This episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast explores the extreme lengths some individuals are willing to go to protest climate change, including risking up to five years in jail. The host, Andrew Lewin, discusses the Just Stop Oil campaign in the UK, where activists are facing lengthy sentences for their advocacy. The episode raises questions about the future of activism and the potential consequences individuals may face for fighting against environmental harm. Additionally, Andrew mentions recent video podcasting initiatives and encourages listeners to engage with the content in both audio and video formats.
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The podcast episode delves into the legal challenges faced by activists in the UK who received four to five-year sentences for their involvement in protesting oil exploration as part of the Just Stop Oil campaign. The activists were found guilty of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance for organizing direct action protests on the M25 over four days in November 2022. One activist received a five-year sentence, while four others received four-year sentences each, marking the longest sentences ever given in the UK for nonviolent protests.
The Just Stop Oil campaign aims to pressure the government to reconsider its support for oil exploration in the North Sea by oil companies. The activists engaged in various forms of protest, including disrupting traffic on major highways and participating in extreme actions like slowing down F1 races. While these actions were intended to raise awareness about climate change and oil exploration, they also resulted in legal consequences for the activists involved.
The episode sheds light on the dilemma faced by activists who are willing to take extreme measures to advocate for environmental causes. It raises questions about the effectiveness of such protests, the risks involved, and the potential consequences for individuals who choose to participate. The activists' willingness to accept lengthy sentences for their beliefs underscores the depth of their commitment to environmental activism and the urgency they feel in addressing climate change issues.
Overall, the episode highlights the challenges and sacrifices that activists may encounter in their efforts to bring about change and protect the environment. It prompts reflection on the balance between activism, legal consequences, and the pursuit of environmental conservation goals.
The activists involved in the Just Stop Oil campaign in the UK were found guilty of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance for coordinating direct action protests on the M25 highway. Roger Hellam, Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucia Whittaker-Debreu, and Christina Gethin were convicted for their involvement in protests that disrupted the M25 over four days in November 2022.
Their actions led to record sentences, with Roger Hellam receiving a five-year sentence and the other four activists each receiving a four-year sentence. These sentences are the longest ever given in the UK for nonviolent protests, surpassing previous cases related to environmental activism.
The activists aimed to draw attention to the government's stance on oil exploration in the North Sea and the subsidies provided to oil companies. By disrupting major transportation routes like the M25, they sought to raise awareness about the environmental impact of continued oil drilling and its contribution to climate change through greenhouse gas emissions.
While the activists believed their protests were necessary to prompt government action on climate change, the legal system viewed their actions as a public nuisance deserving significant penalties. The court's decision to impose lengthy sentences reflects the seriousness with which such disruptions are treated under the law.
The case highlights the complex dynamics between activism, environmental advocacy, and legal consequences. It raises questions about the boundaries of protest actions, the balance between civil disobedience and public safety, and the potential sacrifices individuals are willing to make for their cause. The activists' conviction serves as a cautionary tale for those considering engaging in similar forms of protest and underscores the challenges and risks associated with advocating for environmental change through direct action.
Environmental advocacy often involves individuals taking extreme actions to draw attention to pressing issues such as climate change and pollution. The podcast episode highlighted that some activists in the UK associated with the Just Stop Oil campaign faced legal repercussions for their protests. These activists were sentenced to four to five years in jail for their actions, marking one of the longest sentences ever given in the UK for nonviolent protests.
The episode emphasized the importance of considering the consequences and sacrifices involved in advocating for environmental causes. While the activists believed that their extreme actions were necessary to prompt government action on oil exploration in the North Sea, they ultimately faced severe legal consequences. This serves as a stark reminder that engaging in disruptive protests or actions can lead to significant personal sacrifices, including time away from families, careers, and freedom.
The podcast highlighted the dilemma faced by activists who feel compelled to take drastic measures to bring attention to urgent environmental issues. While their intentions may be noble, it is crucial to weigh the potential legal repercussions and societal impact of such actions. The activists' willingness to endure legal consequences for their cause underscores the depth of their commitment to environmental protection.
Ultimately, the episode underscored the complexity of environmental advocacy and the need for individuals to carefully consider the implications of their actions. While passion and dedication are essential in driving change, it is vital to assess the potential risks and sacrifices involved in advocating for environmental causes, especially when considering extreme measures that may lead to legal repercussions.
