why i am part of just stop oil

Why I’m supporting the just stop oil coalition

I worked in the fossil fuel (or oil and gas whatever you want to call it) industry for thirty five years, basically from the age of twenty to fifty five, the industry and the world has changed massively during that time, I ended my working career on a gas plant on the Shetland isles, by then totally disillusioned with society, this had nothing to do with any individuals in the industry, I have many friends and family still working in the industry, most of whom do not feel the same way as me which confuses some, I would like them to know why I wish (no I am certain) we need an end to all new fossil fuels exploration and licenses, I view myself as a climate criminal doing a penance for my sins, I have had a fantastic life, but; never for one second up until around five or six years ago did I realise that, what I was doing was stealing from future generations, for that I cannot apologise enough, I am truly sorry not only to my nieces and nephews and their children, but to all young people all over the world - I apologise,

We know what’s caused the climate emergency the emissions caused by burning fossil fuels, I not only worked in the industry, I live less than two miles from a huge refinery, the whole of my life I have lived under the glow of huge gas burning flare stacks, I continue to live with that now, but each night nowadays it saddens me greatly to see the huge orange glow around my night sky, as a youth I had been led to believe that this was bringing wealth and prosperity to the area, with much more than five hundred thousand barrels of north sea oil coming into that refinery daily for the past fifty years! this should have been the case, sadly it is not, I do not live in Dubai Dallas or Texas! There are no five-star restaurants here, there is a good Greggs however! The area is much the same as every other working-class area in the country, filled with people struggling to pay bills and high streets dying. The whole petrol chemical complex and the forties pipeline all belong to Britain’s richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliff, he saved four billion pounds in unpaid taxes by moving to Monaco, while his workers in my area were given a wage rise of 2-6% this year! When inflation is at its highest for thirty-year, fuel and domestic charges have doubled in price, he profits while the indigenous people whose resources he is legally stealing struggle to pay their bills I personally strongly feel just as does the United Nations general secretary that we must move from fossil fuels right now, I understand that my ex-work colleagues’ friends and family still in that industry need a just and fair transition away from fossil fuels and into renewables, which is entirely doable no matter what the fossil fuel industry are trying to say, as they are saying this isn’t possible please believe me it is more than that it can be done no HAS to be done, and the super wealthy should pay for it not the public purse When I worked in the industry, I was taught how to make risk assessments. When I read the Chatham house risk assessment on climate change, I lost three hours sleep that night alone, much more since! our government knows what’s coming for us and our children and yet they are doing nothing about it, I challenge any of my former work colleagues who know anything about risk assessment to read this document, then come back and speak to me about what? they are going to do personally to try in some way to limit/mitigate some of the suffering that’s already here, or what efforts they will make to slow /reduce the truly bad stuff that’s coming! How the legislators sleep at night I have no idea its criminal inaction I am also an outdoors enthusiast being an ultra-runner a cycle tourist a skier a kayaker a trekker hiker and outdoors swimmer, I have had some wonderful experiences that sadly will not be available to my son when he gets to be my age, for example I love ski touring in the Scottish Highlands, he has a snowball's chance in hell of doing that when he is my age, he is a good skier and even at his young age already knows that winter is disappearing and it will soon be gone in Scotland for 100 thousand years The just stop oil coalition is like a lifebuoy for a drowning man in a sea of dread to me, it’s my only hope that we can save an existential planet, them; and the United Nations general secretary Antonio Gutteres (a true world leader) who recently said our government is lying to us, our governmental lies are not being exposed by our media why? as sir David king said last year what we do in the next three to four years is going to determine the future of humanity, to stop all new oil and gas licenses now is only asking our prime minister to keep the promise he made at cop 26, it is also only requesting he follows the International energy agencies statement that they made last year saying - no more now, and the IPCC's report saying that further licencing is a crime against humanity in the thirty-five years that I worked for various oil gas and Petro-chemical companies in Scotland, I strangely never once worked for a UK firm! I have worked for Italian Norwegian and French companies, I’ve even worked temporarily with the Chinese and Saudis but never any UK owned firm, that’s mostly because the UK doesn't own any oil and gas the Westminster government just sells licenses to private investors, its their oil or gas hence the reason oil and gas is more expensive for Scottish people, than it is for say French people and other countries with no reserves in their territorial waters never confuse oil and wealth, oil and gas only financially help the super wealthy financially the rest of us it just keeps in bondage, it was the same with the coal and before that the wood, all these assets are owned by a tiny proportion of super wealthy elites, and they use these resources to make money, they are doing the exact same with the countries agriculture its an agribusiness deigned to make money not feed people I have breathed in a horrendous amount of chemicals in my life, I was once like everyone else and addicted to fossil fuels like some junkie it's even in my veins, it's all a lie we do not need fossil fuels, the exact opposite is true, like nearly all addictions it kills most addicts in the end! Our government is nothing less than a drug dealer in misery for personal financial gain The disruption caused by activists blockading roads is virtually non-existent disruption to daily life, in comparison to the widespread loss of lives and livelihoods that will result without urgent action on climate change. These are desperate times. Disrupting business as usual – and supporting those doing so – is our only hope. It takes courage to speak out against injustice it takes greater courage to act, but act we must we are in a climate emergency and as a trained emergency responder I can tell you, you must take action and quickly during an emergency Please ask yourself this one question, if you had information that clearly showed horrible deaths for millions of people and animals was certainly going to happen! unless society made drastic worldwide actions, would you not do or say something? please join with us!!make yourself the only answer which is? that you care also like me, join with us dont be a part of the problem be a part of the solution Kenny Alexander