LIVE: We're stopping Arctic oil drilling!

Posted by jamess — 29 May 2011 at 9:49am - Comments

UPDATE: The Danish Navy has arrested our activists and seized the Pod after nearly 100 hours stopping Arctic drilling

This morning we started taking direct action against the world's most controversial oil rig: Cairn Energy's Arctic driller, the 53,000 tonne Leiv Eiriksson, which was hours away from its drill site in Iceberg Alley off Greenland.

Our climbers rigged up the legendary yellow survival pod and are now camping a few metres from the giant drill bit, preventing the rig from starting to drill.

They've got enough food and water to stay in the pod for ten days so keep watching our live updates. What they could always use more of is support - so please add your comments below or tweet on the hashtag #SaveTheArctic. We'll make sure they see your messages.

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Article tagged as: arctic, cairn, climate, climate change, go beyond oil, oil, oil drilling, oil spill, pod
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Brilliant guys keep up the good work. You're all heroes!

By Anders79 - 29 May 2011 at 5:45pm

 

@ Nuuk I'm struggling to see how ignoring the immeasurable risk of deep sea drilling in the fragile environment in which you have to co-exist with nature can be of benefit to the people of Greenland. Large companies have large budgets - sadly they spend them on PR rather than risk management and on more and more risky forms of oil and gas extraction rather than on research into sustainable alternatives. Earning the highest possible margin is what the key players are measured on.  No doubt there's potential value in this for shareholders. But will future generations believe we did even the minimum to safeguard their heritage? It's a gamble and one where the stakes are so high that the arrogance behind it is breathtaking. Well done Greenpeace for bringing it to the attention of the world.

 

By Jothma - 29 May 2011 at 6:08pm
  • 2 people agree

Excellent work Greenpeace! Many thanks to the brave activists taking action against these wildcats who want to keep us addicted to oil. We won't need this arctic oil if our governments change our fuel infrastructures so that we can all use clean energy to get around. There IS an alternative! Let's just hope our leaders start listening to you soon. 

By Neil Jones - 29 May 2011 at 7:02pm
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Oops! I just accidentally clicked 'I Agree' on Daithesci's comment above. I certainly don't agree! From what I know, Greenpeace are doing everything they can to move to the cleanest sources of power available. They're currently raising money for a new ship, which will use the most efficient sources of energy available, mostly wind power. More info on their website here: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/about/ships/the-rainbow-warrior/A-green-ship-for-a-green-planet/

They have to work with the technology that's currently available. For all the good work I think they do, Greenpeace aren't manufacturers, engineers, or policy makers. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be demanding something better.

By Neil Jones - 29 May 2011 at 7:24pm
  • 1 person agrees

E. M. Edwards - I couldn't agree more! :) Isn't it a shame that soemone can waste their time commenting on a website where they have nothing constructive to say. If someone is not into Greenpeace, what are they doing commenting on here anyway? Paid by one of the reckless oil companies currently gambling with the Arctic ecosystem perhaps.

All credit right now goes to those brave people who've had enough of what's going on up there, and are actually getting off their butts and doing something about it. Hanging off an oil rig in Arctic conditions can't be an easy thing to do, especially with a great big warship pointing its guns at you! 

By Neil Jones - 29 May 2011 at 8:18pm
  • 1 person agrees

@ Daithesci

Not sure whether to laugh or cry by your comments, they are some of the most ridiclous I have heard. You clearly seem to not knowing what you're talking about. If you have done just a little bit of research in renewable technology you would know what you said is simply not true. If they were giving the right priorities which is what Greenpeace also is campaigning for they would be extremely powerfull. Science shows us that can live without Oil if we were to 100 % invest in it and go beyond oil. Your comment that wind energy doesn't work is another lie from you, if you looked at countries that have invested heavily in it and depend on it and have depended on it for a long time. You're also saying about the 10 days wouldn't be enough for them to stop drilling, I'm sorry but you will find that it is. Cairn are on a very tight schedule and if they loose some days they might have to abandon the whole operation and this is why this operation is so crucial. And lastly as Neil correctly pointed out Greenpeace are doing their things as green as possible but can obviously only only use the technologies that are available to them and if you were to read about Greenpeace you would find that they are much more than their ships that you for some reason are obsessed to keep talking about.

By Anders79 - 29 May 2011 at 10:13pm
  • 1 person agrees

One of the reasons I support Greenpeace is that for every campaign, they do the research, point to the solution, and take action to make it happen.

Keep up the great work.

By Neil Jones - 30 May 2011 at 12:02am
  • 1 person agrees

Not wanting to turn this into a renewable debate, just want to add. Anyone loooking into it all the measures are there to moving into fussil fuels and 100% powered renewable world.

