British Cycling is sponsored by oil company Shell according to the article.
Do you mind? I’m trying to be righteously infuriated over here.
It’s amazing how “righteous fury” people seem to get over folks protesting sporting events because the fucking planet is on fire.
“Oh but couldn’t they be more calm and quiet about it, I want to watch the race!”
With participants who likely flew themselves their bikes in from all around the world for a pointless competition. I wouldn’t compare an international bike race to a person who rides their bike to work to help the environment.
Sporting events are the best way to reach hundreds of millions of people to deliver the message. Athlete flights are a tiny price to pay for it. And protesters literally fucked it up. Because they are dumbfuck attention whores and nothing else.
I’m sure they had many sponsors? Admittedly, I’ve done zero research…
The protestors too. So? XD
And if they protested people commuting into a city, a huge source of global emissions, they’d be criticized for that too. People always manage to label protests as the wrong time/place. What they really mean is “protest is fine as long as no one, especially me, is asked to actually pay attention to it.”
And if they protested people commuting into a city, a huge source of global emissions, they’d be criticized for that too.
May, just maybe, those aren’t the only two choices. Maybe they could also protest in front of offices of politicians and actually reach the people who can change anything.
Yes, why has no one tried that before, 😂
Greenpeace recently protested on top of British PM Rishi Sunak’s private mansion while he was away. And they still got swamped with “YoU cAnT pRoTeSt LiKe tHaT” and people coming up with the most contrived reasons to say they are hypocritical.
It literally does not matter how these people protests, people will always say they are doing it the wrong way, because chuds dont actually mean it when they say that. They simply dont want them to protest at all, so they can pretend its not happening.
while he was away.
That’s the problem.
And maybe, just maybe, the protesters should have a goal of not only getting their message out but winning people over to their side. Maybe a goal of gaining support.
I don’t think this strategy of “annoy as many people as you can” will succeed in gaining any positive attention
I don’t think this strategy of “annoy as many people as you can” will succeed in gaining any positive attention
It’s literally the only strategy that has ever worked before, other than outright violence.
After all, who gives a shit about “positive attention” for its own sake? What matters is actually effecting change, and that does not require people to like you.
We’re has this stragety ever worked?
Lunch counter sit ins in the 1960s are the first thing that came to mind.
It never worked, don’t delude yourself.
Weird flex to brag about not knowing history
100%. The moment you point out that this isn’t the way to go you’re instantly seen as the bad one, that you don’t want to be inconvenienced. It’s so dumb.
People have done that but the publicity isn’t nearly as large as a globally televised event.
That’s a fair point yeah, I guess the publicity does help
I have this big thing I love to go into where I list dozens of better ways of getting media attention and starting dialog, one of the ideas is a big group of well organised people going to clean train stations and educate people on why trains are more climate friendly than cars and why that’s important…
Talked up a lot of people involved in and supporting direct action and they all say one of two things ‘i don’t have time for this’ or ‘yeah sounds great but I’m going to stick with things that haven’t been working for decades thanks’
I really have come to belive that for most people in these things the environment is just an excuse for attention seeking, or the support of these groups acts as a way of telling themselves ‘we try so hard but nothing changes’ because they don’t actually want change, they just want a way of separating themselves from the guilt of consumerism.
It’s like the chorus of people saying that it’s corporations that use all the plastic, like the list of top ten plastic uses isn’t just a list of companies that make products everyone uses - coke is in the list for example, they don’t have a massive pile of plastic bottles to swim in like Scrooge McDuck nor do they have some magic power that forces people to buy their drinks. Working together we could change the world, but no one wants to change they just want a moment of self importance and an excuse for being part of it.
You know what that actually sounds like a very cool idea. I am sure I would get in trouble here in Germany for doing that, because how dare I put cleaning products on something I don’t own, but it’s a very cool idea nonetheless
Less trouble than blocking a road, and if they did that would be a long running news story ‘the sixteen people arrested for cleaning a train station…’ it’s an attention grabber.
The idea makes a lot of sense in the principal of satyagraha, like Gandhi’s salt march - creating a scene to force them to respond and show their true colours. What politican is going to speak against a movement like that? Especially if the cleaning protests have popular support because they’ve been done respectfully and with great care. It gives the politicans that support green measures a far better position to express their opinions ‘people care about the planet so much they’re willing to risk jail just to clean a train station and try to get people away from cars, it’s our duty as legislators…’ it’s already a powerful speech.
