Protestors climb on train

[omikron]

What on earth to ER hope to achieve this morning?! Such arseholes

Not to condone how some of the commuters at Canning Town behaved, but to put it into context Canning Town was closed due to XR protestors targeting the DLR last Friday causing the closure of the station. A 15 year old school boy who would normally have taken the DLR back to Stratford took the bus instead. That 15 year old was stabbed shortly after getting off the bus and lost his life.

And aside from media attracting publicity stunts, I don't really think XR are getting the message across about what we actually NEED to do. The only interviews I see are of people saying we need to act now to save the planet but with no practical suggestions of what those actions are.

Most are idiots some on the news stating they joined in for a laugh-i thought the new court order banned them from demonstrations like these

"The only interviews I see are of people saying we need to act now to save the planet but with no practical suggestions of what those actions are."

It's the same if you stop and chat with them in real life. They're just enjoying themselves.

Granny the science and evidence has been out there for years about what governments need to do to reduce carbon emissions in a drastic and rapid fashion, taking action on energy, transport, housing, food production and more.
XR don't necessarily need to repeat and recycle those messages, or communicate their own interpretation. They just want governments to actually start doing some of them. The government will say they are taking action, but it's not large enough or quick enough.
That goes for individual action as well - there are myriad resources available to show how to reduce your climate footprint.

A 15 year old school boy who would normally have taken the DLR back to Stratford took the bus instead. That 15 year old was stabbed shortly after getting off the bus and lost his life omg really, had no idea the two were linked

And if my dh cant get into work are they going to pay his wage?

It's wannabe martyrs trying to generate their own martyrdom. They WANT to get arrested. They WANT to provoke violent incidents. Generating martyrs is radicalisation 101, which they need so that they can get their own crop of extremists and escalate to violent protests and terrorism. At the moment all they have are the slightly mentally unwell and middle class losers for whom the worst threat is imprisonment in the softest of environments, if even that. They want killers, so will try and get someone 'attacked' by the police or killed in a mob incident. Just watch.

The only interviews I see are of people saying we need to act now to save the planet but with no practical suggestions of what those actions are

Exactly the same with our local council spokesman after they announced a climate emergency. Beyond their virtue signalling announcement, they had no actual plans to change anything themselves - just expecting others to do things differently, and not really coming up with what that could be.

I am going to assume that most posters on here have some concern about the environment and all our futures.

So if you don't like XR current strategies, what form should environmental protesting/lobbying take?

How can we get the population to notice the problem, take accountability and enact change, all in a time frame that isn't going to be too late?

If climbing on trains makes people absent from work enough, maybe company management will look at more work from home options reducing the number of miles commuted every year (and an additional upside would be that commuting would be more pleasant for the people in industries where they have no choice but to attend a work place... Happy days!). Increasing work from home would reduce fuel used, emissions, congestion (which increases emissions in specific problem spots), vehicle manufacturer and disposal, road wear and tarmac use to repair, use of disposable coffee cups by commuters etc.

Personally I wish the government would offer employers incentives to encourage more work from home arrangements, for the sake of the environment, but also family life and it would probably improve equality in the work place as well.

Tatler article

rent-a-mob, contemptible lot.

Yes, we need change - but if you buy coffee in a disposable cup, sit outside the school with the engine running, waste a fortune on plastic Christmas tat, turn the heating up rather than put on a jumper, buy stuff that comes by courier van.....check the mirror.

There's always one, isn't there? Vulpine says "You could always cycle."

No, not everyone can cycle. I don't look disabled and I don't qualify for a blue badge because I can walk but I cannot cycle. I'll never be able to cycle on a public road again and it's something that makes me sad. It makes me angry when others assume it's a solution for everyone. It's not.

I don't live in London, but come by train for work maybe once or twice a month. Even if I could cycle I certainly couldn't afford a folding bike for those irregular visits.

I have friends who are part of XR and I'm equally fed up of them saying that bikes are the answer.

It would be interesting to know how XR get to/from their 'protests'. Do they Uber? Take the tube or bus? Or do they all walk from wherever they live to/from the protests?
Some pp said these protesters have jobs, where do they work? All in green, echo friendly careers I presume? How do they get to/from their jobs each day when they're not preventing other people from getting to/from their own jobs?
I wonder how environmentally friendly these protesters are in their own lives as they try to force their 'values' onto others. The video I saw of the protester being dragged from the tube, I could swear that jacket was made in China and those shoes and ties looked mass produced as well.

