Protesting, what's your view?

[cee-dee]

I'm not in favour of "protesting" when the "protesters" are clearly costing someone else a lot of time and money in removing them and the rubbish they take on to sites.

Who are these people that think they can move on to a site, set up "camp" and then flaunt the orders of a Court?

The latest round of removals is going on here:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-35292124

[astrologica]

If these protestors help prevent fracking in this country, then more power to them. 

I remember in the 80's when some Welsh women went to Greenham Common and set up the Peace camp there, in protest at American missiles being kept there.  I also remember being there with my daughters in 1983, joining about 70,000 women who went there to form a human chain around the base. It was a wonderful demonstration....I think it's good to stand up for what you believe in.

[cee-dee]

OK then, let's say you've bought an old run down shop on a street corner and want to open it up as a traditional corner shop but because all the rest of the houses around have been "smartened up" and the occupiers are "a lot more posh" than the people who used to live around there, they all object to your place being re-opened citing the encouraging of "undesirables" hanging around because you're going to be open "all hours".

Petitions are organised, councillors are lobbied., objections are raised, placards appear and that's only for a bit of a shop.

Then again, you own a large area of land and want to "mine" clay for some years before restoring the site back to fields, woods and a lake. NIMBYs object to that and camp out in and around the existing trees...... on YOUR land making a mess which someone (you) will eventually have to clear up.

Alternatively, you're a farmer and want to put up a new, much larger, more intensive pig unit and all the NIMBYs raise all sorts of objections about spoiling their view, the possible smell, raise objections about raising animals for meat but of course all that "isn't the same" eh?

[evoman3957]

I just clicked reply to the last post, it's not actually a reply to you cee-dee.....just my opinion on the topic.

As long as you haven't become a brainwashed party political *bleep*, who doesn't know, any more, that a Pig in a suit and bowler hat.......is STILL a Pig..........regardless of which party it leads; then the best form of protest is STILL the ballot box.  The sooner these politicians realise that they get elected on the basis of their manifestos and if they throw them out of the window, after they're elected, they'll be following them.....pretty damn quick.......the sooner we'll end up with politicians that do what they say they'll do.  Remember, plenty of other countries would love to have the power of a genuine ballot box. It annoys me intensely, when brainwashed party morons, who can't bring themselves to vote any way other than the way they've been conditioned, in effect squander that power.  If people are going to not use the power of the ballot box properly, we may as well not have one.  We could always have a socialist / communist government like China, which thrives on capitalism ( what a contradiction in terms that is ) then we'd really miss what we had.....and lost abused.

[joe_bloggs*]

If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal

[upthecreekyetagain]

If your argument is so strong then why exaggerate and say iGas did nothing on the site?

That's the sort of thing I'd expect from the Daily Mail!

[cee-dee]

OK, what did iGas do on the site? They didn't do any test drilling. I think you're nit-picking and deflecting from the main issue of the trouble-making rabble rousers who've achieved nothing except they dug holes all over and left a heck of a mess there.

[suzieseaside]

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@cee-dee wrote:

OK, what did iGas do on the site? They didn't do any test drilling. I think you're nit-picking and deflecting from the main issue of the trouble-making rabble rousers who've achieved nothing except they dug holes all over and left a heck of a mess there.

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I don’t condone the mess left by protestors on private land but I admire those who are prepared to protest for long periods in difficult living conditions about something they are genuinely concerned about (excluding the ‘professional’ protestors which probably make a proportion of such groups, but not all).

You say that they have achieved nothing. I’m not sure that you can claim that since they may well have increased public awareness about the issues around fracking, and energy companies will have to work harder to convince the public that it is safe. That’s no bad thing IMO.

Why would people have faith that profit-driven oil and gas companies consider all environmental risks in their operations? History suggests that they do not. Some energy companies have poor health and safety records and do not have everything in place to avert a disaster. The BP deep water horizon spill was the biggest oil spill disaster in history and clearly insufficient precautions were taken when drilling at an underwater depth of 5000ft. They should have had 2 boreholes for a start. If I remember correctly I read at the time that what BP did in the Gulf would not have been allowed in Canadian Arctic waters where drilling would not be allowed until there was a second emergency borehole in place. More initial investment by BP with safety in mind could have saved them millions and averted an environmental disaster and loss of peoples’ livelihoods but these companies seem to just hope that nothing will go wrong when frequently if it can go wrong, it will go wrong.

I’m not convinced that fracking is safe, neither do I trust big energy companies.

[cee-dee]

I say "Protest all you like, draw attention to environmental issues, point out the hazards and possible problems but stay off private land and be clean, tidy and respectful".

The rabble on that site and others in the past were trespassing, they were not clean or tidy and they certainly weren't respectful.

[artful_dodgings]

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@cee-dee wrote:

OK, what did iGas do on the site? They didn't do any test drilling. I think you're nit-picking and deflecting from the main issue of the trouble-making rabble rousers who've achieved nothing except they dug holes all over and left a heck of a mess there.

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You have been on here long enough to know now that Creeky, the Nit-picker Extraordinaire, has honed this skill to a level and height which is way beyond the achievements of us mere mortals.

Still, I suppose everyone should have a hobby.

[0125arwen]

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@cee-dee wrote:

I say "Protest all you like, draw attention to environmental issues, point out the hazards and possible problems but stay off private land and be clean, tidy and respectful".

The rabble on that site and others in the past were trespassing, they were not clean or tidy and they certainly weren't respectful.

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you can say "Protest all you like, draw attention to environmental issues, point out the hazards and possible problems but stay off private land and be clean, tidy and respectful", the reality is very different, even on your own land.

[joe_bloggs*]

The meanest looking bunch of rabble rousers i ever did see,load of commies more than likely!

Obviously the sunglasses are to hide their identity from the authorities,and i,m sure i spotted a bloke with a beard ! no doubt up to no good,and having a look at that dog,it looks particulary dangerous,probobaly trained to attack people in uniforms!!!

[0125arwen]

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@joe_bloggs* wrote:

The meanest looking bunch of rabble rousers i ever did see,load of commies more than likely!

Obviously the sunglasses are to hide their identity from the authorities,and i,m sure i spotted a bloke with a beard ! no doubt up to no good,and having a look at that dog,it looks particulary dangerous,probobaly trained to attack people in uniforms!!!

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Shameful people.

[evoman3957]

They say dogs are a reflection of their owners, I wonder if that's true................I like "Fast" women.