I daydream for hours about different ways it could work, the most important thing is that commuters aren’t disadvantaged or annoyed by it - I’d have small cleaning teams with a member tasked with making sure the team is out the way and I’d make sure they all know the station so they can direct people, help with their bags, etc. The other important thing would be that there are people able to engage in friendly conversation about important issues, why public transport is so important and what other things are important… directing them to prepared resources and climate news, even better if they can make it fun for the people using the trains - something to talk about and almost crow over with their car driving colleagues ‘the journey in was great, station looks amazing and while we waited they were doing a funny puppet show explaining the situation with shell poisoning the Niger Delta… How was traffic?’
I really do think it would be a far better way of spreading the message than throwing paint at much loved artworks or ruining people’s cycle races. Those are so easy to ignore and make conversation hard but something like this or other acts of radical and revolutionary altruism could really get people thinking.
It should be more like “protest is fine, and can be good. But when the protest starts to fuck woth other people’s days, then it becomes a problem.” Barry, 52, from Kent, trying to get to his shit 9-5 that he hates, isn’t the problem. The problem is the companies that don’t give a shit about what they do.
Everyone needs to make money to survive, in this fucked world. Companies have more than enough money.
We’re all fucksd anyway. And as long as they’re making money, they would rather see us dead.
Cycling is environmentally friendly, but let’s not equate world championship to cycling as transport. The event itself must have a lot carbon footprint. Still, weird choice of event to protest, but I can see them doing what they can to get the publicity they need.
I think its because of this: https://sh.itjust.works/comment/1915960
I guess big oil has nothing against cycling, as long as its the sport and not the mode of transport…
This is mildly infuriating but ruining the climate is very infuriating. So I understand the protesting and I hope we’re gonna see a good second half of the race.
When you’ve done everything that’s reasonable, and no one in power listens, so have to become unreasonable. And people say, why can’t you just be reasonable?! 😕
When you’ve done everything that’s reasonable, and no one in power listens, so have to become unreasonable.
Get elected and become a person in power then.
Because the corporations you are protesting are the ones who fund the campaigns necessary to get elected.
Make enemies with everyone and make sure nobody outside the fossil fuel industry will want to fund your campaign either.
Holy shit, why didnt we think of this before!!!11!!
Hey! Everyone @woelkchen@lemmy.world just solved climate change!!!
What’s mildly infuriating is that you are complaining about these protesters without providing any details on the protest.
No worries dude! I got you. Google to the rescue
https://nitter.net/Thisis_Rigged/status/1688142514421661696#m
“Rebecca, 28, “as a trans woman I’ve been told I’m not welcome on the cycling track by UCI, at the same time they allow a petrochemical company to field a team showing they have no real care for people. I take to the track to point out this hypocrisy and stand for a better future””
Shell produces, among other things, resins used so much in modern bicycles’ carbon fiber
Can’t recycle them either. You could potentially downcycle carbon fibers but I’m pretty sure in most places they’ll just end up in the incinerator, or somewhere in nature.
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Wow. You completely missed the point of my comment. Congrats for this achievement. I’m speaking out in favor of steel and aluminium frames and you come up with fucking gasoline. Wow. Just wow.
Ya well, it takes a bit more to get a car going than a steel frame.
JFC lady pick a point to be outraged about and stick to it!
She did. She’s just protesting alongside others who are protesting for different reasons.
How frustrating, it’s far easier to dismiss them when they’re a faceless homogeneous mass.
What’s mildly infuriating…
No it’s not!
“White moderate” pearl-clutching is much more than “mildly” infuriating.
And this makes us talk about the fact that cycling is one of the most environmentally friendly alternatives to fuel driven personal transportation.
Yeah, there’s a big difference between pro cycling and biking to get around. The pro peloton isn’t remotely sustainable—lots of international travel, transfers of team cars, team buses, helicopters, signal relay planes, etc. I suppose no pro sport is green. But biking for transport is one of the most efficient and sustainable.
Yeah, there’s a big difference between pro cycling and biking to get around.
