| RICHMOND,
CA - March 23 - On the eve of the tenth anniversary of the nation's worst oil spill, Greenpeace
activists this morning boarded a BP Amoco-operated tanker off the coast of
Richmond near San Francisco Bay. The activists have hung a banner on the Marine
Columbia reading "Exxon 1989 - BP Amoco 1999. Hands Off Arctic Oil."
The environmental organization is demanding that new oil development in the
Arctic Ocean off the coast of Alaska be halted, in order to help avert dangerous
global warming caused by burning fossil fuels.
"Ten years after the Exxon Valdez devastated Alaska, BP Amoco is back in
Alaska helping to create a disaster-in-the-making for the world," said
Kalee Kreider of the Greenpeace USA Climate Campaign. "Since we cannot
afford to burn the oil we already have without worsening global warming, it
makes no sense to continue drilling for even more oil."
Greenpeace is opposing BP Amoco's Northstar development, which could be the
first production oil field in the Arctic Ocean, and demanding that the company
honor its pledge to take action on global warming. The company's rhetoric,
however, appears to be hollow when compared to its actual investments -- $7
billion in 1997 alone on oil exploration and development, but only around $20
million per year on renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
The Northstar project poses another serious environmental risk: the Army
Corps of Engineers estimates there is a one in four chance of a large oil spill
during the life of Northstar. In the worst case scenario oil could leak
unnoticed under the ice throughout the long Arctic winter.
Yet for all the risks it poses in the Arctic and globally, the Northstar
project would only supply enough energy to meet US needs for about 5 minutes a
day over the 15 years of the operation's life. The National Oceanographic and
Atmospheric Administration says the Arctic region is warming at three to five
times the global rate, melting glaciers and sea ice, and wreaking havoc on
wildlife habitat and populations.
"Why gamble with the future of the planet when renewable energy and
efficiency technologies are ready now?" Kreider said. "Those are the
only energy investments we should be making now and in the future."
The Greenpeace activists occupying the Marine Columbia are Mike
Sowle, 39,
and Brian McCarthy, 30, of Berkeley, CA.
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