To risk arrest for protesting about the climate emergency?

[medicellen]

I have recently taken part in climate protests with Extinction Rebellion but have stopped short of activities that would lead to an arrest.

I am a scientist and it has been beyond doubt for some years that the climate emergency is accelerating.

And yet, global carbon emissions continue to increase. Our government is granting new licences for fossil fuels, whilst oil companies rake in massive profits. This is utter madness (aka "collective suicide" according to the lead of the UN).

I have an 8-year old son who says one day he might like to have children. I have avoided saying that this may be either not possible or not desirable due to the state of the climate by then.

Petitions, campaigning, pleas, marches have failed. In my mind, the only option left is civil disobedience. Mass arrests advanced the causes of suffrage and civil rights and I am now contemplating arrest as the only meaningful contribution I have left.

Single mum of 4? I do hope you have your own income to support your 4 children, and not relying on benefits paid by the tax payers who you are stopping from getting to work. Who is actually looking after your kids whilst you're glued to the surface of a motorway?

I won't judge, I don't know how they got to be a single parent and maybe (nor maybe not) need state support. But I'm surprised someone so concerned for the environment would have four kids. Having a larger family isn't that environmentally conscious a move, I wouldn't have thought.

I'm not judging the fact that they may claim benefits for their 4 children. I would judge someone for stopping others getting to work whilst doing so. Private income, fill your boots. Relying on tax payers to pay benefits for huge family, and stopping said tax payers getting to work? They can fuck off and when they've got there fuck off some more

You are missing my point entirely. I agree with you - of course the west cannot dictate terms to China. That is exactly what I have been saying!

I am saying that the west and the rest of the world needs to raise the taxes on goods imported from polluting countries. We can do that and that is what XR and others should be lobbying for through the correct channels. It would be far more effective than throwing soup at painting or holding up traffic on the M25.

I am saying that the west and the rest of the world needs to raise the taxes on goods imported from polluting countries

Why would you impoverish yourselves like that? At least only the West would be stupid enough to do it.

Maybe a good thing to see a win for the developing world though, to maintain access to cheap Chinese goods.

I think it's a dog whistle to connect this to 'the rich' I.e. anyone with a higher income than me, or say that our government can deal with it (it can't).
The problem is that WE ALL consume too much. We might try and delude ourselves into thinking we're the good guys by recycling but you only have to look back 50 years to see the change.
For example - for Halloween, look at all the cheap plastic one-use crap that is sold. Or the masses of tasteless varieties of pumpkins that are grown and discarded.
That us. Not The Rich.
As a society we take for granted so much. To make a difference we would to all have to change our lives. But we won't. And XR know we won't. So they point the finger elsewhere.
And I hope that one day, when they damage a work of art, or glue themselves to the pavement, someone will give them a good kicking.

And it's not about raising taxes on these goods. It's about not consuming them in the 1st place. But we are all addicted.

Looks like there's been a lorry crash / policeman injured due to the protests this morning.

Slow clap
Yeah, well done protesters, that'll show everyone.
Fucking idiots

I understand that there are many psychological and practical reasons to ignore or minimise the climate emergency. It is self-deception to believe that we have time to engineer our way out of this, get ourselves voted in as an MP, or that our politicians are suddenly going to take the actions required.

This is not "my" opinion - it is the reality as laid out by people better informed than me:

"What we do over the next three to four years, I believe, is going to determine the future of humanity." Sir David King, 2021

"Climate activists are sometimes depicted as dangerous radicals. But the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels.Investing in new fossil fuels infrastructure is moral and economic madness." Antonio Guterres, COP 26, 2021

"The High Court has ruled that the government’s Net Zero Strategy breaches the Climate Change Act." Friends of the Earth 2022

“We have a choice. Collective action or collective suicide. It is in our hands." Antonio Guterres, COP 27, 2022

Well that's just great isn't it.

No acknowledgement of the injured policeman then? No? Nothing?

Collateral damage, innit?

Fucking twats the lot of them.

Nope, they don't give a shit about people.

@medicellen Any comment on the injured police and incident caused on the M25 today?

Fking idiots the lot of them.

So, if I'm right. A policeman was injured while putting up road blocks to protect a protester sitting in the road?
Fuckers. Using policemen as a shield. I really hope that one of them gets injured soon.

So do I.

I wonder how much additional pollution this is all generating

Maybe you could ask N.Korea to stop testing ballistic missiles, Russia to stop bombing Ukraine, China and India to stop using fossil fuels after all aren't those things contributing to climate change....or is it just easier to glue yourself to a road and pretend you care?

You will have blood on your hands soon. Miracle it as just one police officer injured this morning.

I dont think it is appropriate for me to comment on the injured policeman given that I have no knowledge of what has happened, and have no link to the JSO activities taking place. I have posed a question about the appropriateness or otherwise of non-violent civil disobedience (which takes many different forms), which I am considering as future actions.

Various people have concluded that I am somehow a cheerleader for road blocks on the M25 and care nothing for anyone involved. It seems as though making assumptions to fit your own prejudices somehow justifies venting your fury on anyone who dares contradict you. Thus far, the vitriol here on mumsnet matches the very best on the Daily Mail forums. I anticipated it and therefore can take it, but its been an interesting experience in how people choose to direct their hatred

My view of you OP is that you are very concerned about climate change and want to protest and get arrested just so you can tell anyone who will listen that you 'did something' about it.

Well, glue is generally petroleum based and comes in plastic bottles. Then there's the held up cars sitting there idling, spewing fumes they wouldn't have if they could have just got through.

None of these antics make me more sympathetic to the cause.

Or it’s because it’s a consensus amongst the majority.