Cairn polar bear found not guilty

Posted by bex — 24 November 2011 at 12:10pm - Comments
Melting icebergs in the path of rigs in the Arctic, the latest oil frontier
All rights reserved. Credit: Will Rose / Greenpeace
Melting icebergs in the path of rigs in the Arctic, the latest oil frontier

Back in July, if you remember, fifty Greenpeace polar bears occupied Cairn Energy's Edinburgh headquarters, looking for the company's Arctic oil spill response plan and taking your messages to the heart of the company. (I'd post pictures to jog your memory but I'm afraid we're still gagged by Cairn's interdict.)

Yesterday, the first of the Greenpeace volunteers involved, Natasha Clarke, went up for trial in Edinburgh, charged with placing Cairn's staff in a state of fear and alarm.

After hearing from a number of witnesses - including a police officer who mentioned that the bears sang Bear Necessities and had "great fun" during the nonviolent direct action - the Sheriff found Natasha not guilty. 

"I'm not prepared to hold that people who have entered a building dressed in unusual costumes constitutes threatening behaviour," said Sheriff Roderick MacLeod. "The protesters were anxious not to place anybody under a state of fear and alarm. I therefore feel that I must return a verdict of not guilty."

The Sheriff's decision not to criminalise proper and peaceful direct in order to protect the irresponsible activities of oil companies is good news for the Arctic, one of the most vulnerable regions on the planet.

It's yet more bad news for Cairn's Arctic drilling plans - following on from a fruitless and very costly Arctic drilling season, and the exposure of its spill response plan as deeply flawed

And yet other oil companies like Shell hope to follow Cairn to the High North next year to take advantage of the shrinking sea ice. Governments are joining the scramble for Arctic resources too, with Norway recently announcing plans to unlock Arctic oil

Norway's Foreign Minister called drilling for oil in the Arctic “the project of a generation”.

We think it's the battle of a generation - and one that you can help to win.

Right now, the UK is blocking EU laws that would help to protect the Arctic from the reckless operations of oil companies like Cairn. Ask David Cameron to use his influence to help preserve the Arctic.

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