Greenpeace plan artic oil-drilling protest at Watford petrol station (From Watford Observer)
Get involved: send your pictures, video, news and views by texting WO to 80360, or email us
Greenpeace plan arctic oil-drilling protest at Shell petrol station in north Watford
12:00pm Saturday 21st July 2012 in News
By Mike Wright, Chief Reporter
Greenpeace activists are planning a protest at a Shell petrol station in Watford over oil drilling in the arctic.
Campaigners from the environmental group have said they will be at the garage on the Dome Roundabout from around midday.
Neil Jones, a Greenpeace volunteer taking part in the protest, said: “We’re protesting at the Shell garage to tell them to stop drilling in the Arctic this summer and we’re hoping lots of people from Watford will be interested and join in our campaign.
”The Arctic is a fragile and beautiful place. An oil spill there would be catastrophic. We really hope that folks from Watford will help to save the Arctic.”
Comments(28)
Reg Edit
says...
1:24pm Sat 21 Jul 12
pepsiman
says...
1:51pm Sat 21 Jul 12
Nascot
says...
3:10pm Sat 21 Jul 12
pepsiman wrote:sad but true
I bet everyone protesting uses and/or depends on products derived from oil production
LSC
says...
3:16pm Sat 21 Jul 12
"Sir! there are 12 people in Watford holding a banner and they are a bit cross."
"Watford? Is that near England?"
"Yes sir... well, it is Europe anyway; we aren't quite sure yet"
"What are they cross about?"
"You know that project we have invested $4000000000000000000
0 in to drill in the arctic and will ensure oil supply for an extra 20 years until we finally find and implement an alternative that actually works and therefore preventing a global financial meltdown that will lead to famine, war and the complete breakdown of society as we know it? Well, they don't like it."
"We'd better stop then."
"Yes."
And they all lived happily ever after.
candleflame
says...
3:33pm Sat 21 Jul 12
The idea that it's only possible to drill for more oil in the Arctic because the ice is melting due to climate change caused by er .... burning oil. Is peverse.
It's a long time since I've been to protest, but 12 sounds like quite alot for Watford. They've probably overun Brighton....
findkirstie
says...
3:56pm Sat 21 Jul 12
craftyking
says...
4:43pm Sat 21 Jul 12
LSC
says...
5:11pm Sat 21 Jul 12
findkirstie wrote:Please list the alternatives here:
Great work Greenpeace! Such an important campaign and big respect to the local volunteers who have taken a day out of their weekend to fight to protect the Arctic from dinosaur companies like Shell, BP and Gazprom. Its time to move away from fossil fuels into a renewable future.
Please bear in mind oil does a lot more than fuel power stations, so don't just say wind energy. In fact, without petrochemical products it would be impossible to even build a windfarm in the first place.
That keyboard you typed your message on? Look up what it is made of.
To quote: "Most plastics are produced from petrochemicals. Motivated by the finiteness of petrochemical reserves and possibility of global warming, bioplastics are being developed. Bioplastics are made substantially from renewable plant materials such as cellulose and starch.
In comparison to the global consumption of all flexible packaging, estimated at 12.3 million tonnes/year, estimates put global production capacity at 327,000 tonnes/year for related bio-derived materials."
That is just flexible packaging; the stuff your keyboard was wrapped in that you threw away. It doesn't even mention the keyboard itself.
It is so, so easy to whinge about Shell, but what I'd be impressed to see is
A) Some viable alternatives
B) The whingers to stop buying the products.
How many of those Greenpeace 'activists' drove to the protest. What was the banner made of? What was the ink used on the banner made of? How many had mobile phones?
If anyone is actually serious about this, then nobody will be able to argue with me because you will have thrown away your computer and won't buy another one until we find a way to grow them.
QED
Roy Stockdill
says...
6:15pm Sat 21 Jul 12
Funny that Watford's Greenpeace activists don't seem to be bothered about this at all, a lovely part of southern England which is much nearer to them. But, then, of course, Poole and the south coast of England don't have the same kind of mystique and romanticism that the Arctic does. For a start, there aren't any polar bears in Dorset, as far as I know, nor does it feature in TV documentaries by David Attenborough!
I find it curious that the naive souls at Watford Greenpeace apparently go to bed at night worrying about the Arctic and the Amazon rain forests but don't seem terribly interested in what's going on in their own country. Shouldn't they be protesting about wind farms which a lot of people oppose vehemently, for instance, as defiling the landscape? Well, of course not - wind farms are good, oil is bad, say the environmental brigade.
I agree, as usual, with LSC. These protesters are not only naive but gross hypocrites.
chris6955
says...
