Climate protesters block three roads to oil refinery
TEN protesters from Extinction Rebellion (XR) blocked the three entrance roads leading to one of the biggest oil refineries in Europe.
They arrived and set up their blockade in the early hours of yesterday morning at the Valero site at Pembroke Dock.
The protesters could be seen lying down on the road at three sites.
It comes two months after the climate protesters blocked one of Cardiff city centre’s main roads.
Members closed off Castle Street for three days.
One of the protesters, called Dan, from Llandeilo, said: “We take this action today because he government, big business and general populace are not moving away from fossil fuels fast enough.
“The government declared a climate emergency, and has so far not committed beyond words. Everyone needs to act now before it is too late.
“We know that the future of the planet is at stake if we do not take action to stop the flow of oil. Tomorrow is a general strike to protest about the climate crisis, and shutting down this refinery is part of that.
“It is time to work together to slow the tumorous growth of consumption. For the sakes of all future generations and all life forms, we are acting now.”
Dan added: “We are ordinary people in Wales taking a stand, lying down. There is no future in fossil fuels.”
A spokesman for XR Pembrokeshire said it was not involved in the ongoing protest.
He added: “But the group supports the protesters’ efforts to highlight our continued reliance on fossil fuels and the slow action by governments in responding to the very real climate emergency.
“We are not calling for workers at Valero to lose their jobs, which would be very damaging to the local economy.
“We would support a phased move to green energy without causing mass redundancies.”
A spokeswoman for the police said yesterday: “The protest is currently peaceful but is causing significant disruption to local traffic at the Valero site. No arrests have been made.”