Extinction Rebellion will not stop all oil production

Sir, – William Loneskie uses a very common tactic in his letter (Group challenge our way of life, February 10).

He is simply reflecting Extinction Rebellion’s (XR) campaign slogan back on to them.

The tactic deployed is to take the slogan to the extreme – he assumes XR will stop all oil production and use, which is nonsense as we all know but in this case it is used as a frightener, just like the nonsensical pensions comments used in recent days by pro-union writers.

XR won’t stop all oil production. They will, however, bring to everyone’s attention that the transition to renewable energy sources rather than fossil fuel needs to speed up, rather than stall.

The key here is energy use; we all know oil is a vital asset we should not simply burn and create CO2 emissions.

The double standards in the letter are remarkable.

In one statement he alleges

XR is a revolutionary group attacking the democracy we enjoy.

I ask: What democracy? Does he not understand that as democracy is removed, the population has two alternatives – suck it up or do something about it.

Next question is what can one legally do?

Peaceful passive protest is what we have been allowed to do up to now.

Priti Patel, the UK’S home secretary, has other views on this subject. There is a raft of legislation that can negatively affect our democratic rights for these types of protest.

This to me seems another case of laws enacted to protect the business owner rather than the individual. It’s just keeping the hoi polloi in it’s place.

But isn’t government for the people and by the people? Oops, that’s America isn’t it?