9:51pm Sat 21 Jul 12
Was 12 the best they could do. Sainsburys put petrol down 2p a litre and a few hundred turn up and jam the a41.
12 people is hardly the voice of watford
LSC
says...
4:20am Sun 22 Jul 12
I'd have gone up to take a look, but it is too far to walk from here, so my choices were my van, a taxi, a bus or helicopter.
Sadly none of these run on recycled lentils so i stayed at home.
Reg Edit
says...
7:23am Sun 22 Jul 12
Going totally green is just about impossible unless you are really determined and happy to live in a hut on a Welsh hillside with no consumer goods.
All greens but those green hippies are green hypocrites.
We must try to find a balance in our own lives, our own balance, between conserving the earths resources, minimising pollution, supplying our needs and truth be told, our wants.
The green party doesn't see things that way, they believe we must be told and forced to live in their idea of green balance. Another version of communism with no individual freedoms of choice.
It is for that reason that greens can never run a country or be a major political force. We free-thinking consumers would not allow it.
As for this protest. nice idea, but totally ineffective. If fourteen people turned up then it may be that the whole of Watfords green party did turn up after all. I hope they had a nice day out, after all, they need to get out more.
Roy Stockdill
says...
10:28am Sun 22 Jul 12
What particularly irks me about them is their smug and self righteous assumption of the high moral ground. I sometimes wonder where they keep their halos! Do they hang them in the wardrobe or keep them in a jar by the bed?
I also wonder if they ought to have T-shirts with the slogan: "Look at ME, I'm saving the world. Aren't I a little goody two-shoes?"
Naivety rules, OK!
E.Coli
says...
10:45am Sun 22 Jul 12
Rick74
says...
11:06am Sun 22 Jul 12
Nascot
says...
11:51am Sun 22 Jul 12
Reg Edit wrote:I agree with you Reg. At least we live in a country where there is freedom of expression and the right to 'protest'.
Being Green is a great idyll. Going totally green is just about impossible unless you are really determined and happy to live in a hut on a Welsh hillside with no consumer goods. All greens but those green hippies are green hypocrites. We must try to find a balance in our own lives, our own balance, between conserving the earths resources, minimising pollution, supplying our needs and truth be told, our wants. The green party doesn't see things that way, they believe we must be told and forced to live in their idea of green balance. Another version of communism with no individual freedoms of choice. It is for that reason that greens can never run a country or be a major political force. We free-thinking consumers would not allow it. As for this protest. nice idea, but totally ineffective. If fourteen people turned up then it may be that the whole of Watfords green party did turn up after all. I hope they had a nice day out, after all, they need to get out more.
Roy Stockdill
says...
11:55am Sun 22 Jul 12
With Bradley Wiggins due to become Britain's first-ever winner of the Tour de France today (with another Brit Chris Froome in second place AND Mark Cavendish favourite to win yet another final stage on the Champs Elysee), not to mention all the medals our cyclists will be expected to win at the Olympics, cycling has suddenly become THE cool and fashionable thing to be in. What's more, it's the greenest transport around!
I look forward to thousands of kids all wanting to be a great sporting hero like Bradley Wiggins instead of a cretin like Wayne Rooney.
LSC
says...
3:16pm Sun 22 Jul 12
Rick74 wrote:No offence Rick, but you pretty much sum up the green mentality there.
Well I say good on em. Least they're getting off their backsides and doing something they believe in rather than lurking round newspaper websites slagging people off. I love driving, but I don't really care what I put in it to make it go. Might as well be electric or hydrogen or whatever if oil's running out anyway.
First of all the protest made not one jot of difference to the world, but it did a lot for a few egos. And we all know it.
All it did was divert a couple of coppers from their normal duties to be on hand in case they set fire to the place.
Secondly, you mention my old favourite, cars. Too many people think you just change fuels and all is well and the planet is saved, and we can all pat each other on the back.
What do you think is in the gearbox of a hydrogen car to stop it seizing up? Or the differential? The wheel bearings? What is the plastic dashboard made from?
Oil, oil, oil, oil.
An electric car has a LOT of wiring, and it all has to be insulated. Guess what the insulation is made from!
Now it is true there are synthetic and organic oils available, and that is a route that one day we will have to take.
The problem is, with our current knowledge and technology, to grow enough natural oils from plants, you would have to turn the whole of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire and Wiltshire into fields growing nothing else to meet current demand. And that doesn't allow for export to the countries without the climate to grow their own, which is a lot.
I don't think that is very practical.
I don't have the answers, but I KNOW the answers won't be found by standing in a petrol station waving a flag. So yes, I'll stay home and post on here thanks.
Roy Stockdill
says...
