Showing posts with label petrol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label petrol. Show all posts

Saturday, September 21, 2013

#FreeTheArctic30


http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/planet-2/External/image/2006/10/the-greenpeace-ship-my-arctic.jpg

In violation of international law, and following the arrest of two Greenpeace activists scaling a Gazprom oil platform in the Arctic, Greenpeace reports (what is believed to be) the Russian security service SFB aggressively storming the Arctic Sunrise via helicopter and ropes, and after 11 warning shots were fired over the ship on Wednesday. Brandishing guns and knives, the group of men rounded up the 28 Greenpeace crew members on board, ordering them into the mess while holding the captain at gunpoint in the bridge.     

From ABC in Australia:
London-based Greenpeace campaigner Ben Ayliffe told Radio National that 30 people were arrested on board the ship.
"They had people marched out and laid on the deck at gunpoint," he said.
"They kicked their way into the bridge of the ship, they kicked their way into the radio room, so it was pretty hairy stuff.
"We've had 30 people on board have been arrested, we've just heard, and the captain has just been charged with some pretty serious offences: terrorism, breaching a security zone, attempting to take over an oil platform and undertaking illegal scientific activity."
At present, the two activists previously arrested are also now on board the Arctic Sunrise, bringing the total to 30, the boat now in tow to a Russian port.  

Greenpeace reports that the Arctic Sunrise was boarded in international waters outside Russian jurisdiction while the Russian authorities claim otherwise.

 Safety Pod Used As Pretext For Aggression On Activists

Greenpeace reports using a big foam tube called "a safety pod" to shield activists from water cannons during environmental protest actions.  The pod interior measures 3 meters long by 2.2 meters wide (about the size of a Mini), is painted on the outside in bright colours, and was made following a public competition.  A pod tour in the following video:




Via Russian reports, the state oil company Gazprom - presently working with Shell to soon begin environmentally devastating oil drilling in fragile Arctic habitats - have described the safety pods as "resembling bombs," with this ludicrous description presumably a pretext for violently storming the peaceful ship of an organization known globally for 40 years as committed to non-violence.

 You can send an email here to the Russian ambassador in London demanding that the Russian coast guard release the peaceful protesters immediately.  Or here to the Russian ambassador to the U.S.  At the time of this posting, 250,000 people have emailed the Russian embassy.
 
Some brief yet dramatic footage of the action:




Coverage via EuroNews:


 

From Video Media:
 


From South African news:


 

Some photos of global protest actions shared via twitter:

 




Photo credit/top, via Greenpeace, photo of the Arctic Sunrise. 
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Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Pechora Sea

Two Greenpeace activists scaled a Gazprom oil platform in the Russian Arctic in an attempt to stop the first world oil drilling in the Arctic and Pechora Sea.  

  
Greenpeace Argentina reports that, at 4:30 A.M. Moscow time, September 18, 2013, five of the environmental group's famed rubber boats departed from the Greenpeace flagship, Arctic Sunrise, heading for the oil platform Prirazlomnaya.  One boat was stopped by the Russian coast guard, at which point, two activists were arrested.  The coast guard sent more personnel who then demanded to board the Arctic Sunrise "for an inspection."

Meanwhile, other boats managed to make it to the rig, at which point, two other activists began their climb, intending to board and stay there as long as possible.

 
At the time of this posting, and the last report via Greenpeace Argentina on twitter, the activists appeared to have completely scaled the rig and the Arctic Sunrise was still in the area as a support ship, with the coast guard still demanding to board "for an inspection."

Sini Saarela, a Greenpeace activist who scaled the same platform a year ago, emphasized the imminent danger posed by oil drilling in the Arctic, and in a highly fragile and unique ecosystem that is home for polar bears and many other species.  

"[...] I went into action," she said, "to draw a line in the ice and just tell the oil companies."


 Greenpeace Campaign to make the arctic a global sanctuary

The Russian state oil company Gazprom plans to operate the Prirazlomnaya platform during the first quarter of 2014, dramatically increasing the risk of oil spills in an area containing three nature reserves protected by Russian law .