My dh cant work from home Cy hes on site security

Protecting and preserving our environment is an excellent cause but unfortunately...

...Extinction Rebellion is dominated by attention seeking, petulant, ignorant wasters.

My DD was there this morning , she said it was so frightening with the chaos so got out of the station & went home. She’s had to take a days holiday.

President Xi will be laughing his head off in Beijing as he watches the West crumble and fall. While the PRC continues on.

How can we get the population to notice the problem, take accountability and enact change, all in a time frame that isn't going to be too late?

The "population" themselves can take responsibility for their own choices. They can choose what they buy and where from. They can choose to reduce, reuse and recycle. They can choose not to buy so much cheap short life crap from pound stores and primark. They can choose to shop local to reduce "food miles". They can join in local pressure groups to stop the likes of local banks, libraries etc closing or to put pressure on local councils to improve public transport. They NEED to stop blaming others and take responsibility for their own wastage, pollution, etc.

This is what govt need to do in terms of policy: www.theccc.org.uk/2019/07/10/uk-credibility-on-climate-change-rests-on-government-action-over-next-18-months/

There's literally hundreds of websites to explain how you can reduce your own climate impact, here's just one: footprint.wwf.org.uk/#/

But real progress can only be made once government start making and implementing policies, and sadly our own govt have been rather distracted over recent years; and an economy that can no longer trade easily with our closest geographical neighbours, but instead relies on countries with poor environmental records and high vulnerability to climate change impacts, is one that is going to go in the wrong direction.

The only interviews I see are of people saying we need to act now to save the planet but with no practical suggestions of what those actions are

Climate change needs to be stopped. XR need to show that there is a better way of living for everyone and punch up, not down

• Offer solutions, they are a big movement and they have backing of some really smart people. Use that knowledge to provide viable solutions and incentives to reducing the impact of the impending disaster. Maybe spend one educating kids in schools or even offer after school clubs.

-Canning town, really? If you have an image of being incredibly middle-class, white and privileged. Why on earth would you then target a very deprived area, who are using public transport. Sure a job is not as important as the environment however.if the choice is feed my kids today or maybe they starve in 10 years time. It's food for today. An area with high zero-hours contract, self employment and poor job security. They have way more immediate problems than rising sea levels.

• Follow on from (2). Punch-up, not down. Go target Chelsea, Kensington, Holland park. Areas with those monster gas guzzlers. Areas where people with power and influence live. Blockade or board a cruise ship, those monster are ocean death. Heck if you really want to do something in an area of social deprivation, offer pre-school or after school support. Go full on eco propaganda there. Make sure the next generation have low consumption, healthy green eating ingrained in their behavior. At the moment they are just going to get an unexplained sense from their parents that ecologically aware people are assholes.

• XR don't account for or care about how or why people live the way they do. They don't offer specific alternatives to an average persons problems. They are just adding to them.

• Specific to the video, guy on the train threw the first kick

It would be interesting to know how XR get to/from their 'protests'.

Yes - not a bicycle in sight in the Trafalgar Square encampment, but plenty of plastic tents.

XR don't necessarily need to repeat and recycle those messages, or communicate their own interpretation. They just want governments to actually start doing some of them. The government will say they are taking action, but it's not large enough or quick enough.
That goes for individual action as well - there are myriad resources available to show how to reduce your climate footprint.

Ihaventgottimeforthis I disagree, as the ones causing the disruption they DO need to repeat and recycle those messages to maintain public sympathy. Being in the media spotlight is an excellent opportunity to educate the masses with practical changes which they can make whilst governments dither and they are not taking advantage of this.

But real progress can only be made once government start making and implementing policies

You mean like closing and demolishing coal power stations, building vaste swathes of windfarms instead? You mean like electrifying more railway lines and legislating to reduce diesel trains? Or initiatives for solar power generation? You mean like the tax reliefs and subsidies for electric and low emission vehicles? Or virtually every household having recycling collections? No, the government aren't doing anything at all are they?

Specific to the video, guy on the train threw the first kick

Yes he did and whilst I don't condone violence not many people would just shrug that off.

Personally I wish the government would offer employers incentives to encourage more work from home arrangements, for the sake of the environment, but also family life and it would probably improve equality in the work place as well

I can't disagree with that, but the main source of pollution in London is the roads, and so ER should be concentrating on those. I always say that if there is even one private car in Central London (barring those with blue badges) the congestion charge is not high enough. That said, most of the vehicles are taxis and delivery vans, so not sure what you can do about those except require them to be electric or hybrid.