At around 7.15 pm on the 8th May, in a non-violent action activists from London Rising Tide, who are concerned about climate change, blockaded an ESSO petrol station in West London.

They claim ESSO’s huge economic clout enables the company to influence energy policy, and that that a high pressure pipeline currently being constructed to carry ESSO natural gas to UK power stations is unsafe. They maintain that the solution to the climate change problem is an overall reduction in energy use. The construction of the pipeline has also led to concerns over its damage to environmentally sensitive areas.

Funny clowns with red noses supported activists who were dressed as ESSO tigers while motorists were leafleted and engaged in debate about their energy use. The police arrived after an hour or so and where generally well behaved. At one point the police told activists they could only carry on their protest for another 10 minutes however a deal was done allowing access to for motorists to the petrol station, and the action carried on for another 45 minutes or so.

This action was timed to coincide with the end of the G8 in Germany.

For more info on ESSO’s pipeline  http://www.fightthepipe.co.uk