Of course, but there’s also a big difference between a cycling race and a car race.
Neither are vital transportation, but one is a helluva lot more polluting for entertainment than the other.
Of course. All in saying is that it makes us talk about how cycling is a good alternative to motor transport. Doing the pro peloton to work isn’t an option.
I suppose no pro sport is green.
SailGP claims to be trying, although I have… questions… about how they get both their boats and personnel from event location to event location, as well as the use of combustion-powered support boats during races. (Frankly, I won’t really believe they’re green until they’ve built a sailing cargo ship to schlep those racing catamarans around.)
Cycling might be.
Cycling the sport isn’t. The sheer volume of support cars, media cars, motorbikes at every race is utter insanity.
That’s before we get into the sponsorship from oil and chemical companies, and at least two sportwashing teams
sportwashing
For the folks too lazy to look it up:
Sportswashing is a term used to describe the practice of individuals, groups, corporations, or governments using sports to improve reputations tarnished by wrongdoing. A form of propaganda, sportswashing can be accomplished through hosting sporting events, purchasing, or sponsoring sporting teams, or participating in a sport.
I don’t know the ideologies of the protestors, but I do agree with protesting against “big cycling”. Cycling around on a trusty steel bike which you can repair yourself is environmentally friendly. Buying a new carbon fiber bike every few years because it is 2% more aero than the last is not. Instead of standardized parts, the cycling industry wants you to buy cheap ones that break fast, and can only be replaced with their specific parts. They sell this to you by including some upgrades in chains, cassettes etc. The cycling industry is the same as any other industry, it exists to make profits. Truly sustainable things do not come from making profits.
Have you ever cycled in your life? Because that’s not how it works.
Yes, I have cycled a fair amount and raced too. Now I have downscaled my cycling to just getting around. Would you care to elaborate? If I was not clear I would like to explain myself. I knew many people who were always looking for the next upgrade to get a little performance boost, and willing to pay a great deal of money for it.
Few “big bicycling” inspires a lot of “small bicycling”
If you actually would like to read about it: https://www.reuters.com/sports/cycling/protesters-halt-mens-road-race-2023-08-06/
British Cycling is sponsored by oil company Shell.
— Reuters
British Cycling is the Host partner of the championship, according to the official website of the championship (linked to at the UCI website, “Organizer website” section), and its partner is Shell UK (announcement).
Someone pointed it out in the comments before, but it’s neatly summarized now 😝
So what is your plan instead?
Interrupting motorsports may give then more sympathy.
They tried that. Reddit’s unanimous opinion was that they should’ve been run over.
Interrupting motorsports may give then more sympathy.
Like when they glued themselves on a race track of Formula E electric racing because promoting emission free propulsion is apparently bad as well.
Emission free, eh? How was the electricity generated?
It really depends on the energy generation mix on the country were they’re racing.
Electricity generation is however emitting less and less (as renewables become an ever larger fraction of it) which makes electric cars directly have less emissions all the while requiring no vehicle changes whatsoever, something not all possible with non-electric means of motorised transportation since the “generate the energy” directly in the vehicle so you need to upgrade the vehicle to improve the energy generation.
So yeah, that stuff is promoting emission free propulsion (already so today in some countries, certainly tomorrow in all), something which cannot be said of the other options.
It’s pretty stupid to go after the “not yet perfectly ecological” alternative when there are a ton of “outright anti-Ecological and will never be any better” ones to go after.
Haha, haven’t heart about that. Sounds ridiculous!
Not only is it ridiculous to protest the promotion of emission-free propulsion, it’s also accepting that their own people could be killed and bystanders traumatized for life.
But hey, those three or so people got their 30 seconds in the spotlight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgekxYhO26s
Cool. Now tell us all that Greta predicted the end of the world and yet we’re all still here.
I just assume these dumb protest ideas are actors paid by oil
Cycling races are very polluting. Not because of the bikes but because of everything besides the bikes (cars, motocycles, cameras, plastic goodies, …)
Where did you get that it is environmental protestors?
That’s not the point though is it, smartass?
Maybe bc cycling fans will listen
all this does is to make sure to alienate the cyclists who would actually listen.
Mother fucker we all about to die from climate change and you worried about how it might make people feel bad.
