Just Stop Oil: Why Louis McKechnie deserves respect
“Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.” – Mahatma Ghandi
It is the 17th March, 2022. Approaching the 57th minute of a football match between Everton and Newcastle United at Goodison Park, engineering student Louis McKechnie spots his chance, jumps over the advertising hoardings at the foot of the stand, runs onto the pitch, and ties his neck to one of the goalposts with a zip tie.
The match stops. Mckechnie stands there defiantly as stewards rush to the scene in an attempt to remove him. Minutes tick by as attempts to break the zip tie around McKechnie’s neck fail. The crowd grows increasingly frustrated as the stewards fetch a pair of bolt-cutters and finally cut him free. He is carried off the pitch to a chorus of boos and spiteful chanting. Some spectators stand up to launch vitriol at Mckechnie as he is whisked away. A worrying few spectators have to be restrained by stewards in fits of rage. All in all, McKechnie was tied to the goalpost for eight minutes.
It is understandable why the matchday crowd is angry. They pay for tickets with their hard-earned money and deserve the entertainment for doing so.
But there are worse things coming to us than a spoilt football match. McKechnie’s bold protest worked – hundreds of thousands of people in the stadium and watching on TV witnessed the simple message emblazoned on his orange t-shirt, the words that are currently on everybody’s lips; ‘Just Stop Oil’.
Just Stop Oil
‘Just Stop Oil’ is both the phrase and the name attributed to a group of student activists that McKechnie belongs to. Their messaging is clear – ‘Humanity is on the verge of an abyss, accelerated human induced climate change will destroy human civilisation unless emergency action is taken to reduce our Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) to zero in a very short timescale. The reality is indisputable. We have to act now.’
Burning fossil fuels produces 89% of all our carbon emissions, and at the current 1.2 degree level of global warming, we are already witnessing extreme floods, heat waves, droughts and famine across the world. If this temperature was to rise to 1.5 degrees, the consequences could be cataclysmic . Scientists are warning that by the early 2030s, we could see rising threats to global food security, vast regions of the world that are too hot to live in, and critical tipping points in the climate system that will be crossed. This is not some far away date anymore; science predicts that we will get there in 10 years time.
Looking at the empirical evidence, Just Stop Oil states that further expansion of global oil and gas production is putting us on course for human extinction. To even have a chance of meeting the Paris Agreement goals of keeping global temperatures below 1.5C, there can be no new investment in fossil fuel supply projects.
The goal of the campaign is for the government to implement a zero-carbon transition in a way that is fair for workers, suppliers, communities and consumers. The government should double their target for renewables, take responsibility for retrofitting insulation in Britain’s homes, and shift to regenerative agriculture and the encouragement of plant-based diets.
Civil disobedience
Most of Britain is well-aware of the science. We’ve been lectured many times by documentaries and in schools, often by the likes of well-known and cosy figures such as David Attenborough. But this friendly persuasion is not enough. There is an uneasy complacency that currently permeates our society which was demonstrated in the ire directed towards McKechnie during his protest; we don’t want to act like the situation is bad, at least until it affects us personally. It is not the science that society has the problem with, it’s the means in which these protest groups force people to confront the ugly truth about our situation head-on.
We have all seen the tactics that these groups use. Just Stop Oil adds to a wave of new activist groups operating in the UK, including Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain. These activists have been notorious for blocking major motorways across Britain in acts of public disobedience. While these acts drew widespread public frustration, Just Stop Oil seems to have changed tactics somewhat. Since McKechnie’s stunt some weeks ago, the group has blockaded numerous fuel terminals across Britain to stop oil tankers from entering, filling up, or leaving to deliver fuel. Their tactics include glueing themselves to roads and attaching themselves to fuel tankers with bike locks. Around 350 protesters have been arrested since the 1st April.
The protests may not be agreeable to everyone, but that is the point; the situation is getting worse not better, and so drastic action is needed. In February of this year, a new oil and gas field in the North Sea was approved by the UK Government. Oil corporation Shell is even pushing the UK Government to approve another new gas field called Jackdaw in the North Sea. Jackdaw will meet only approximately 1.8% of UK demand at its peak, which won’t be for another 5 years. These operations, alongside the monetary ‘gifts’ made out to notable Conservative MPs for their complacency, symbolise a Government that is rolling over for the oil industry on a planet that can’t afford to take more punishment.
Lauren MacDonald, young activist and member of StopCambo said on the matter:
"Despite the UK government positioning themselves as leaders in the fight against climate change at last year’s Climate Change Conference, they are still poised to licence new North Sea oil and gas fields. It is difficult to see how the government can justify continued investment in fossil fuel extraction in the face of conclusive evidence that it is inconsistent with the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. What certainly cannot be justified is the government’s refusal to prioritise renewables while calling on other nations to take increasingly decisive action in the fight against climate change."
Despite overwhelming evidence that the Government is making the situation worse, the general public still hasn’t given Just Stop Oil their due respect. Just last week, Good Morning Britain host Richard Madeley blasted Just Stop Oil spokesperson Miranda Whelehan on-air for her perceived hypocrisy. Madeley raised the point that everything the Just Stop Oil protestors wear, buy or eat owes its existence to oil, even down to the clothes that the spokesperson was wearing on the day. In Madeley’s mind, this means that the protests are ‘massively imperfect’.
This is but another case of ‘Ad Hominem’ on the part of the establishment; attacking an opponent’s character or personal traits in an attempt to undermine their argument. It still ignores the inconvenient truth. Readers may be aware of the often-parodied conservative notion that you cannot push to see society improved if you live in that very society, as if being party to some kind of grand hypocrisy. But when the structure is built to appease the fossil fuel industry, the onus is on the Government to provide alternate solutions. Gone are the times of simple individual lifestyle changes; eco-friendly light bulbs, recycling, ditching paper.
Aside from the patronising tone of a society that doesn’t want to face hard reality, there is a darker motive at work in the corridors of power. Spotting the opportunity to save face, this movement is feeding off the current complacency of the public and trying to quash these acts of civil disobedience, and any future civil disobedience, for good. Home Secretary Priti Patel has accused Just Stop Oil protesters of contributing to fuel shortages and the overall cost of living crisis in the UK, labelling the demonstrators as ‘selfish’, ‘fanatical’, and ‘frankly dangerous’. Protest is a fundamental pillar of democracy, and yet with the current Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill currently passing through the Houses of Parliament, our ability to fight for the common good may be dealt a devastating hammer blow.
When protest is outlawed, when the climate reaches its tipping point and causes the exodus and death of millions of people, when all is said and done and it is already too late for a repentant society; Just Stop Oil may very well hate to say that they told us so.
It may seem like we have a mountain to climb to finally get the change we need, but it all starts with feats of immense bravery, just like McKechnie’s. If you are sick of our cries falling on deaf ears, organise and mobilise using our tools at Find Others. There is a role for everyone in activism; if you care enough, you’re good enough.
Unite, campaign, take action.