Extinction Rebellion are ready to bring their peaceful protest against the climate crisis back to the streets of Newport this Saturday (4th May).
With a focus on ‘Women and Children First’, the gathering is a May Day SOS. The message is clear: the planet is burning and we must take effective and radical action to preserve life before it’s too late.
The 4th May event is inspired by the radical Extinction Rebellion action witnessed in London over the Easter break, where for several days campaigners stopped traffic, made music and joined in People’s Assemblies to discuss the next steps. Previous protests in Newport have involved speeches, youth strikes and marching behind a coffin down the High Street.
An IW Extinction Rebellion spokesperson said:
“A number of us travelled to London and were impressed by the positive, peaceful and welcoming atmosphere on the bridges and in the squares. We plan to replicate these initiatives on the Island.
“Whilst other councils across the country have declared a Climate Emergency to pledge action to tackle the environmental crisis, the Isle of Wight Council leadership claim that such a need is ‘unevidenced’. We know that islanders care deeply about our wildlife and leaving a planet safe for our children. We urge everyone to join us in peaceful protest this Saturday.”
Extinction Rebellion will be meeting in St Thomas’ Square from 12:30 on Saturday 4th May. Anyone wishing to take part is urged to take banners, placards and voices.
These people might be well meaning, however, they are protesting at the wrong people. The uk is at the forefront of pollution reduction and contributes less than 1% of emissions on the planet. Why don’t they take their protests to china or india, who contribute 60% of emissions
and are building more coal fired power plants. They won’t because they are too scared.
There is no emergency, nothing catastrophic will happen any time soon. These people seem to forget, that on a geological scale, things happen over many, many, millenia and longer. The north of this country still rises up a bit each year, as it resets itself, after the consequences of the downward pressure from the ice sheet in the last ice age is still felt.
The finite amount of carbon on this planet, is either in the atmosphere, in the ground, or in the seas, in varying degrees at all times.
You plant more trees around the world and more carbon is stored in the ground. Burn loads of wood and coal and what was in the ground
is released again. It isn’t difficult and these lot would have you believe that there is only 12 years – yeah right, that is farcical.
The real problem is the amount of people on the planet and not the way we live. The planetary population has doubled in about 35 years or so.
Significantly reduce the population on the planet and most of the pollution disappears also.
Most of these extinction rebellion are just band wagon jumpers, who have absolutely no idea what they are doing and simply having a day
out protesting.
I guess all those turning up to protest will not be walking to Newport. Arriving by car or bus, polluting further are they. I bet they will be on their mobile phones, that needed intensive mining to obtain the raw materials to make the phone in the first place. When I see them stop their own personal pollution, such as driving their cars, going on foreign holidays by plane, buying those cheap clothes, flown in on heavily polluting planes from sweat shops in bangladesh, then I might give them some credit.