Hearts and minds? Er, not so much for these environmental lovers

Stopping flights from arriving / departing at a major airport will get you media attention. On the flip side, hindering people on their way to somewhere else on vacation or for business is not a way to persuade these self-same folks to believe in your cause. Peoples’ time, once lost by those that think they know better than you do, is not replaceable.  Wasting their money can get them rather steamed at you.  I’m quite sure that the verbiage is not "how nice, how do I sign your petition?" but more along the lines of "HOW the …. DARE YOU SCREW UP MY FAMILY’S VACATION – WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE….SCREW YOU!  Where’s my lawyer…..":

Passengers’ fury as climate change protest at Stansted airport forces dozens of flights to be cancelled

Climate change protesters stormed Stansted (London) Airport today in an astonishing breach of security that brought flights to a standstill.

More than 50 protesters from the Plane Stupid group cut through fencing in the early hours before chaining themselves together just yards from the runway.

Thousands of furious passengers left stranded after dozens of flights were cancelled and others seriously delayed had to be kept calm by armed police…

…It took police hours to cut them free and it was not until 8.30am – almost five hours after the protest had started – that the airport was able to resume flights.

…Ryanair advised people waiting to travel to go home and try re-booking because flights only had ‘limited availability’ for the next three days.

…Next to one officer was a large advertising board declaring: ’100 per cent Guest Satisfaction Guarantee – Because we love to leave you satisfied.’

One woman in the queue remarked wryly: ‘It’s good to see that irony isn’t dead.’

Gordon Brown’s spokesman said: ‘Of course everybody has a right to protest, but people also have a right to be able to travel without unnecessary hindrance.’

I think that this sums it up as far as these chuckleheads persuading anyone that their cause is good:

Asked if she had any sympathy for protesters, she added: ‘Not at all. They have caused great inconvenience.’

So, how do they justify themselves?

In a statement, Plane Stupid said the disruption had prevented ‘the release of thousands of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere’.

So, will they eschew violence and work to change society democratically?

But fellow activists warned it was a ‘sign of things to come’ if the Government failed to back down.

A Greenpeace spokesman added: ‘The climate change secretary Ed Miliband called for a Suffragette-style movement to pressure governments to act. Well, he got his wish.

‘The delays to passengers are unfortunate, but right now we’re in the most important hundred months in human history as we try to beat climate change before it’s too late – and the Government’s plans to expand airports could destroy our chances before we start.’

One hundred months?  Oh my, what fools!  In the big scheme of things, this isn’t even a geological eyeblink; it is nothing but hubris based on absolutely nothing.

I’m quite sure that a lot of people lost a lot of money over these nutcases’s silly attempt to save others from themselves.  Please, save us from these wackos!  

First Principle: personal freedom – and these wackos, in the name of climate change, decided that they had the right to take that freedom from these travelers.  

I think that could be classified as fascism….