Climate activists from Extinction Rebellion Den Bosch (ER) took action on Sunday at a TotalEnergies gas station on the Hambakenweg. The gas station was provided with tape, fake blood and pamphlets were hung. For an employee of the gas station, it was especially a lot of work. “A colleague and I had to clean for two hours.”
With the ‘surprise demonstration’, the action group wanted to draw attention to four climate activists who are stuck in Uganda after presenting a petition against the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). This pipeline is being built by oil company TotalEnergies and, according to ER, will cause ‘the destruction of nature and human lives’.
Action was also taken in five other cities and the TotalEnergies head office in The Hague was recently occupied by ER. “Our main concern is that this story becomes known to people and the customers who come to refuel there,” says Thomas van der Steen, one of the ER activists.
“I locked the door for a while.”
According to an employee of the gas station who was working at the time, the action did not cause much inconvenience. “Some customers thought we were closed because they had closed the gas station with ribbons. They were waving flags and then I locked the door for a while.”
The action didn’t last long, she says. The employee understands the activists, but not the place. “Then go demonstrate at the head office.” She has put a lot of work into it. “Together with a colleague we cleaned for two hours. They used wallpaper paste and a kind of syrup, as fake blood.”
“Indirectly, the owner is partly responsible.”
“No, not paint. That was beet juice with ketjap,” says the 19-year-old activist from Den Bosch about the recipe for the fake blood. According to him, these innocent means were used deliberately. “Our actions must remain nonviolent and without lasting harm.”
The campaigner hopes that the gas station owner will put pressure on TotalEnergies. “I hope he understands what we say. Indirectly, the owner is partly responsible for the events and the money earned by Total,” says the activist. The owner of the gas station was not yet available for comment.
The surprise demonstration was filmed by the activists themselves.
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