Extinction Rebellion

Extinction Rebellion NL start A12 blockade today

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Extinction Rebellion NL activists block the Utrechtsebaan of the A12 highway in The Hague, 26 November 2022 Hague. They are calling for an end to fossil fuel subsidies by government. Image: Extinction Rebellion.
Extinction Rebellion NL activists block the Utrechtsebaan of the A12 highway in The Hague, 26 November 2022 Hague. They are calling for an end to fossil fuel subsidies by government. Image: Extinction Rebellion.

https://nltimes.nl/2023/09/09/extinction-rebellion-daily-a12-blockades-set-start-today-public-support-waning

Extinction Rebellion (XR) plans to block the A12 highway in The Hague again today in protest against the government’s support for the fossil fuel industry. Unlike with previous protests, the climate activists plan to keep this one going until the government stops all its subsidies to the fossil industry. If the police remove or arrest activists, new ones will replace them.

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According to the XR spokesperson, many civil rights have been obtained through these “disruptive actions,” including safe cycle paths and the 40-hour work week. “It’s a proven strategy,” she said. “In addition, petitions have been signed, and climate marches have been taking place for 50 years. We have had climate diplomacy for 30 years. It has not achieved nearly enough.”

She acknowledged that the highway blockade will inconvenience people and that they’ll find it annoying. “But the nuisance of a flood or a forest fire is many times greater.”

A recent study by OMO, Oil Change International, and Milieudefensie showed that the Dutch government misses out on 37.5 billion euros in income yearly due to schemes that favor using fossil fuels. And that while there is overwhelming scientific evidence that greenhouse gases from fossil fuels are the main cause of global warming.

Extinction Rebellion NL starts it’s programme of blockades of the A12 in The Hague today.

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Dutch gov’t spends €37.5 billion per year on fossil fuel subsidies

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image reads STOP FOSSIELE SUBSIDIES
image reads STOP FOSSIELE SUBSIDIES

https://nltimes.nl/2023/09/04/dutch-govt-spends-eu375-billion-per-year-fossil-fuel-subsidies

The Dutch government misses out on 37.5 billion euros in income every year due to schemes that favor using fossil fuels. Researchers from SOMO, Oil Change International, and Milieudefensie arrived at this amount in a study into how the government “subsidizes” the fossil fuel industry.

Researcher Boris Schellekens of the Foundation for Research on Multinational Enterprises (SOMO) called the estimate conservative. He and his colleagues ignored all costs of environmental damage. “We purely looked at missed state revenues.” The researchers are convinced that their overview is the most complete to date.

The report published on Monday describes 31 regulations that, in one way or another, make the use of fossil fuels more economical. That usually does not concern money that the government transfers to companies’ accounts but mainly tax discounts and exemptions. For example, major natural gas consumers do not have to pay energy tax on most of their consumption, and aviation and shipping are exempt from excise duty on kerosene and fuel oil. Oil refineries, coal-fired power stations, and the steel industry also enjoy such tax benefits.

The biggest hit, 13.5 billion euros per year, is in the energy tax, which is degressive in the Netherlands. That means that companies that use more energy have to pay relatively less tax on their consumption. The researchers call this “a perverse incentive.”

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https://nltimes.nl/2023/09/04/dutch-govt-spends-eu375-billion-per-year-fossil-fuel-subsidies

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XR climate activists start march from three cities to block A12 in The Hague next week

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Nederlands: Spandoek van Extinction Rebellion bij het bezoek van de koning in Amersfoort.Image by Daandelft, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Nederlands: Spandoek van Extinction Rebellion bij het bezoek van de koning in Amersfoort. Image by Daandelft, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

https://nltimes.nl/2023/09/03/xr-climate-activists-start-march-three-cities-block-a12-hague-next-week

Participants in a climate march set off from Arnhem, Alkmaar, and Almere on Sunday morning, ending six days later in The Hague. The march is an initiative of Extinction Rebellion (XR), in advance of the next blockade of the A12 highway, which the climate activist group has announced for next Saturday. According to XR, the march will be “public-friendly and fully within the law.”

For each day, the activists have set a route of about 20 kilometers. The routes will go from station to station, so people who want to join the day’s march can do so easily. A similar march already took place in May, but then only from Arnhem.

Starting Saturday, September 9, XR plans to block the A12 in The Hague every day. This part of the road passes the temporary Tweede Kamer and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. According to XR, this is exactly the right place for a protest against the financial benefits that the government grants for the use of fossil fuels. These fuels cause by far the most CO2 emissions and thus contribute significantly to global warming.

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https://nltimes.nl/2023/09/03/xr-climate-activists-start-march-three-cities-block-a12-hague-next-week

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Emma Thompson Chills on $200 Million Superyacht Eos Like a Millionaire Hypocrite

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https://www.autoevolution.com/news/emma-thompson-chills-on-200-million-superyacht-eos-like-a-millionaire-hypocrite-220448.html

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Emma Thompson is a name that comes up often whenever there’s a larger discussion about eco-hypocrites among A-list celebrities. Just like that doctor who can’t be bothered to put out his own cigarette while he’s scolding you for not being able to kick the habit, some celebrities who get very passionate in their discourse on climate issues fail to live up to the expectations their discourse gives way to. Thompson is one of them.

Examples abound. She once flew private out of Los Angeles and into London just so she could attend an Extinction Rebellion march in the capital. Just to put this in the right light, she flew private to London to join a march on the dangers of climate change and urging us, regular folk, to ditch commercial flights to save our planet – no ifs and buts about it.

Thompson often speaks at rallies of this kind, yet she owns homes in three different countries and often jetsets from one to the other – not flying commercial, but private. She is just one of the many examples of holier-than-thou-type of stars who preach extreme measures only for show while they continue living their life as before.

This is necessary context in order to understand the fresh wave of criticism directed at her: Emma Thompson is now in Venice, where she owns a home and is an honorary citizen, vacationing onboard the Eos superyacht. Eos is an older build from luxury shipyard Lurssen that previously held the record as the world’s largest sail-assisted superyacht before Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos had Koru delivered.

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Climate activists occupy Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam during World Port Days

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https://nltimes.nl/2023/09/01/climate-activists-occupy-erasmus-bridge-rotterdam-world-port-days

Roughly 100 people gathered on the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam as part of a protest organized on Friday by environment activist group Extinction Rebellion. The protestors blocked traffic on the bridge in both directions in an effort to divert attention away from World Port Days, an open event at the Rotterdam Port, the largest in Europe by volume, and the tenth largest port in the world.

“The Port of Rotterdam is responsible for 20% of all greenhouse gases in the Netherlands,” Extinction Rebellion said on Friday afternoon, shortly after the protest began. The activists flew a banner that stated, “Recover the Harbour,” in Dutch.

Police told newswire ANP that there were no plans to break up the protest, even though traffic was blocked for both private vehicles and public transport services. Bicyclists and pedestrians were able to pass along the bridge as of 2:30 p.m., according to Rijnmond.

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https://nltimes.nl/2023/09/01/climate-activists-occupy-erasmus-bridge-rotterdam-world-port-days

More A12 protests soon by Extinction Rebellion NL

Continue ReadingClimate activists occupy Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam during World Port Days