MAHMOUD BENNETT: NINE ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS IN GERMANY JUST GLUED THEMSELVES TO THE FLOOR AT A PORSCHE PAVILION.THEY’RE ON A HUNGER STRIKE – PROTESTING WHAT THEY CALL A CLIMATE EMERGENCY.
THE TARGET THIS TIME: VOLKSWAGEN
ACTIVIST: “VOLKSWAGEN IS THE LARGEST CAR MANUFACTURER IN EUROPE AND THE SECOND LARGEST IN THE WORLD WE ARE HERE AS SCIENTISTS BECAUSE WE KNOW THERE IS A CLEAR CONNECTION BETWEEN THE AMOUNT OF CO2 EMISSIONS AND THE INCREASE IN TEMPERATURES”
MAHMOUD BENNETT: THE GROUP IS PART OF AN ORGANIZATION CALLED SCIENTIST REBELLION – WITH SUPPORT VOLKSWAGEN, 16 MEMBERS CAMPED OUT OVERNIGHT, TWEETING FROM THE BUILDING, ABOUT THEIR MOTIVES AND THE CHALLENGES OF THEIR PROTEST
WRITING THAT THEY WERE LEFT IN THE DARK, HAD NO PLACE TO USE THE BATHROOM IN A DECENT MANNER AND THAT THERE WAS NO HEATING.
THEY ALSO COMPLAINED ABOUT THE FACT THEY COULDN’T ORDER THEIR OWN FOOD, DESPITE SOME OF THEM ENGAGING IN A HUNGER STRIKE.
SOCIAL MEDIA USERS QUICKLY RIDICULED THEIR EFFORTS. STILL THE GROUP SAYS THEY RECEIVED A FAIR AMOUNT OF SUPPORT.
THE ACTIVISTS ARE CALLING ON GERMANY TO INTRODUCE CHEAPER PUBLIC TRANSPORT TICKETS AND TO SET SPEED LIMITS ON THE COUNTRY’S HIGHWAYS TO REDUCE CO2 EMISSIONS.