But this page should be reserved for praising those brave efforts of the activists who are right now sitting in the pod on the Leiv Errikson rig. 

By Anders79 - 30 May 2011 at 12:34am
  • 1 person agrees

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill was a disaster for the local economies of the southern states. Livelihoods were destroyed by the reckless actions of oil companies. The gushing oil took weeks to stop, the clean up took a lot longer. Wildlife suffered immeasurably, local people saw their only sources of income choked by dirty oil. Cairn in the Arctic want to drill at a similar depth to the BP's Gulf of Mexico well. The UK government think that a spill in the Arctic would be almost impossible to clear up, because of the remote location and the freezing temperatures. We can't let an oil disaster ruin the Arctic. A spill there would be bad for Greenland's delicate ecosystems and for the local economies.

Thanks again to the Greenpeace activists defending the Arctic's wildlife and people against an oil disaster.

By Neil Jones - 30 May 2011 at 10:28am
  • 1 person agrees

Knud: The Greenlandic economy would not gain anything from the drilling, but the risk of losing everything is massive. The drilling is being done by a UK company so you would not create any Greenalndic jobs. Do you honestly believe you the people of Greenland will see any of those money, I can tell you most cerainly that you will not. Besides that the risk tour big really income fishing are to big to take. I believe that Denmark and the rest of the world should revard you for not drilling so it would be economically good for you. You Greenland hold a massive role to play in the future climate and the whole world depends on you.

Daithesci; The Esperanza: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/about/ships/the-esperanza/

As you can read deploy some of the most environmentally practises in the world of shipping.

By Anders79 - 30 May 2011 at 2:58pm
  • 1 person agrees

Have we forgotten what happaned in the Gulf of Mexico last year? The great oil spill that travelled across and to the bottom of the ocean/rivers, intoxicating our environment and our source of life? Looking at the fish on my plate I do ask myself what goodness I`ll be eating and/or my existence has been endangered. By deepwater drilling?? No thank you, in any part of the world!!

Wherever Greenpeace gets its money from is irrelevant. What matters is that exists and it defends Our natural world...its giving us and our planet a voice!! It was about time someone did!! God bless you Greenpeace and Greenpeacers!! Keep on growing!!

And yes, it uses media to raise awareness about environmental abuse/problems. How would you/world know about it otherwise??

By Be the change - 30 May 2011 at 8:30pm
  • 1 person agrees

How would you be able to survive in case of oil spill you beautiful people of Greenland? Would you still be earning money or would we all have to pay price for it, in one way or another? Maybe we need to look into private property and planet Earth property-one that belongs to all of us?? Then again if it is Greenlands property, it would still affect rest of the world...just like all the rest of things do...

I question wisdoom of people who give others right to abuse existence in such a way, endangering all of us. I wish that every second person in the world was a Greenpeace person!!!!!!! Maybe we wouldn`t have so many problems to deal with now.

Keep on looking for facts like they`ll help us...

By Be the change - 1 June 2011 at 3:13am
  • 1 person agrees

To Knud & the rest of the Greenlanders.

It's time you had a wake up call and entered the real world. I don't have any prove that you wont benefit from an oil find, but it's known fact that the more oil that's been discovered around the world the poor countries gets poorer and the richer gets richer. Lets try to say that oil were discovered and Greenland were to be so stable that they could break free from Denmark. What happened then when the oil is gone, even if you could extract all the oil then there is meant to be 3 years worth, then you will be plunged way back into recession and you would need a financial bail out. When the oil rush were to happen your eskimos tribe would suffer a massive risk and will probably cease to exist completely. I'm sorry to say this but you have a responsebility too, at a time when carbon emmisions peaked to its all time highest this is indeed very bad for Greenland. If this is not stopped your country be impossible to live in., all your industries will die down and you will all be added to the growing list of climate change refugees. Some of you said earlier that Greenpeace had manipulated the facts and tried to tell that it's dangerous to drill after oil in the arctic. Not sure what planet you're living on but all oil drilling is dangerous and a risk to the environment and in the arctic even worse, that's why we have to move beyond oil. You will find that all Greenpeace are saying is solid facts and they can't be rocked. Maybe you should start to considder if your own government and cairn and who else might have advised you about that might not be telling you the truth. It wouldn't be the first time to happen. You need to learn that Greenpeace are one of the good guys and all they are intersted in is to protect your beautiful and important country. Also I don't know what happened in the 70's but I find it very hard that Greenpeace would be trying do destroy local hunting as they very much believe in sustainability.

By Anders79 - 1 June 2011 at 1:05pm

Sorry, there was an error with the email link (two l's in Gammell), it's been fixed now - apologies!

By jamess - 1 June 2011 at 1:38pm

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