announced duty cuts to air travel, particularly for domestic flights.
Portland Olympic Sailor, Laura Baldwin said:
"It was already needed but the budget coming out and having no mention of the climate emergency, just basically telling us 'Continue flying, there's no tax on aviation'.
"It's not going to be enough to provide our children with a habitable planet and we're dramatically running out of time.
"This 1.5 degrees of global overheating that we keep hearing about is so important because the scietnists warn if we tip above that we may not be able to stop climate change."
The protestors are demanding the government listens to the people. They point to evidence the public want more radical action than the Government is offering to tackle climate breakdown.
A YouGov survey for Global Witness shows that more than two thirds (67%) of the British public across all sectors of the population, want to see the UK as world leader on climate change, with 65% wanting the Government to shift the subsidies it provides to domestic oil and gas companies to support the expansion of renewable energy and improve the energy efficiency of people’s homes. Only 7% opposed these measures.
Laura added:
"We're told we need to protest at the source of the problem, and there's no greater source of the problem than an oil refinery, especially one that's looking to expand at this point in time when we're being told by leading scientists that we're in a code red for humanity.
"We are calling on the government to end fossil fuels now."