Sim, US activist, writes again from the Esperanza.
In the months following the explosion and subsequent sinking of BP’s Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig, I spent nearly three weeks in Louisiana’s Gulf coast bearing witness and assisting in documentation of the largest oil spill in US history. I stayed on Grand Isle, a vacation and fishing community that was described to me by its inhabitants as paradise. But it was far from a paradise during my stay - with clean-up crews in white protective suits working around the clock to protect their coastline from the devastating effects of the oil spill and toxic sludge visible on the beaches and marshes. I got a brief glimpse of a way of life that will be deeply changed forever in the aftermath of the oil spill.
In one place we stayed with Gail and Bidon Cheremie. Bidon (pronounced bee-DON) was a fisherman and homebuilder who, during the spill response, was working with the Fish and Wildlife Department, departing every morning in his flat bottomed skiff perfect for navigating the murky, shallow waters of the Mississippi Delta at 5am to search for wildlife that had been impacted by the oil.
We found ourselves in their guest house because in the peak of the spill response it was nearly impossible to find accommodation – with all the hotels and vacation houses being booked by clean-up workers. After a night at the Tropical Motel (which was quite experience in and of itself) we had nowhere to stay and at the last minute were invited through friends to the stunning guest house backing up on the inland marshes. This was a small part of Gail and Bidon’s effort to respond to the disaster that now threatens their way of life.
Bidon was a very quiet host initially but after several days he came out one evening to have a beer on the porch with me. We talked briefly about his life there, the house he had built and his family. As we started talking about the spill a fire and a sadness came into his eyes that deeply affected the way that I now feel about the oil spill. It wasn’t just an environmental disaster but a very personal one. He told me about his way of life that was disappearing and then invited me to try throwing a cast net off the dock.
Now this is a skill that any six year old local can demonstrate with ease. Bidon showed me the smooth arcing toss that will open the net into a perfect circle as it hits the water surface and collapse around the unsuspecting shrimp when the cord attached to his wrist is pulled taut. He pulls out around ten fat shrimp and declares that this is a small catch. I attempt to repeat this performance but the net twists in mid-air tumbling in a tangled mess into the water below. After several attempts I managed to catch five or so shrimp but know that the ease and fluidity which Bidon demonstrated will take years to master.
We threw our catch back and stopped to collect an oyster at the side of the dock on our way back to his porch. As he showed me how to shuck the oyster (him expertly, me clumsily) I got a sense of just what a paradise this place really is, with the bountiful delta literally right at the doorstep. And this will all change. I hesitated briefly before eating the fresh oyster, thinking about the petroleum and dispersants that may have made it this far already. But since this was hardly the time to refuse such a gesture - I happily slurped down the rich, salty snack.
This is the world that will cease to exist in the aftermath of the BP oil spill. There are many more stories I could share of people along the coast losing their livelihoods - of hearts broken by the loss a profession that has been in families for generations. The impact of hearing many stories like this first hand has had an incredible effect on me even though I’m an outsider.
And now I find myself in a drastically different environment - within the Arctic Circle, 120 nautical miles off the coast of Greenland’s Disko Island. I am onboard the Esperanza and right now we are between the Stena Don and the Stena Forth, an oil platform and a drill ship both belonging to Cairn Energy. Each is drilling an exploratory deepwater well; essentially prospecting in the Arctic while larger firms like Exxon, Chevron, and Shell look on waiting to see whether Cairn discovers new reserves. If the drilling is successful we will see the start of an oil rush in the pristine and fragile waters of Baffin Bay. We are here to protest against this reckless and irresponsible move.
They have just reported finding gas here – which means they are a step closer to finding oil and we are a step closer to an Arctic disaster that could be several times worse than what happened in the Gulf – because up here in this harsh environment there are greater risks when it comes to offshore drilling.
Arctic conditions impact both the probability of a spill occurring, through moving ice floes, high winds, extreme cold and storms, as well as the consequences of such a spill. Oil dissipates in the cold environment at a much slower rate and sea ice can seriously complicate the collection and removal of oil. There are no reliable techniques for removing oil that is trapped underneath sea ice. Just last week scientists from the University of Georgia stated that as much as 80% of the oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico is still in the environment nearly four months after the well exploded and more than a month since the well was capped. If we cannot adequately collect oil, even in the relatively favorable environment of the Gulf of Mexico (with some of the most developed spill response capacity in the world) it is unacceptably irresponsible to pursue offshore drilling here.
Having witnessed the destruction after the Deepwater Horizon spill, I can’t bear the thought of seeing this stunning environment destroyed by a similar disaster.
Similarly, climate change and ocean acidification (resulting from the burning of fossil fuels) are a serious threat to the Arctic ecosystem. Just last week an ice island four times the size of Manhattan broke off from the Petermann Glacier in the north of Greenland. Climate change is felt at its strongest in the Arctic where average temperatures have gone up five degrees in the last 100 years. And this is leading to a vicious cycle - as the climate warms, sea ice cover and glaciers retreat allowing access to areas that were previously inaccessible to oil drilling. And cowboy prospectors like Cairn Energy come to exploit these newly accessible reserves despite the high risks - feeding our addiction to oil and ruining our chances of us getting out of this cycle. It’s a feedback loop with the potential to destroy the Arctic as we know it.
We need to protect one of the last remaining pristine environments on earth. Please join me by writing to Cairn Energy now and asking them to stop Arctic drilling - and go beyond oil.
