Extinction Rebellion plans latest roadblock in Cambridge during evening rush-hour
Extinction Rebellion Cambridge will set up a series of roadblocks during the evening rush-hour on Monday (January 27).
The action is part of the group’s twice-weekly campaign of ‘swarming’ events, designed to highlight the need for action on the climate crisis.
‘Swarmers’ will set up the series of short road-blocks from 5.45-7pm in Chesterton Road by the Boathouse pub.
Extinction Rebellion Cambridge says its “pressure-building” campaign is designed “to remind the world that we are in a climate emergency and to demand change”.
Those who want to join them are asked to bring banners, flags and leaflets and are advised there is a “low risk of arrest” but should be trained in non-violent direction action.
Legal observers and “de-escalators” are also requested.
The swarming events are being held in the build-up to the group’s week-long Rebel for Justice activity from February 16-23, when the activists plan to bring Cambridge to a standstill with roadblocks if their demands are not met.
The group is calling for:
- the University of Cambridge to cut its ties with the fossil fuel industry
- Cambridge City Council to hold a citizens’ assembly on climate justice
- Cambridgeshire County Council to work with other relevant regional authorities to provide a plan for a just transition away from an inadequate transport system reliant on fossil fuels.
It held a similar swarming event in Milton Road, Cambridge, last Thursday morning.
Eleven protesters repeatedly blocked the road at the traffic lights by Cambridge Science Park.
One of them, Jason Scott-Warren, a University of Cambridge lecturer who wielded the megaphone, explained: “I'm here to protest against government inaction on the climate and ecological emergencies.”
On the same day, Extinction Rebellion Cambridge protesters, led by Extinction Rebellion Youth Cambridge, blockaded the main entrances to the Schlumberger Gould research facility in West Cambridge, where research focuses on drilling, chemistry, fluid mechanics, and seismics.
At that event, two activists locked themselves to the back gate in a bath tub.
The group said it “cannot sit by and allow Schlumberger’s research to continue at a time when Australia is burning, Indonesia is flooding and global political tensions are rising”.
Then on Saturday, activists held a silent protest in the Grand Arcade shopping centre in Cambridge.
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Extinction Rebellion Cambridge brings rush hour traffic to a halt on Milton Road