SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Shell Sues to Ban Public Protest Against Arctic Drilling
Hefty fine aimed at Greenpeace for Arctic actions
Sep 21, 2012
Oil company Royal Dutch Shell went to court Friday to ban public protest against the company's Arctic drilling plans.
In a lawsuit filed against environmental organization Greenpeace, the company pushed for a $1.3 million fine to stop Greenpeace protests at Shell sites. A verdict is not expected for two weeks.
Shell, which has invested $4.5 billion in Arctic drilling ambitions, requested a ban on any protest within 500 meters of Shell property, reacting specifically to a Greenpeace protest in the Netherlands last week, wherein activists used bicycle locks to shut down pumps at dozens of petrol stations. Greenpeace has engaged in numerous protests against Shell over the course of the year as part of their international Save the Arctic Campaign.
In response, Greenpeace called the lawsuit a "legal sledgehammer to stifle public discourse."
Greenpeace argued the lawsuit is part of "a thinly-veiled attempt to prevent public scrutiny of the true cost of its drilling campaign and its ability to deal with a disastrous oil spill." Shell is also pursuing three suits against Greenpeace USA and 13 other environmental and Indigenous organizations in Alaska who have posed legal challenges to Shell's Arctic operating licenses.
Shell received the second of its two final permits for exploratory drilling on Thursday from the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, but drilling operations have been continuously delayed due to dangerous ice conditions and equipment failures during test runs.
Greenpeace has continued to campaign against the operations, arguing that drilling in the Arctic is inherently risky and Shell's safety plans are inadequate.
Earlier this week, scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) announced that Arctic sea ice was at its lowest level ever in recorded history. The opening of waters in the Arctic has spurred an international race for oil, gas, and mineral reserves in the region.
Following the announcement, leading scientific experts and environmental campaigners renewed call to action, calling the situation a "planetary emergency" at a news conference on Thursday.
"In just over 30 years we have altered the way our planet looks from space and soon the North Pole may be completely ice free in summer. Rather than dealing with the root causes of climate change the current response from our leaders is to watch the ice melt and then divide up the spoils," stated Kumi Naidoo, the international head of Greenpeace.
Naidoo called the race to save the Arctic from further drilling "the defining environmental battle of our era."
That battle's main opponent, those who continue to pursue the exploration of fossil fuels in fragile and pristine waters, are now attempting to legally stifle public dissent.
For Greenpeace, Ben Ayliffe writes today:
"So, on the one hand we have an NGO with a smattering of activists, some of them dressed up as polar bears, going around petrol stations and alarming customers of Shell's plans.
On the other hand, we have a company already guilty of causing catastrophic climate change that is also trying to start an extremely reckless oil operation in the Arctic. One of these two is currently demanding that a judge order the other to stop all dangerous operations, and asking that they pay 1 million euros if they break this interdict.
Care to guess which is which? [...]
This matters - not only to Greenpeace's right to protest, but also yours."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Oil company Royal Dutch Shell went to court Friday to ban public protest against the company's Arctic drilling plans.
In a lawsuit filed against environmental organization Greenpeace, the company pushed for a $1.3 million fine to stop Greenpeace protests at Shell sites. A verdict is not expected for two weeks.
Shell, which has invested $4.5 billion in Arctic drilling ambitions, requested a ban on any protest within 500 meters of Shell property, reacting specifically to a Greenpeace protest in the Netherlands last week, wherein activists used bicycle locks to shut down pumps at dozens of petrol stations. Greenpeace has engaged in numerous protests against Shell over the course of the year as part of their international Save the Arctic Campaign.
In response, Greenpeace called the lawsuit a "legal sledgehammer to stifle public discourse."
Greenpeace argued the lawsuit is part of "a thinly-veiled attempt to prevent public scrutiny of the true cost of its drilling campaign and its ability to deal with a disastrous oil spill." Shell is also pursuing three suits against Greenpeace USA and 13 other environmental and Indigenous organizations in Alaska who have posed legal challenges to Shell's Arctic operating licenses.
Shell received the second of its two final permits for exploratory drilling on Thursday from the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, but drilling operations have been continuously delayed due to dangerous ice conditions and equipment failures during test runs.
