Just Stop Oil

[mojo pixy]

Welcome to the murky world of swingeing injunctions imposing extraordinary penalties.

Oil firms secure injunctions to stop UK climate protests

Three firms involved in Britain's oil sector, including ExxonMobil, have secured injunctions to stop protests by climate change activists which have caused widespread disruption this month, the government said on Friday.

www.reuters.com

Commonly these are brought using anti-stalker legislation, which potentially comes with serious prison time.

(though in this case, as has been said many times in the thread, they're more likely working on the grounds of spectacle, which tends not to be so impressive with a refinery action - see Greenpeace's many visually spectacular disruptions to offshore platforms which barely make for a picture story most of the time).

I don't get what an injunction is meant to actually do to prevent protests. It's just a scary word really, meant to discourage people from protesting but it's not exactly mining the road or stringing up barbed wire is it?

 

[Rob Ray]

Depends on the form of the injunction but it can get quite serious (and very expensive) - GBC did a good general guide a while back:

https://greenandblackcross.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/GBC-guide-to-injunctions_May-2016.pdf

And Monbiot recently pointed out how dystopian they've been getting, especially in inflicting huge costs:

Punishment without trial: Britain's latest weapon in the war against dissent | George Monbiot

Companies are taking out devastating ‘civil injunctions’ against climate activists – and making them pay the costs, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

www.theguardian.com

 

[mojo pixy]

Depends on the form of the injunction but it can get quite serious (and very expensive) - GBC did a good general guide a while back:

https://greenandblackcross.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/GBC-guide-to-injunctions_May-2016.pdf

And Monbiot recently pointed out how dystopian they've been getting, especially in inflicting huge costs:

Punishment without trial: Britain's latest weapon in the war against dissent | George Monbiot

Companies are taking out devastating ‘civil injunctions’ against climate activists – and making them pay the costs, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

www.theguardian.com

OK, good article. I can't help thinking this kind of escalation is going to push people into more aggressive protests, on the basis that well if I'm going to do time anyway then I might as well earn it. It looks like a magic bullet but I suspect (hope? no I think it's actually inevitable) that it will backfire eventually.

 

[Elpenor]

BBC radio show on five live “the sports desk” (I picked it up as a podcast) describing sport as being in crisis due to the protestors. Seems to be usual balanced coverage from the BBC

 

[Rob Ray]

Disruptive protest helps rather than hinders activists’ cause, experts say

Results contradict public view that disrupting events such as Wimbledon and Pride achieves nothing

www.theguardian.com

Vaguely interesting I guess (actual survey here), though they've clearly not read the thing properly given the answer to Question 10 on the climate movement, which suggests that while yes disruptive action is important, the best targets are first the government, then the actual industry, with "unrelated venues" coming out as counterproductive.


It's actually a weird one to ask because it really depends on what you're trying to achieve, plus I'd generally expect academics to tend towards relatively conservative/liberal positions on what/where/how protest and disruption should happen tbh, given their circumstances. Non-violent protest in approved areas? Yeah! Uncomfortable protests that might actually affect me in some way? Hm....

 

[bcuster]

Sweden charges Greta Thunberg for blockading oil port

The climate activist blocked a port handling fossil fuels with a group of young activists in June.

www.bbc.com

 

[hash tag]

If climate change is a thing, it really is much more important than a tennis match, a grand Prix, a snooker match.
ARe their actions justified and are they just pissing people off. Should they be trying to highlight the issues in less disruptive ways?

 

[ddraig]

If climate change is a thing, it really is much more important than a tennis match, a grand Prix, a snooker match.
ARe their actions justified and are they just pissing people off. Should they be trying to highlight the issues in less disruptive ways?

there's a long thread already

 

[ddraig]

Just Stop Oil

Surprised no mention of this lot on here. For about a week now they have been targeting the Oil depot by me and seems their intent is to cause fuel shortages across the country, so don't be surprised if panic buying starts again soon. Whilst I get what they are trying to do, being on the other...

www.urban75.net

 

[ddraig]

If climate change is a thing, it really is much more important than a tennis match, a grand Prix, a snooker match.
ARe their actions justified and are they just pissing people off. Should they be trying to highlight the issues in less disruptive ways?

If it's a thing??

It's in the news and on people's minds, all in the other thread

 

[hash tag]

Sorry, I did look as well...but under climate change not direct action

 

[gosub]

If climate change is a thing, it really is much more important than a tennis match, a grand Prix, a snooker match.
ARe their actions justified and are they just pissing people off. Should they be trying to highlight the issues in less disruptive ways?

Climate change is a thing..

So is protest

Which I'd presumably why beeb just did a thing about Wimbledon and its sustainability. Strawberries with plant based cream apparently.

 

[hash tag]

Trying to highlight the impending crisis has got to be far more important than unconvincing people for a few minutes. Hopefully in time the courts, the bill and everyone will come to appreciate this.
Btw. Does anyone remember the critical mass blockade of a Shell petrol station, I think it was. In Islington. There were no arrests at that I seem to recall.

 

[hash tag]

Climate change is a thing..

