Climate protesters from This is Rigged blockade two oil sites in bid to ‘shut down the Scottish oil industry’
Police have been scrambled to clear a rabble of climate change campaigners blockading two key oil sites.
Activists from This is Rigged are causing chaos at the Ineos refinery in Grangemouth, Fife, and the Nustar Clydebank oil terminal in West Dunbartonshire today as they seek to ‘shut down the Scottish oil industry’.
Police with climbing equipment moved in to tackle the eco clowns after several protesters blocked the front gate of the Grangemouth facility while others scaled oil tankers or occupied pipework within the facility.
The action comes as This is Rigged threatened further protests in a ‘sustained’ effort to disrupt Scottish oil supplies, with the group warning: ‘We have no plans to stop.’
They added: ‘We are shutting down the oil industry in Scotland to demand that the Scottish government steps up and says no new oil, and implements a fair transition for workers.’
Protesters from This Is Rigged scaled an oil tanker during a demonstration in Scotland today
Activists blockaded the entrance to the Ineos refinery in Grangemouth (pictured), Fife, and the Nustar Clydebank oil terminal in West Dunbartonshire today as they seek to ‘shut down the Scottish oil industry’
Police were scrambled to tackle the protesters, who had targeted two sites
Oil firm Ineos insisted production at its site near Falkirk had been unaffected by the protesters’ actions, despite the This is Rigged claiming to have ‘immobilised a car park full of tankers’,
However, Ineos did say that its tanker terminal had been shut down as a precaution.
Taking to Twitter, This is Rigged wrote: ‘Grangemouth supplies 90% of Scotland’s oil. We have stopped oil leaving this site, as well as Nustar Terminal in Clydebank. We have no plans to stop.
‘Groups of people are currently occupying pipework and a fuel silo and blockading terminal gates, while another group has immobilised a car park full of tankers at the Grangemouth facility. No fuel can leave the sites while they are occupied.
‘The action is the first in a sustained series of actions, in which the group has vowed to shut down the Scottish oil industry.’
The eco mob called on the Scottish Government to implement a just transition for oil and gas workers ‘instead of assisting billionaires like (Ineos owner) Jim Ratcliffe’.
They added: ‘Dinnae fash yersel (don’t worry), Jim, we’re not going anywhere.’
Police Scotland confirmed five people people had been arrested following the demonstrations today.
Climate change activists climbed onto to tankers, with police needing to be deployed with specialist climbing equipment to remove them
Police are pictured speaking to some of the protesters who were involved in today’s blockade
A police van is pictured aat the Ineos refinery in Grangemouth, Fife in Scotland
Activists sprayed ‘stop oil’ onto the side of a tanker as they staged a day of protests
Others, armed with signs and flags, climbed on top of the oil tankers during the demonstration
It is unclear if This is Rigged will target facilities elsewhere in the UK. MailOnline has approached the group for comment.
Grangemouth releases about 2.4million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year, according to figures campaigners obtained from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).
An Ineos official said emissions had declined by more than 40 per cent since it bought the site in 2005.
The spokesperson said: ‘We have a robust roadmap in place that will deliver on our commitments to be a net zero manufacturer by 2045.
‘Our products and their applications are helping others to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions too.’
Nustar has been contacted for comment.
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