A horde of climate change advocates blocked traffic on Madison Avenue in Midtown on Thursday morning by setting up a 24-foot mock oil rig, with a protester clad in mountain climbing gear perched on top.
“It’s supposed to represent an oil derrick,” Monica Hunken, a member of Rain Forest Action Network and Extinction Rebellion, told The Post.
“Laurel Sutherlin has been up there just over an hour now. He’s suspended 24 feet above the ground to block traffic and protest Chase’s investment in fossil fuels,” said Hunken, who explained that the demonstration was intentionally put on in front of Chase’s flagship building near East 47th Street.
“We’re sending a message to Chase CEO Jamie Dimon … Chase is now the biggest funder of fossil fuels in the world,” Hunken contended.
Fossil fuels, which include natural gas, coal and oil, and the processes to extract them are some of the leading contributors to global warming pollution, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit organization.
Sutherlin, 42, remained atop the ersatz oil rig while dozens of cops swarmed around and negotiated with him to come down.
He remained perched for about an hour and 10 minutes until he came down at 10:15 a.m. and was immediately arrested while protesters shouted, “Thank you, Laurel!”
The rig was also quickly dismantled.