Would you spend up to five years in jail to protest climate change, to try and get oil companies to stop, you know, developing, to stop basically polluting the earth with greenhouse gases and worse? Would you spend up to five years? Well, apparently, there are some people in the UK who found out that, yes, they're apparently going to be serving four to five-year sentences for protesting in some extreme ways with the Just Stop Oil campaign. In that group, we're going to talk about that on today's episode of the How to Protect the Ocean Podcasts. Let's start the show. Hey everybody, welcome back to another exciting episode of the How to Protect the Ocean Podcasts. I'm your host, Andrew Lewin, and this is the podcast where you find out what's happening with the ocean, how you can speak up for the ocean, what you can do to live for a better ocean by taking action. Before we get into today's episode, which is kind of an interesting one in terms of, you know, advocacy and how far people will go and are you willing to go in the future this far, and will people go in the future this far, knowing that the consequences could be dire, could take about four to five years off of your life in terms of freedom. So we're going to talk about that in a second. Couple of announcements I want to make before we start, though, I've been doing video podcasting for the last little bit. For the last couple of weeks, I started video podcasting, Spotify has released a couple of new ways of podcasting. That includes adding a video, so I will add an audio to this, so there's an audio way of listening to the podcast, but there's also going to be a video. And so I upload that about 8 a.m. after I upload the other ones around midnight. And so just wanted to let you guys know that there are ways of watching me talk to you about climate change and ocean conservation and how to protect the ocean. I'm also putting these on YouTube, so since I'm doing video, might as well put it on YouTube as well, but Spotify has a really new, interesting feature. And I don't know if it's for everybody yet because they're just rolling it out, but you are allowed to comment on my podcast on the different episodes. And I think that's really great because I've been looking for a way to engage with users right away. Obviously, you know that you can DM me on how to protect the ocean Instagram account at how to protect the ocean and I'm fully available through there. But YouTube and Spotify allow me to interact with you as you comment, you know, so if I see I get an alert that somebody commented on an episode, I can go in and I can just be like, oh, hey, this is great. Thanks for the feedback or love your perspective or you can answer some of the questions that I ask within a poll or something like that. It's always great to be able to interact with you because right now I'm speaking at you, you know, whether you're an audience or a class or whoever's listening to this or however you're listening to this. I'm speaking at you, there's no way for you to speak to me or give me feedback or answer any of the questions that I ask within this episode. So you can do that now through Spotify if you're on Spotify or if you want to go over to YouTube and watch these podcasts, you can do so. I'll be releasing them just as I release every episode, three days or every podcast, three days a week, Monday, Wednesday to Friday, you'll be able to have access to that. The second announcement I want to make, if you love news and you want it, not only for you through podcasts and through video, I also have a newsletter that I release Monday to Friday in your inbox at 8 a.m. every morning or every morning of the weekday. So if you want to access to that, we have news items, latest news, we have the latest podcast, a little summary, an ability to access all the latest podcasts, you know, through Beyond Jaws, you know, a couple of other ones, Aqua Docs and so forth and of course how to protect the ocean. And of course I have about three different articles that I post each and every newsletter and as well as three different job posts that I see that I find interesting that you might find interesting as well. So all you have to do is go to speakupforblue.com/newsletter, that speakupforblue.com/newsletter, it's free, I don't do anything with your email other than send you information on the ocean, which is my goal. My goal is to just keep you informed of what's happening on the ocean, including this episode here, which I find a little scary, you know, we see that when we talk about marine conservation and we want marine conservation to happen, it doesn't always happen on a government level. We've seen climate change, that's a big issue, plastic pollution, huge issue, overfishing, huge issue, we need legislation, there has been legislation, you know, put forward or done in the past, we need to make sure that it's better and it always gets better, but a lot of times we need to create new legislation and we want our governments to create new legislation. That doesn't always happen the way we want it, for whatever reason, and sometimes you have to put more pressure, so you can team up with a nonprofit organization and you can say, "Hey, I want to help you and volunteer in a campaign to make sure that this government listens." So that might be going for protests, like a nonviolent protest, that might be putting out stuff on social media, like some of their material, all that kind of stuff. When we talk about protesting, protesting is to say, "Hey, government, we're not happy." "Hey politicians, we're not happy with what you're doing, we would like you to do this, but you're not listening to us, we've sent petitions, we've tried to contact you individually." Now we're coming together as a community, in a large group, and coming and we're yelling at you, please do something about whatever, in this case it's oil companies. Let's stop producing oil, just stop oil is the organization that has been kind of leading the charge in what I would call and why would I consider extreme sort of attention seeking, right? Not necessarily a good way or a bad way, some of them are a little dangerous and I'm concerned about the people, some of them are just getting people's attention. And a lot of people hate the fact that they're getting people's attention. However, this is where they're at, this is where this organization, the people who volunteer for this organization feel that this is what they need to do in order to gain the attention of the government to change