Extinction Rebellion to block UK oil refineries as petrol hits £2 a litre at London pumps
9 March 2022, 21:56 | Updated: 10 March 2022, 01:11
Extinction Rebellion has announced plans to block UK oil refineries as petrol prices hit £2 a litre in London.
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The direct action group said it intends to "stop the harm at the source" as part of its campaign, which will begin April 9, to force the Government to stop the fossil fuel economy.
They will be joined by protest group Just Stop Oil, with other groups also expected to be confirmed.
It comes after the UK announced its decision to cut off imports of Russian oil over the Ukraine crisis, with petrol prices rocketing as a result.
One petrol station in Chelsea was seen to be charging 219p per litre for diesel and more than 218.9p for unleaded, while several outside the capital were charging over 190p, according to the Mail.
The price hikes have led people to forming longer queues outside cheaper forecourts.
The decision to cut off Russian imports has also raised concerns that the Government could reverse its ban on fracking in the UK as an alternative.
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Extinction Rebellion sent a letter to the Government about its April plans, saying: "Every day the UK Government fails to act makes our common future more bleak, our prospects more terrifying."
The group's co-founder, Clare Farrell, said: "Oil refineries are symbolic of continued extraction and profit for a small group of very wealthy companies at the expense of everyone else.
"We burn them, pollute our cities, poison ourselves and our children whilst committing to climate breakdown. It's no wonder the entire environmental movement is focusing on ending fossil fuels and the death they cause. The writing is on the wall, and we are out of time.
"We face an ongoing cost of living crisis with fossil fuel companies making record-breaking massive profits.
"We have failed to insulate homes or make progress on energy efficiency here in the UK and experts are expecting an especially difficult winter later this year unless bold effort is made in the name of protecting the vulnerable and the poor.
"Boris Johnson arguing for a 'climate change pass' involving new fossil fuel development sidelines the decades of failure to prevent millions of deaths from pollution and climate breakdown by building in decades more failure and more millions of deaths. We need to decarbonise and to do so as fast as possible."
Exact locations of the planned protests are yet to be made public.
