On Earth Day, Activists Protest Russian Oil and Gas Imports
2022-04-23
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Activists held a series of climate change protests for Earth Day on Friday.
2The groups' demands included an immediate halt to European imports of Russian oil and gas and an end to building infrastructure that requires fossil fuel use.
3Activists in major cities across Europe gathered outside German government or embassy buildings.
4Germany is one of several European Union members that opposes a ban, or embargo, on Russian oil and gas imports. Leaders fear such restriction would damage their national economies.
5The demonstrators handed out Russian money that had been marked with red to represent blood.
6The activists say the oil and gas purchases from Russia fuel climate change and support Russia's war in Ukraine.
7A small group of demonstrators gathered in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, which was hit by Russian missiles earlier this week. Several people were killed in the strikes.
8Natalia Gozak, chief of the group EcoAction, was among the activists in Lviv.
9She said, "When Germany continues buying gas and oil from Russia, it means that they are paying their money to construct new military machines, new bombs, which are killing Ukrainians."
10Gozak said politicians must choose between possible economic harm and continued killings of Ukrainians.
11In the United States, activists protested in Washington, D.C.
12The protesters demanded climate action on Earth Day, April 22, when people worldwide celebrate the planet and work together to improve its health.
13The worldwide protests come three weeks after a United Nations climate report warned there is little time left for reducing greenhouse gas emissions enough to prevent the worst effects of climate change.
14Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, the European Union has spent more than $41.2 billion on Russian fossil fuel imports.
15The EU's 27 countries have agreed to ban Russian coal imports beginning in August.
16Countries including Italy and Germany have said they can stop depending on Russian gas within a few years.
17Some European companies are already rejecting Russian oil voluntarily to avoid public criticism or possible legal troubles.
18But the 27 EU nations are divided over whether to put in place an immediate and full ban on Russian fuels.
19Leaders in Germany and Hungary say a full embargo would badly harm their economies.
20The EU gets 40 percent of its gas from Russia.
21The European Commission is examining the costs of replacing Russian oil with imports from other places.
22Ukrainian non-governmental organizations planned to send a letter on Friday to Germany's parliament, demanding that the country stop buying Russian oil and gas.
23"Germany is one of its main consumers and thus is the main sponsor of war in Ukraine," said the letter, seen by Reuters reporters.
24"You only need some political will and humaneness to impose a full embargo on Russian oil and gas," it added.
25I'm Ashley Thompson.