3:39pm Sun 22 Jul 12
Completely agree, LSC. These green protesters, like most protesters whatever the target, seem to possess egos the size of the iceberg that sank the Titanic.
It's all about THEM and how much it enhances their self esteem. It makes them feel good about themselves and smugly superior to the rest of us as they claim to occupy the high moral ground.
Such a shame their naivety reveals the truth about them.
LSC
says...
4:17pm Sun 22 Jul 12
Whenever a protest shown on the telly, I play 'Spot the Socialist Worker sign'.
It is usually about 4 seconds in. My favourite was when I spotted them at both the pro and anti fox hunting marches. Some people just like to make a lot of noise. I prefer people who think.
Roy Stockdill
says...
4:36pm Sun 22 Jul 12
My forecast was correct!!!!!
Bradley Wiggins becomes the first-ever British cyclist to win the Tour de France and Mark Cavendish won the final stage on the Champs-Elysee for the fourth year in succession. I was standing in front of the telly cheering!
These fantastic successes by British cyclists will do far, far, far more for green transport and green policies than any number of silly little people protesting at a petrol station in North Watford because they will turn people on to cycling.
AlexDa
says...
12:57pm Mon 23 Jul 12
1) I was not there but it is entirely possible that they did not drive there. You can get there from watford junction in about 15 mins on a bike. Difficult as it is for car addicts to comprehend, it is possible to get around watford (and most urban areas) without a car.
2) No evidence of smugness from the protestors but bucket loads of it from the keyboard warriors on this site who are slagging them off.
3) There is no evidence that Greenpeace are not also campaigning against the Poole Harbour project. In any case, the scale of the potential Artic drilling is much larger and more risky given the geography (do some basic research).
4) Oil can indeed be used for many things. Surely it makes more sense to use this finite resource more efficiently and for products where there is no viable alternative (energy generation or petrol are not one of those).
5) One small protest wont change the actions of the Shell board, but the cumulative impact of many protests, campaigns and the like may well do. I wont bore you with listing everything that has ever been achieved by campaigns...
6) The impact of windfarms is subjective. The majority of people support them (just not nimby Daily Mail readers who are concerned with their house prices in the countryside). With smart grids, renewables can provide for all our needs in a less environmentally damaging manner.
7) This protest was not organised by the Green Party. In any case the Green Party have 4 councillors in Watford. UKIP have ZERO.
8) Strawmen arguments about 'hair shirt greenies' might help you sleep at night but as an intellectual argument it is laughable.
9) Roy's 'forecast' about Wiggins winning the Tour de France was not that amazing an insight. The final day is not contested. In any case, I would agree with him that such a win may boost cycling, which could indeed do more to improve the air quality of Watford than protests.
LSC
says...
6:08pm Mon 23 Jul 12
I realise I am one of the smug keyboard warriors you are ignoring; but that is EXACTLY my point.
In an earlier post, I asked people to list the viable alternatives. At present, there has been no answer.
It is all very well waving flags and saying 'tut-tut', get off the protest march and into a lab and start looking for solutions!
The very keyboard you typed on is made from petrochems, so I may be a keyboard warrior, but you are (literally) a keyboard hypocrite.
Bringe
says...
9:08pm Mon 23 Jul 12
There's a big Shell office building on Victoria street SW1, wouldn't that make more sense?
Roy Stockdill
says...
9:25pm Mon 23 Jul 12
Nah! These people wouldn't even know how to get into central London, they're too stupid. Do they seriously think that waving a few flags and protesting outside a petrol station at North Watford is going to make an iota of difference to anything?
As I said, Naivety Rules OK?
AlexDa
says...
12:01pm Tue 24 Jul 12
Roy Stockdill wrote:Pot kettle black! For a former newspaper man you sure do shirk on doing your research. The good people of Greenpeace have already had protests at the Shell HQ, the Tate Gallery (sponsorship of an exibition) and a load of petrol stations in London.
>There's a big Shell office building on Victoria street SW1, wouldn't that make more sense?<
Nah! These people wouldn't even know how to get into central London, they're too stupid. Do they seriously think that waving a few flags and protesting outside a petrol station at North Watford is going to make an iota of difference to anything?
As I said, Naivety Rules OK?
Roy Stockdill
says...
12:27pm Tue 24 Jul 12
And do you seriously imagine it will make an 'aporth of difference to anything? These people are natural protesters and urban terrorists who have little else in their lives. They would turn up to protest at the opening of an envelope!
As I asked earlier, where do they keep their halos - in the wardrobe or in a jar by their bedside ready to don them at a moment's notice?
Smug, self righteous, sanctimonious hypocrites the lot of them. Little goody two-shoes pretending to save the world!
Hornets number 12 fan says...
12:39pm Sat 21 Jul 12