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.

It's easy to radicalise people who are terrified

And if you are not terrified that the next 10 years could see the end of civilisation as we know it you are naive

@Igneococcus - it would be great if we could engineer our way out of this but we are too late. Only massive system change through government reform gives us a chance

Those things don't work.

Nothing works because the politicans and the voting public are not interested.

We know what the workable solutions are

We have known for decades

But they are incompatible with making a fast buck

Someone dying in a heatwave is very, very different to someone dying who could have otherwise been saved if it were not for the bellend glued to the road!!

It might even be a case of manslaughter one could argue.

So if op is really content to play Russian Roulette with her life, knowing she may have far more time in prison than the 48 hours she has allotted then that is a matter for her. It is entirely irresponsible in my view.

Well, quite, but I'm not sure how I'll feel better knowing op has glued herself to the M4 when the worst of climate change does hit 🤷‍♀️. It'll probably still be pretty shit.

It's fine saying "but what else can I do oooooo"? Just because you feel there is no other option it doesn't make what you're planning to do in any way effective. You may feel better knowing you did it though, but it probably won't enact any serious change. Especially when even the Tories say (publicly at least), that they're doing what they can to get to net zero.

Oh as well as what I said over the page when op said "well what can I do then if I'm supposed to refrain from glueing myself to a bridge 🤔?", here's another tip; don't vote Tory!

I can almost guarantee if you got a group to go and occupy Shell or BP HQ and refused to leave every woman would be cheering you on and sending food parcels in.

I do think this is quite a stupid argument, for reasons which should really be obvious.

As an example

The uk is prime location for renewable energy

30 years ago we could have invested heavily in that

Many people recommended that
Whilst the exact nature of the energy crisis wasn't predictable, that there would be an energy crisis before 2030 was predicted

Then today we could be selling green energy to Europe and be the only European country in growth rather than the one in recession

I think that ER have engaged a huge group of people which is brilliant but they are getting a lot of negative publicity. I think they need a change at the top and some cleaner marketing actually and to recruit a wider range of people and counteract the bad press and get their message out there and protest in a way that doesn’t annoy people and alienate the cause . Clearly traffic blocking is a massive issue I’m not sure exactly what alternatives but I feel like they just need a slight shift in direction to stop irritating people and make them think. People see them and the banners and think ffs the roads blocked not about what the banner actually says that needs to change somehow as they could have a lot of power

@medicellen I saw it with my own eyes in Bristol. Ambulances were unable to get through the centre to the hospitals because drunk hippies were sat on the road blocking them.

The main reason ambulances can't get to people is because of the complete mismanagement and underfunding of health and social care by the government. It's nothing to do with climate change protesters, put your Daily Mail down and look up.

Cleaner - clever

Stop buying things from China

And also

Stop making it someone else's problem

That has been and is being done to death. All sorts of ‘acceptable’ actions happen all the time, they just don’t make the news.

And anyone who has better ideas is welcome to join a group and carry them out.

Linking the current protests to the civil rights movement is a mistake - different strategies work at different points in history and for different causes. An organised movement recognises this and strategises around it. Simply saying "but it worked before" isn't enough, and certainly not enough given the importance of the issue.

It should be pretty clear that the ER approach is not working and civil disobedience is not doing what it was hoped - either in bringing the public on board or politicians. Time for a rethink.

That's without noting that ER have lost credibility due to their reported misogyny and expelling females who don't agree with their wider social views.

In the meantime, those with spare time and want to do something positive can volunteer to help restore native oyster beds and sow seagrass meadows, as they're important blue carbon stores. Or look at what other well-informed organisations are doing and get involved with them.

I guess they think What's one or two deaths today compared to millions or billions by 2030?

You think you have an imagination crisis now ? A few tens of thousands? There will be millions on the move soon

I'm all in favour of peaceful protest, but I think it's much more effective when you actually carry people with you instead of behaving in a way that just enables them to dismiss you as some sort of lunatic fringe.
^ this

I have a science degree, I work with people with science degrees, I know people that teach science. I've yet to come across a science curriculum that deals with communicating, motivating, and engaging with the public to encourage them to act on a call to action based on scientific evidence.

ER, Science Rebellion, etc. they all suffer from a surfeit of professional scientists and a lack of professional marketing types to target a message with appropriate calls to action.

As a member of the public I look at the protests and think, "What do they want me to do?" - Stop Using Oil. Well, that's not achievable or realistic for me as an individual. Would it be good enough (for now) for me to use a lot less of it? - apparently not, it's all or nothing.

The ambulance service has said that they weren’t affected.

however, people who could be saved do die everyday because the nhs is underfunded.

meanwhile, there is plenty of money for the rich, including the planet killing fossil fuel companies.

@shallowhalwantsgal over the years I have petitioned, written to MPs, demonstrated, changed my own life, set up community energy projects, retrained to work in the field...and still, those in power don't listen. We are running out of options, and time. It's long past time to physically stop people burning oil.

I would add that a lot of people have the perception that a fair few of the Extinction Rebellion crowd are there for the event rather than the cause...people who decide that they want to be a part of it and jump on the bandwagon for the experience rather than because they actually care that deeply about the environment. Many of them haven't actually made major changes in their own lives to reduce their carbon footprints, but they don't want to miss the party.

I have far more respect for those who make major changes in their own lives and adopt a more measured approach to persuading others about what needs to be done.

We need massive structural change not a few oysters

I would absolutely support that. But obviously that doesn't kickstart your nascent music career like climbing a gantry on the m25 and filming yourself crying does.

If we ‘just stop oil’ a lot of people will die

Just a thought

Are you also against nuclear OP? I find people in these movements often are.

Action is the antidote to despair.