Campaigners from Fossil Free London interrupted the Republican Overseas UK State Visit Dinner at the Windsor Guildhall last night where Republican supporters gathered to “celebrate the state visit of Donald J Trump”.
The activists chanted “if you drill baby drill, how many will you kill?”, and they held up banners reading “oily money kills” as they were removed from the building. The protesters claim that some dinner attendees slapped and punched them.
Robin Wells, the director of Fossil Free London, said: “’Drill baby drill’ will kill billions. That’s not just according to us. That’s according to the strait laced men and women of the insurance industry.
Wounds
“The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries think almost a half of the world’s population will lose their lives due to climate impacts in our lifetime. This cascading risk is the greatest security threat our world has ever known.
“But Trump wants us packing salt into the wounds of our planet to benefit him and his billionaire mates. He better think again. It is up to us to stop Trump strong-arming our politicians.
They added: “We need to stop the drilling. If not, we won’t keep living. From the North Sea’s Rosebank oil field to Greenland and the USA, we must keep it in the ground.”
Demonstration
Academics have warned Trump’s “drill baby drill” fossil-fuel push has set back global environmental progress decades. A report by risk experts, published in January, argues previous assessments ignored the severe effects of the climate crisis. They believe it could now leave up to four billion dead by 2050 at 3C or more degrees of warming.
Trump has been attacking the UK’s transition away from fossil fuels towards renewables and pressuring the UK to double down on oil and gas instead.
This is while the UK government is expected to make a final decision to approve or reject the controversial Rosebank oil field in the coming months, as owner Equinor prepares to resubmit its application for development.
The dinner was held just minutes away from Windsor Castle, where President Trump is being hosted by King Charles this week. Last night’s protest joins a series of actions against Trump’s visit to the UK, with a large demonstration planned in Central London on Wednesday, organised by the Stop Trump Coalition.
This Author
Brendan Montague is a member of the editorial team of The Ecologist online.