Break Free From Fossil Fuels demands end to offshore drilling
On the 15th of May, the global Break Free From Fossil Fuels protests came to DC with a march from the White House to the Lincoln Memorial. The demand in DC was for an end to offshore oil drilling, just days after Shell spilled more oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Some of the marchers carried a mock offshore "jack-up" oil drilling rig through the streets.
The "drilling rig" was a different one than the mock rig that spilled "oil" in front of BP's corporate headquarters during the 2012 Earth Week/IMF protests and was a considerably larger setup.At the back of the march was a group of bicyclists and several pedicabs.At the Lincoln Memorial, activists poured water from the Arctic and the Gulf of Mexico, both areas harmed by existing offshore oil drilling. Although Obama's administration did not include offshore drilling in the Atlantic in the next 5 year Federal oil/gas drilling lease programs, protesters were demanding that ALL the offshore leases be ended, at one point chanting "No New Leases!"