Today British Oil protest group “Just Stop Oil” staged a demonstration where two members threw tomato soup on Van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting. In a video posted on YouTube, the protestors, after throwing soup on the artwork, ask, “Are you more concerned about the protection of art or the protection of the planet and people?” The protestors also said, “the cost-of-living crisis is due to the cost of oil crisis. Millions of people are dying from Monsoons, wildfires, and severe drought.” The video finishes with the protestors stating, “We cannot afford new oil and gas. It will take everything we know and love.”
The protestors were correct when they said, “the cost-of-living crisis is due to the cost of oil crisis.” The high cost of oil in Europe is due to a lack of oil production caused by stringent regulations and energy policies. It is baffling that “Just Stop Oil” believes ceasing the production of a significant energy source will lower the cost-of-living crisis brought on in part by a lack of energy. In the short term, England should seek to produce or import all energy sources, including oil. The protestors also state that millions of people are dying from monsoons, wildfires, and severe droughts, alluding that oil and gas are the cause. However, the data shows that deaths from droughts, floods, and storms are very low compared to the past 100 years (figure 1). Their last statement says Oil and Gas will take everything we know and love. This could not be a more uninformed statement. Here is a short list of things that could not be made without Oil and Gas: computers, fertilizers, toothpaste, athletic clothing, and detergents, to name a few.
This story is just another case of climate change lunacy and the extremes people take in society today. The facts show that the climate is steadily warming, and these facts should not be ignored. Every nation should be taking steps to produce clean and reliable energy that does not pollute the environment or give off harmful byproducts. However, the first concern should be human welfare. Before becoming solely concerned with the environment, nations should make energy choices that provide their people with inexpensive and reliable energy.
Hopefully, more people will realize that protests like this are just silly. Though it does make for an exciting story.
Weather Related Death Rates Chart from Page 170 in Unsettled by Steven Koonin