things. And so just stop oil, their mission is to continue these protests until the government changes its stance on exploration in the North Sea of oil for companies. So that's basically opening up leases or providing more subsidies to oil companies and allowing these companies to drill within the North Sea, which is going to affect climate change furthermore with the release of greenhouse gases through the fossil fuel creation process. So they want to just stop oil, that's their organization, it's pretty simple, they go on these protests, you probably seen them in videos throwing paint on what seems to be artwork, although they're covered and they've never actually ruined artwork. And they get in the media, a lot of people hate them because they get in the media for that, but they're getting people's attention, right? And that's what they want, whether you like it or not, whether you think it's negative or positive, they're getting people's attention. They've also been protesting in regular traffic in the UK where they've been slowing down the UK, they walk really slow in the streets and people have to move slow, they don't like the fact that they're moving slow because they're trying to get to their job. And of course they're rushing everywhere to go and I completely understand people have to work, people have to make money and they're late all the time, that could be a problem. But the whole point is to gain attention from the government, these people are disrupting traffic constantly, even though they're getting arrested, while doing it, they're still disrupting it, let's get their attention, that's what they want to do. They've also been in F1 races where they've gone on the track, which I think is extremely dangerous and that's very dangerous. Recently, they get prosecuted, a lot of times they'll put you put in jail for a night or a day or a weekend and then they'll let go, some have court cases later on, some get off, some don't. There have been a number of them who have been prosecuted fully to the extent of the law and have actually served time or are serving time or are about to serve time. And latest in The Guardian shows that five Justop oil activists receive record sentences for planning to block the M25, which is a highway there, that's my understanding. A major highway into the UK or into London. So Roger Hellam, Daniel Shaw, Louise Lancaster, Lucio Whitaker, De Brure, and Chris Gethin, were found guilty last week of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance for coordinating direct action protests on the M25 over four days in November 2022. So they, as one person, Halam received a five-year sentence on Thursday, while the other four received each sentence of four years, each of them received a four-year sentence. So this is thought to be the longest sentences ever given in the UK for non-violent protests, exceeding those given to the Justop oil protesters, Morgan Trollen, who got three years and Marcus Decker, who got two years and seven months for scaling the Dartford crossing. I'm assuming that's a bridge. I'm not too sure exactly what that is. However, it disrupted and you do public disruption. Now, there are laws set for public disruption, and there are extents of those, like, you know, there are maximum fines and maximum penalties for that jail time and so forth. And a lot of times you'll hear that when people are charged with certain things, they can spend up to five years in jail or pay a $30,000 fine or $180,000 fine. You see these happen all the time. A lot of the times they don't get that sentence, right? They don't get the maximum sentence unless they did something that's egregiously bad or, like, really, really to the fullest extent of that law. However, apparently they're getting some, and I don't know if this is just the fact that the justice system is sick of prosecuting the protesters and are trying to, you know, trying to stop them from doing it, stop others from doing it. And that's the question that I asked right off the bat. Are you willing to spend up to five years to jail, five years in jail, to be able to protest, you know, oil expiration? Are you willing to do that? Because that's what seems to be the price to pay depending on what you're doing in, you know, what you're protesting and how you protest. Some of these extreme events, these extreme protests cause, you know, people harm or could cause people harm. Like, imagine being able to sit on a tarmac, F1 tarmac, which has got to be hot. But while the race is going on, these F1 cars are coming so, so fast, even though they're trying to get out of the way and they're trying to stay out of the way and they're trying to be safe, you never know what might happen. And you could put the, you can put the driver in danger, you can put yourself in danger. There's a lot of other things that you can do that could cause danger. So I think this is what they're trying to dispel. They're trying to make sure that nobody gets hurt in these things. But I think they're also trying to suppress a lot of the protests that are happening now until recently, the government was very conservative and those that government had, you know, the power for the last 14 years until recently when the labor government took over. Now, in the sentencing, some of the protesters that were being, they were about to be sentenced said, Hey, look, you know, we're, we don't feel that we might have to do these protests that much anymore because there's a new government in town. And they are a little bit more apt to do something about climate change. That's what they said in their protest or in their, in their, not protest, but in their election promises. So, you know, maybe they're not going to do it. There's not an app to recur and come back and do the same thing and have to go through the same process and cause the court a lot of money to, to justice and a lot of money to go to court and do all the filing and stuff like that. That didn't work. That didn't work. It seems like this judge is like, Look, I understand what you feel the need to do. You're at this point where you have to do something more extreme to get people to get the government's attention. However, this is not the way to do it. This is very dangerous. It's dangerous for people. It's dangerous for you. And we need to keep everything safe. So, unfortunately, if you, even though you feel the need to do this, you have to be, you have to be punished. And so they were given five and four year sentences. So one person received five, four people received