Greenpeace activists evaded a massive security operation and scaled Cairn Energy’s controversial oil rig (Stena Don) off Greenland. They have stopped Cairn’s drilling.
After dodging Danish Navy commandos in Greenpeace’s inflatable speedboats, activists from 4 countries climbed up the inside of the rig and are now occupying the rig in tents suspended from ropes.
CTV Canada’s AM Reports: The people who made it aboard the Stena Don are expert climbers and have managed to set up hanging tents from the rig’s platform. Greenpeace said they have been equipped with enough supplies to stay there for several days.
American Sim McKenna, one of the four people aboard the Stena Don, said the climbers are hoping for continued success.
“We’ve got to keep the energy companies out of the Arctic and kick our addiction to oil, that’s why we’re going to stop this rig from drilling for as long as we can,” McKenna said in a statement released by Greenpeace Tuesday.
Deen said Greenpeace has sent climbers to the oil rig to draw attention to the risks that Cairn’s oil operations pose for the environment.
Yesterday’s Global Justice Ecology Project’s Earth Minute for KPFK’s (L.A. Pacifica) Sojourner Truth show warned:
“…The initiation of oil drilling in the icy Artic seas off Greenland is a modern warning of the potentially disastrous consequences of society’s obsession with oil.
Scottish based Cairn energy is drilling for oil in an area known as “iceberg alley.” This pristine region is home to 80% of the world’s narwhals, as well as majestic blue whales, polar bears, seals, and numerous migratory birds.
An iceberg-drill rig collision here would be devastating. The region’s extreme weather could allow a ruptured well to continue gushing oil for 2 years. Oil would be trapped under thick sheets of ice, making cleanup almost impossible….”