The company recently signed an agreement with Shell to drill oil in the Russian Arctic. Mauro Fernandez, a member of the Greenpeace Arctic campaign, said that Shell is now considered one of the most negligent companies in the industry, already having made grave errors working in the region and taking advantage of weak Russian regulations.  

"The oil companies are running out of options," he said, "and desperate to squeeze every last drop of oil on the planet, regardless of the consequences.  We cannot allow this to happen." 

On Shell:

 

Greenpeace launched the Save the Arctic campaign over a year ago, and already has the support of 4 million people globally in demanding that the uninhabited area around the North Pole is declared a protected region by the United Nations, banning oil drilling and industries destructive to that location.

 On twitter, Greenpeace Argentina said, "They can arrest us, but they cannot stop us.  Save the Arctic.  There are 4 million of us."  The campaign is passing this petition, asking for more signatures to declare a global sanctuary in the Arctic.


Photo credit/bottom, The Guardian, photographer:  Denis Sinyakov/Reuters, Greenpeace activist in a polar bear suit during a Red Square protest in Moscow, as part of the Save the Arctic campaign launch.

Editor's Update, 9/18/2013:  Greenpeace reports the activists who climbed the rig arrested on the platform and now held on the coast guard vessel.  More in the tweets below:



More here from Greenpeace International, the organization confirming that 11 shots were fired across the vessel Arctic Sunrise.  Ben Ayliffe, head of Greenpeace International’s Arctic oil campaign says,

“Employing this level of force against a peaceful protest ship is completely disproportionate and should stop immediately. It’s clear that oil companies receive special protection from the Russian authorities, who seem more interested in silencing peaceful activists than protecting the Arctic from reckless companies like Gazprom. 
“Let’s be absolutely clear about this: the real threat to the Arctic comes not from Greenpeace International but from oil companies like Gazprom that are determined to ignore both science and good sense to drill in remote, frozen seas.”

Editor's update, 9.19.2013:

Greenpeace activist Camila Speziale is now released and has posted an account of incidents here.  A slideshow of the Greenpeace Gazprom action here where you can see one individual brandishing a knife at the activists, and another holding them at gunpoint.

At this time, according to information shared on twitter, two other activists are still in Russian custody, with the Arctic Sunrise around the same location.  Authorities have stopped demanding boarding "for an inspection."


  
Greenpeace Argentina has released the following video on the Gazprom action.


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Monday, July 16, 2012

petrol


courtesy of the guardian
activists close shell petrol stations in u.k. to protest arctic oil drilling - this co-opted station features a polar bear model looking over the shell corporation logo.


the guardian reports greenpeace activists have shut down 74 shell petrol stations in edinburgh and london to protest shell's plans to drill for oil in the arctic.  the russian oil company gazpron is also scheduled to drill.

video here. 
 


http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/s480x480/523862_10150799692064229_154675464_n.jpg
courtesy of greenpeace
greenpeace activists close petrol stations in u.k.


the paper reports 24 arrests with police cars now parked at all shell stations across the capitol.

Protesters have scaled the roof of the Shell station on Queenstown Road near Battersea Park in London and on Dalry Road in Edinburgh, with police and fire crews attending the scene in Edinburgh.
Activists arrived at the Battersea Park branch at 6.45am and used the station's barriers to close down the forecourt. They have since covered the Shell sign with a Save the Arctic banner and positioned a life-sized polar bear model on the station's roof.
The activists are shutting down the stations by using an emergency shut-off switch to stop petrol going to the pumps and then removing a fuse to delay it being switched on again. The organisation has since posted a picture of an activist posting one of the fuses to Shell's head of Arctic drilling, with the message: "We're being careful not to destroy property. Even the carefully removed components will go back to Shell."


Greenpeace Campaign to make the arctic a global sanctuary
courtesy of the guardian
photographer:  Denis Sinyakov/Reuters
 greenpeace activist in a polar bear suit during a red square protest in moscow, as part of the save the arctic launch.


guardian reports the protest as part of greenpeace's save the arctic campaign, to prevent oil drilling and industrial fishing in the arctic by having the region recognised as a world park. 
   
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