Greenpeace has continued to campaign against the operations, arguing that drilling in the Arctic is inherently risky and Shell's safety plans are inadequate.
Earlier this week, scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) announced that Arctic sea ice was at its lowest level ever in recorded history. The opening of waters in the Arctic has spurred an international race for oil, gas, and mineral reserves in the region.
Following the announcement, leading scientific experts and environmental campaigners renewed call to action, calling the situation a "planetary emergency" at a news conference on Thursday.
"In just over 30 years we have altered the way our planet looks from space and soon the North Pole may be completely ice free in summer. Rather than dealing with the root causes of climate change the current response from our leaders is to watch the ice melt and then divide up the spoils," stated Kumi Naidoo, the international head of Greenpeace.
Naidoo called the race to save the Arctic from further drilling "the defining environmental battle of our era."
That battle's main opponent, those who continue to pursue the exploration of fossil fuels in fragile and pristine waters, are now attempting to legally stifle public dissent.
For Greenpeace, Ben Ayliffe writes today:
"So, on the one hand we have an NGO with a smattering of activists, some of them dressed up as polar bears, going around petrol stations and alarming customers of Shell's plans.
On the other hand, we have a company already guilty of causing catastrophic climate change that is also trying to start an extremely reckless oil operation in the Arctic. One of these two is currently demanding that a judge order the other to stop all dangerous operations, and asking that they pay 1 million euros if they break this interdict.
Care to guess which is which? [...]
This matters - not only to Greenpeace's right to protest, but also yours."
Oil company Royal Dutch Shell went to court Friday to ban public protest against the company's Arctic drilling plans.
In a lawsuit filed against environmental organization Greenpeace, the company pushed for a $1.3 million fine to stop Greenpeace protests at Shell sites. A verdict is not expected for two weeks.
Shell, which has invested $4.5 billion in Arctic drilling ambitions, requested a ban on any protest within 500 meters of Shell property, reacting specifically to a Greenpeace protest in the Netherlands last week, wherein activists used bicycle locks to shut down pumps at dozens of petrol stations. Greenpeace has engaged in numerous protests against Shell over the course of the year as part of their international Save the Arctic Campaign.
In response, Greenpeace called the lawsuit a "legal sledgehammer to stifle public discourse."
Greenpeace argued the lawsuit is part of "a thinly-veiled attempt to prevent public scrutiny of the true cost of its drilling campaign and its ability to deal with a disastrous oil spill." Shell is also pursuing three suits against Greenpeace USA and 13 other environmental and Indigenous organizations in Alaska who have posed legal challenges to Shell's Arctic operating licenses.
Shell received the second of its two final permits for exploratory drilling on Thursday from the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, but drilling operations have been continuously delayed due to dangerous ice conditions and equipment failures during test runs.
Greenpeace has continued to campaign against the operations, arguing that drilling in the Arctic is inherently risky and Shell's safety plans are inadequate.
Earlier this week, scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) announced that Arctic sea ice was at its lowest level ever in recorded history. The opening of waters in the Arctic has spurred an international race for oil, gas, and mineral reserves in the region.
Following the announcement, leading scientific experts and environmental campaigners renewed call to action, calling the situation a "planetary emergency" at a news conference on Thursday.
"In just over 30 years we have altered the way our planet looks from space and soon the North Pole may be completely ice free in summer. Rather than dealing with the root causes of climate change the current response from our leaders is to watch the ice melt and then divide up the spoils," stated Kumi Naidoo, the international head of Greenpeace.
Naidoo called the race to save the Arctic from further drilling "the defining environmental battle of our era."
That battle's main opponent, those who continue to pursue the exploration of fossil fuels in fragile and pristine waters, are now attempting to legally stifle public dissent.
For Greenpeace, Ben Ayliffe writes today:
"So, on the one hand we have an NGO with a smattering of activists, some of them dressed up as polar bears, going around petrol stations and alarming customers of Shell's plans.
On the other hand, we have a company already guilty of causing catastrophic climate change that is also trying to start an extremely reckless oil operation in the Arctic. One of these two is currently demanding that a judge order the other to stop all dangerous operations, and asking that they pay 1 million euros if they break this interdict.
Care to guess which is which? [...]
This matters - not only to Greenpeace's right to protest, but also yours."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy