In the news on Wednesday, two activists from the Just Stop Oil group staged a shock protest by spraying orange paint on the official building of the Government’s Department of Energy Security and Net Zero in London. This group has stood out for its fight against the use of fossil fuels by the Government, and on this occasion, they have chosen this government headquarters as the target of their protest.
In a tweet, Just Stop Oil stated: “Breaking: Just Stop Oil paints the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. This morning, two Just Stop Oil supporters painted the department responsible for issuing over 100 new oil and gas licenses in the UK.”
In addition, in a video posted on social media, Matthew Cunningham, 25, one of the activists, explained his actions while sitting on the ground outside the building in Westminster: “Today I came and sprayed orange paint on the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero.”
Cunningham added: “This department is responsible for our energy policy, and we know that last month the Committee on Climate Change, the government’s independent body tasked with climate change policy, denounced the government’s efforts against climate change. They said they were much less confident that the government would achieve the net zero emissions target than they were just a year ago, specifically saying that the government should stop issuing new oil and gas licenses because it is not compatible with a net zero future.”
Imogen May, 24, Cunningham’s partner in the protest, also spoke in the same video, saying that she had painted the building because the government was failing in its sole purpose.
In the midst of the protest, well-known anti-Brexit activist Steve Bray appeared on the scene, apparently celebrating the vandalism by environmentalists. Bray mocked the workers cleaning up the mess and repeated the phrase, “The future is bright, the future is orange,” in a sarcastic manner.
It is important to mention that Just Stop Oil has been holding a series of high-profile protests in its fight against government policies on energy and fossil fuels.