Greenpeace has been trending on the TellYouGov leaderboard today, ever since its BP petrol station shut-down protest in London yesterday. The organisation’s volume score has jumped up to 53 from zero, and the sentiment score has dropped to -21 from 0 in the past 24 hours.
The protest, which involved senior members of the organisation attempting to close down all 50 BP petrol stations in London from the early hours of the morning, was an attempt to encourage incumbent chief executive Bob Dudley to adopt less risky, greener policies than those of Tony Hayward, who is set to leave the company in October.
The furore comes in the wake of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year, which has been blamed partly on ‘risky [extraction] techniques’. BP has confirmed that the shut-down closed between over stations across the city.
Some tyggers have praised Greenpeace’s actions. One said the protesters were ‘reminding BP of their responsibilities’ and another tygged that they were ‘making the general public aware of how capitalists exploit our planet to line their own pockets’.
However, a BP spokesman called the protest an ‘irresponsible and childish act which is interfering with safety systems’, while many tyggers appear similarly critical, as reflected in the low sentiment score. One stood up for BP, saying ‘BP are trying to make amends – how is this helping right now?’, while another described the protest as ‘a misguided approach to highlight their views’. Some took their criticism of Greenpeace even further declaring that ‘eco-terrorism is not the way forward’ and that ‘[the protesters] should be arrested’.
So far no arrests have been made, as, according to the Metropolitan Police, ‘no crime has been reported’. However, TellYouGov continues to track opinion surrounding the situation, which looks set to divide tyggers for some time to come.
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