I am writing from prison, where I am serving a sentence for breaking a high court injunction for the fourth time while protesting with Just Stop Oil against the government’s catastrophic fossil fuel policy. I sat peacefully with 50 others at Kingsbury oil terminal in Staffordshire to demand an end to fossil fuel licences. I don’t want sympathy, but do wonder why more people aren’t protesting against our, and our children’s, deaths.
Even to consider 130 new drilling licences is lethal folly. Not only is it against expert advice, it’s also morally indefensible. We don’t need more gas and oil. It will kill us. Instead of subsidising fossil fuel corporations, the government should incentivise renewables and focus on reducing energy demand. It has shut its eyes to the horror of the climate emergency, but ours should remain open. It takes courage to face the terrifying implications of climate and societal collapse, but we can come together in civil resistance to stop these lethal policies. Doing nothing is a choice I can no longer justify. If we can’t say no now, in the face of our own extinction, when can we?
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