Activists with environmentalist group Just Stop Oil sprayed the ancient British heritage site of Stonehenge with orange paint on Wednesday, prompting widespread outrage. The group claims the paint will wash off.
The political activist group published a press release to accompany the action, demanding the UK government to enter into international agreements to end the use of oil, gas, and coal by 2030.
🚨 BREAKING: Just Stop Oil Spray Stonehenge Orange
🔥 2 people took action the day before Summer Solstice, demanding the incoming government sign up to a legally binding treaty to phase out fossil fuels by 2030.
🧯 Help us take megalithic action — https://t.co/R20S8YQD1j pic.twitter.com/ufzO8ZiDWu
— Just Stop Oil (@JustStop_Oil) June 19, 2024
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“The orange cornflour we used will soon wash away with the rain,” replied Just Stop Oil to a post on X accusing them of damaging monument, which served as a megalithic calendar system created by ancient druids. “But the urgent need for effective government action to mitigate the catastrophic consequences of the climate and ecological crisis will not.”
The group carried out the action in the wake of a new manifesto of UK’s left-wing Labour Party, which they say inspired them to reiterate their call for the cessation of “all future licenses for new oil and gas.”
A spokesperson for Just Stop Oil released the following statement:
“The UK’s government in waiting has committed to enacting Just Stop Oil’s original demand of ‘no new oil and gas’. However, we all know this is not enough. Continuing to burn coal, oil and gas will result in the death of millions. We have to come together to defend humanity or we risk everything. That’s why Just Stop Oil is demanding that our next government sign up to a legally binding treaty to phase out fossil fuels by 2030.”
Just Stop Oil is also responsible for the various attacks on celebrated artworks in museums across Europe. They attacked Velazquez’s “Rokeby Venus” at the National Gallery of London in November 2023, glued themselves to “My Heart’s in the Highlands” by Horatio McCulloch in June 2022 and threw soup at Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” in October 2022.
It was confirmed shortly after the Van Gogh stunt that Just Stop Oil receives funding from Aileen Getty, a billionaire heiress of the Getty family fortune—whose patriarch, J. Paul Getty, made the fortune in the oil industry. Aileen Getty funds the group through her Climate Emergency Fund (CEF), which funds several other groups similar to Just Stop Oil.
At the time, Getty wrote an op-ed for The Guardian, confessing her role behind the protest. “While some have ridiculed the activists, as a funder of climate activism, I am proud of the bigger conversation they have started,” she said.
Succession actor Jeremy Strong was also revealed to be a financial supporter of Getty’s donor group, CEF. Strong praised the activists, calling them “incredible” and urging others to support them “financially [and] in any way you can.”
“For the next brief amount of time, it’s not too late. So there is still time for us to take action and do something,” he added, complaining that the United States is “still the largest producer of oil and gas in the world” and is “expanding currently our fossil fuel infrastructure” and stressed the need for President Joe Biden to declare “a climate emergency.”
Other major donors have included Hillary Clinton’s Onward Together Foundation, screenwriter and former attorney for Harvey Weinstein Adam McKay, and Abigail Disney, according to the report and The Daily Caller.
Shane Devine is a writer covering politics and business for VT and a regular guest on The Unusual Suspects. Follow Shane’s work here.
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