Emily Armistead, StopE$$O campaign
Luxembourg hit the headlines in October when it became the centre of one of Greenpeace’s largest ever mass mobilisations. In October, over 600 Greenpeace activists shut down every single Esso garage in the country – including the largest Esso garage in the world.
Luxembourg is known as the ‘Petrol Pump of Europe’ because of its cheap fuel prices. Drivers travel long distances from neighbouring countries to fill up their tanks. Esso has 28 petrol stations across the country, but from the early hours of the 25 October not one of them made a single cent.
Activists, including 30 from the UK, descended on the petrol stations before dawn, dressed in Bush masks and tiger suits. Some chained themselves to pumps whilst others hung banners reading: ‘Esso: No 1 Climate Criminal’. Most of the garages received a visit from the police, but no arrests were made. So despite howling winds and torrential rain activists were able to prevent any Esso forecourt sales for a whole day.
The action took place as 178 countries met in India for the latest round of talks on the Kyoto Protocol. Representatives from Esso’s parent company, ExxonMobil, were there in force and up to their usual dirty dealing. Once again, they pushed the US line, trying to scupper agreements to prevent global warming, despite the fact that the US is no longer part of the Kyoto process. The protest in Luxembourg brought this to the attention of the European media and was the final day of a week of action that also saw events take place in the USA and Australia. We successfully let Esso know that until they stop sabotaging international action to stop global warming, consumers across the world will refuse to buy their products.
This article orginally appeared in Network newsletter - December 2002 / January 2003
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