Environmental activists spray paint orange powder on Stonehenge monoliths. Identified and arrested

Two activists from the environmental movement Just Stop Oil sprayed the Stonehenge monoliths with orange powder paint in order for the new British government to work with other governments to agree on a fair plan to end the extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal by 2030. The incident happened around noon on Wednesday, June 19, 2024, the day before the summer solstice, when thousands of visitors gather here to celebrate the longest day of the year.

“Continuing to burn coal, oil and gas will result in the deaths of millions of people. We must unite to defend humanity or we will risk everything. That’s why Just Stop Oil is calling on our next government to sign a legally binding treaty to phase out fossil fuels by 2030,” said a spokesperson for the movement. “The lack of commitment to defending our communities will mean that Just Stop Oil supporters, along with citizens from Austria, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands and Switzerland, will join the resistance this summer if their governments do not take meaningful action.”

As can be seen from the videos circulated online, at the time of the gesture some people tried to stop the protesters; they were identified and arrested. They were Niamh Lynch, a 21-year-old from Oxford, and Rajan Naidu, a 73-year-old man from Birmingham. Lynchsaid, “Stonehenge at the solstice celebrates the natural world-but look at the state of it! We all have the right to live a life free from suffering, but the continued consumption of oil, coal and gas is bringing death and suffering on an unprecedented scale. It is time for us to think about what our civilization will leave behind: what is our legacy? Remaining inert for generations is good for stones, not for climate policy.” “Either we end the fossil fuel era, or the fossil fuel era will end us,” the latter added. “Just as fifty years ago, when the world used international treaties to defuse the threats posed by nuclear weapons, today the world needs a fossil fuel nonproliferation treaty to phase out fossil fuels and support dependent economies, workers and communities to move away from fossil fuels, oil, gas and coal.”

“The orange cornmeal we used to create an eye-catching spectacle will soon be washed away by the rain,” they said, “but the urgent need for effective government action to mitigate the catastrophic consequences of the climate and ecological crisis will not.”

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned the act, as a “shameful act of vandalism to one of the oldest and most important monuments in the UK and the world.” A spokesperson for English Heritage, the public body responsible for managing England’s cultural heritage, expressed grave concern about the raid and stressed that any damage needed to be assessed before any firm conclusions could be reached, although Just Stop Oil assured that the substance sprayed was made from cornstarch and therefore totally washable.

Environmental activists spray paint orange powder on Stonehenge monoliths. Identified and arrested

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