four year sentences. That's a lot of time. A lot of, a lot of the people who are in this, some of them, I'm looking at pictures of them, some of them look really young, some of them look, you know, sort of middle age. That could take a lot of time in developing your career and doing something maybe a little bit more positive in terms of getting results. You know, we don't know if these will, you know, come into results. We don't know if this directly affected the election. I highly doubt it. But, you know, this is what the people who are doing these types of protests feel. They feel like they can have an effect if they get the attention of the government to get the attention of the government. They have to do something big to get in the news and so that they get the attention of the government. Unfortunately, when you do that, you do pay the price. And something as scientists and conservationists that we need to really evaluate on whether you're willing to make that sacrifice. You know, they're non-violent, hopefully. And, you know, you still have to pay the consequence because there are consequences. There are laws to disrupting, you know, major highways or a bridge or something like that. There are laws in place to stop that from happening and you have to be ready to, you know, have to serve that consequence. In this case, it's four to five years. That's a long, that's a long time away from maybe your families, away from your jobs, away from just freedom. But that's a tough thing, a tough road to go by. I feel for the people who have to do this sentence, I'm sure that's not what they first expected. And it's probably going to be devastating towards them. But it's one of the things that we have to consider when we start to advocate for something in these types of manners. We're trying to get the attention. You got their attention. But with that attention comes attention on you and comes to law. And I'm not saying that it's right. Do I think they deserve four to five years? No, I don't think they deserve four to five years in my personal opinion. However, I'm sure a lot of the people who were blocked on the M25 and on those bridges that couldn't get to work or things like feel a different way. And that's unfortunate. That's the way that's the way it goes is it's a sacrifice that you have to be willing to take and you have to be willing to make and be willing to suffer the consequences for that. It sucks. I never want to see anybody happen. That happened to anybody, nor do I want to see anything violent happen because of protest. And unfortunately, in certain situations that's happened, whether it be environmental or non-environmental, but they were able to speak their voices. And unfortunately, just the way they went about it, it just didn't drive with the law and that sucks. And I really do feel for them. I really do. That's a very different change in their life. And I'm sure they didn't expect that they were going to have to do that. And unfortunately, they feel that they need to do that. And that's where a lot of people who kind of just throw up their hands and be like, "I give up. There's nothing that we can do. I've talked to people that way. There's nothing we can do where you're going to damage the planet. We're going to go through climate change and we're just going to have to suffer the consequences generations from now or even now." And people are going to lose their livelihoods. People are going to lose their homes. People are going to lose lives from it. But unfortunately, nobody's ever going to do it. We're controlled by something different. Greed has controlled the government for a long time and money has controlled the government for a long time. And fossil fuel companies have that money. And we've seen, they're willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that that happens, including global campaigns to deny climate change. And global campaigns to say, "Hey, you know what? It's already happening. You can just give up. There's no point. They've actually come out and said that. That's one of their tactics." Just to say, "Just give up. It's okay. Don't worry about it. We'll still be okay. It's not going to affect you directly. It'll affect you indirectly." And then maybe later on, generations down the rock. But it's okay. We're making our money and you'll get to be happy and don't worry about it. And that's really what has come down to. There's some people feel that they have to make more extreme decisions and try and get attention in more extreme ways. And that's not going to stop, unfortunately. I don't think a four to five-year sentence for some people are going to think that that's the price that they're willing to pay. And I don't know if these protesters are, but they did. And they're going to. And so other people, I don't think this Just Stop Oil group are going to stop. They have a mission. And other people last year were sent us a two to three years. And they are fine. And the others are still protesting. So I think this is a movement. This is a movement that's going to be tough to stop. Unfortunately, I think a lot of people give protesters to anybody talking about climate change a bad name. Because of Just Stop Oil, there's definitely ramifications to the movement on that. But for the most part, a lot of people are just like you and me who are just like, look, we have to do something about climate change. There's a lot of work that we need to do. The first thing is putting the right people in politics and getting the right people to run in politics and to be able to do the right thing. And it doesn't necessarily mean you have to run for office, but you can get involved within your local city. You can get involved within your local county, your local province, whatever that might be. And that could be with a nonprofit organization that could be volunteering on committees for government. There's all different types of ways that you can take part. So I highly recommend that you do that and look into it before you go to these extreme ways. Hopefully you don't feel the need to do that anytime soon. But that's it for today's episode. I'd love to hear what you think. You can leave a comment on Spotify or on YouTube. You can also hit me up on Instagram at How to Protect the Ocean. I want to thank you so much for joining me on today's episode of The How to Protect the Ocean Podcast. I'm your host, Angelou, and have a great day. We'll talk to you next time, and happy conservation. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)