So is protest

Which I'd presumably why beeb just did a thing about Wimbledon and its sustainability. Strawberries with plant based cream apparently.

Come to Wandsworth...see all the Chelsea tractors being used to ferry the tennis players around. Do you think they might have used EVs, not a chance, they all have ICEs.

 

[gosub]

£2:50 for strawberries and Elmlea. I'll watch it on telly and have clotted

 

[pug]

A better thread might ask would you join jso/xr. And have poll.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Climate change is a thing..

So is protest

Which I'd presumably why beeb just did a thing about Wimbledon and its sustainability. Strawberries with plant based cream apparently.

That’ll sort out the carbon footprint

 

[hash tag]

A better thread might ask would you join jso/xr. And have poll.

By joining them, do you mean taking part in their actions? It's something I look forward to when I retire and would not fear losing my job.

 

[smmudge]

BBC radio show on five live “the sports desk” (I picked it up as a podcast) describing sport as being in crisis due to the protestors. Seems to be usual balanced coverage from the BBC

This morning on the news they were talking about the lengths sports "has to go to" trying to stop protesters, literally the very next item was the flash floods in Spain. Must have been by accident though because it was the BBC....

 

[edcraw]

Not sure this will have been the worst moment at George Osbourne’s wedding…

 

[BristolEcho]

My hot take on this is that their tactics are not going to work and I think they'll just alienate people that they are trying to win over.

 

[Mr.Bishie]

My hot take on this is that their tactics are not going to work and I think they'll just alienate people that they are trying to win over.

We really don’t need two threads, but to reply to you - I’m loving that they’re starting to piss everyone off. Winning over was never their aim.

 

[BristolEcho]

We really don’t need two threads, but to reply to you - I’m loving that they’re starting to piss everyone off. Winning over was never their aim.

My post was sarcasm following a post I made on the other thread after someone made that comment for the 100th time. I totally agree with you.

 

[Mr.Bishie]

Let’s blame hash tag then

 

[ska invita]

My hot take on this is that their tactics are not going to work and I think they'll just alienate people that they are trying to win over.

stopping new oil fields has been adopted as labour party policy, a fact which the tories and their allies are trying to turn to their advantage by saying labour is under the thumb of eco zealots, so it looks like they have successfully won over the next government.

 

[BristolEcho]

stopping new oil fields has been adopted as labour party policy, a fact which the tories and their allies are trying to turn to their advantage by saying labour is under the thumb of eco zealots, so it looks like they have successfully won over the next government.

It's alright it was a joke in another thread which has now been merged.

 

[T & P]

Trying to highlight the impending crisis has got to be far more important than unconvincing people for a few minutes. Hopefully in time the courts, the bill and everyone will come to appreciate this.
Btw. Does anyone remember the critical mass blockade of a Shell petrol station, I think it was. In Islington. There were no arrests at that I seem to recall.

I dread to make this comment, because I keep getting the impression that in this thread it’s a binary ‘with us or against us’ position on any off-message opinion however mild.

But I have never subscribed to the ‘all publicity is good publicity’ mantra, and imo there’s a definite threshold beyond which you will likely alienate even those people who were naturally sympathetic to your cause in the first place. Just as many if not most people who care about animal welfare think PETA are fucking dicks. Or XR, which despite conducting far larger scale protests than JSO, generally enjoyed a far more sympathetic coverage from the press as well as public support, but when activists decided to climb on Tube trains and disrupt people’s commute, it resulted in a massive backlash and an own goal.

Just about everyone with a pulse is already well aware of the climate emergency. There are two ways to effectively try to force the government to stop all future gas and oil exploration licences: either you cause unacceptably high economic disruption to the public coffers, or protest in a way that gets as many of the general population to join in as possible.

These kind of protests are therefore next to pointless IMO; the Tory government will be more than happy to absorb as many stunts as JSO does, because it doesn’t cause any meaningful financial hindrance, and in addition helps promote their narrative of such groups being unreasonable clowns. And as the general population are not being told anything they didn’t know already, it’s not a question of raising awareness but getting people to lend their support to the group. Doing stuff that annoys if not pisses right off a great many of them is going to result in the opposite of gaining new supporters.

 

[Raheem]

or protest in a way that gets as many of the general population to join in as possible.

So, you need to think of something that will get maximum publicity, right?

 

[T & P]

So, you need to think of something that will get maximum publicity, right?

But that was the point of my previous post. The whole world and their dog are already aware of the issue JSO are trying to publicise. So what’s the bloody point of screaming something to the four winds everyone already knew? Their actions are not going to turn those people who are already aware of the climate situation but don’t seem to care.

They’re revealing nothing new. So they should either try to disrupt large businesses and anything that causes economic harm to the government to try to force their hand, or to entice as many ordinary people who haven’t yet bothered to actively protest to join them. Constantly repeating a message everyone is aware about already is utterly pointless at this point. And pissing off folk is not going to win them any additional support.

 

[Raheem]

But that was the point of my previous post. The whole world and their dog are already aware of the issue JSO are trying to publicise.

What do you think they are trying to publicise? (hint: the first and most obvious answer won't be right)