Big Wedding vs. Big Oil - Shell Petrol Station Blockaded in Activist 'Wedding'
Max and Cath | 19.09.2008 12:56 | Culture | Ecology | Social Struggles
Press Release: 19th September 2008; 12 noon
Ludlow, Shropshire: At noon today, on the forecourt of a Shropshire Shell petrol station, a Leeds couple will tie the knot, supported by around 100 friends and family forming a blockade of the petrol station. Max Gastone and Cath Muller's ceremony in Ludlow is a protest against the ecological and social damage caused by Shell (and the continued use of fossil fuels) and also a commitment to creating a different world and a celebration of the power of community and resistance.
Ludlow, Shropshire: At noon today, on the forecourt of a Shropshire Shell petrol station, a Leeds couple will tie the knot, supported by around 100 friends and family forming a blockade of the petrol station. Max Gastone and Cath Muller's ceremony in Ludlow is a protest against the ecological and social damage caused by Shell (and the continued use of fossil fuels) and also a commitment to creating a different world and a celebration of the power of community and resistance.
Shell has a horrific record of causing environmental damage and human devastation worldwide2, most famously in Nigeria3. But today the wedding party is specifically taking action in solidarity with the people of Rossport, Ireland, where Shell is trying to lay a dangerously high pressure gas pipeline, despite massive local and international opposition4. Local people have had their land compulsorily purchased and many have been beaten and imprisoned for resisting the destruction of national forest, peatland and ecologically precious mudflats - which could be avoided by building the refinery at sea.
Banners reading 'Give us a wedding present – use your bike' and 'Celebrating a future without exploitation' will be hung from the station. The wedding will include music, readings, a teach-in about the situation in Ireland and a ceremonial action against the petrol company. Cars are most definitely not invited!
ENDS
Notes for Editor
1.maxandcath@hotmail.com
2.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2005/apr/03/oilandpetrol.russia
3. http://www.essentialaction.org/shell/report/
and Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People: www.mosop.net
4.Shell to Sea campaign - www.corribsos.com
5.Text of the flier being given out at the wedding (below)
Banners reading 'Give us a wedding present – use your bike' and 'Celebrating a future without exploitation' will be hung from the station. The wedding will include music, readings, a teach-in about the situation in Ireland and a ceremonial action against the petrol company. Cars are most definitely not invited!
ENDS
Notes for Editor
1.maxandcath@hotmail.com 2.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2005/apr/03/oilandpetrol.russia 3.
http://www.essentialaction.org/shell/report/ and Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People: www.mosop.net
4.Shell to Sea campaign - www.corribsos.com
5.Text of the flier being given out at the wedding (below)
Max and Cath