“What kind of world do we live in when scientists are forced to put themselves into positions of arrest and hunger strike to be heard?” asked Smart’s husband.

By Jake Johnson  Published 4-15-2022 by Common Dreams

Scientist Emma Smart is arrested during a protest against climate inaction at the U.K. government’s Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy in London on April 13, 2022. (Photo: Andrea Domeniconi/Extinction Rebellion)

Scientist Emma Smart went on a hunger strike Thursday after she was denied bail by London authorities while awaiting a court hearing on charges of “criminal damage,” which were filed after Smart and others glued scientific papers and themselves to a U.K. government building to protest destructive climate policies.

Smart, an ecologist, was arrested alongside fellow scientists earlier this week as they took part in a global nonviolent mobilization aimed at pressuring world leaders to stop expanding fossil fuel production in the face of intensifying climate chaos. Continue reading →