A man was arrested after he took to the Nanaimo Airport tarmac to protest fossil fuel emissions on Thursday.
On October 25th, a suspect representing Extinction Rebellion—an international group of climate protestors—jumped the fence of the Nanaimo Airport waving a flag, spray painting, and wandering around.
RCMP officers arrested the man peacefully—he put his hands behind his back as the officer approached—and no planes were seen trying to land or take off while he was there.
A small crowd of the group’s members and supporters also went to the airport terminal.
The group is advocating for a stop to all non-essential air travel to curb emissions caused by flying.
The man intended to spray paint ‘shut down runways to shut down runaway climate extinction.’
Extinction Rebellion said in a media release that they would like to see all Canadian regional airports close by 2030 until carbon-free-burning alternative aviation fuels are universally adopted.
Other demands call on the government to declare a climate emergency and carbon tax private jets proportionate to their much higher individual aircraft carbon footprint.
Extinction Rebellion said that this protest is part of a string of disruptive airport actions across Canada and the world in the lead-up to the UN Climate Change Conference.
