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For Immediate Release
September, 18 2013, 08:35am EDT
Contact:
Greenpeace International press desk: pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org or +31 20 718 24 70
Greenpeace Activists Scale Gazprom Drilling Platform, Two Arrested in Arctic Oil Protest
Two Greenpeace International activists have been arrested during a protest in the Russian Arctic, while two others are now scaling Gazprom's oil drilling platform to stop it becoming the first company to produce oil from the icy waters of the region.
Pechora Sea
Two Greenpeace International activists have been arrested during a protest in the Russian Arctic, while two others are now scaling Gazprom's oil drilling platform to stop it becoming the first company to produce oil from the icy waters of the region.
At 4.30am Moscow time, five inflatable boats were launched from the Greenpeace International ship Arctic Sunrise and headed towards the Gazprom oil rig Prirazlomnaya in the remote Pechora sea. One of the inflatables was confronted by the Russian Coast Guard and two activists were arrested. Two other activists are now attached to the oil platform.
The two activists intend to stay there as long as possible and the Arctic Sunrise is situated nearby in support. The Russian Coast Guard has responded to the peaceful protest by launching smaller boats to arrest the activists and is now demanding to board the Arctic Sunrise for an 'inspection'.
Greenpeace International activist Sini Saarela, 31, is currently on the platform. She said:
"This rusty oil platform is an Arctic disaster waiting to happen. We're hundreds of miles away from emergency response vessels or independent observers, but right next to a pristine Arctic environment that's home to polar bears, walruses and rare seabirds."
"Last year we blocked this platform for five days and we're back to stop Gazprom for good. This is an era defining battle - do we allow vast companies to drill for more of the oil that's melting the Arctic and wrecking our climate, or do we draw a line in the ice and say 'enough'?"
Scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in the US have just announced (1) that Arctic sea ice is close to reaching its lowest extent for 2013. The level will be significantly below the long-term average and is consistent with predictions of a collapse in sea ice.
Gazprom plans to start production from the Prirazlomnaya platform in the first quarter of 2014, raising the risk of an oil spill in an area that contains three nature reserves protected by Russian law. (2) Greenpeace occupied the same platform in August 2012 with activists including the organisation's executive director, Kumi Naidoo (3).
The company has also signed a deal with Royal Dutch Shell to further exploit Russia's Arctic shelf. Although joint Shell-Gazprom drilling operations remain some years away, the partnership will expose Shell's investors to the huge risks associated with Russia's chaotic oil industry.
Faiza Oulahsen, 26, a Greenpeace Arctic Campaigner, is on the Arctic Sunrise. She said:
"Shell screwed up in the US Arctic, so now they're teaming up with one of the most reckless oil companies on earth to exploit the weak regulations in Russia. Shell's board must know that an Arctic oil spill would mean financial and reputational ruin, but they've run out of options and are desperate for the last drops of oil left on the planet."
Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise was the subject of global media attention last month when Russian authorities denied the icebreaker permission to enter the Northern Sea Route to protest Arctic oil drilling.
The ship entered the area regardless because it meets all required standards for ice class vessels. The Russian coast guard subsequently boarded the ship and ordered its captain to leave the area under the threat of preventative fire, leading the Dutch government, under whose flag the vessel sails, to demand an explanation.
"Gazprom is a tool of the Russian state and this platform benefits from all the special favours and weak regulations the Kremlin can offer. Let's be absolutely clear: Arctic drilling is not safe and oil spills are inevitable. The real risk to the Arctic is not from peaceful protest but from reckless oil companies like Shell and Gazprom," Oulahsen said.
For live updates follow twitter.com/GP_Sunrise
Contact:
Greenpeace International press desk: pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org or +31 20 718 24 70
Video and photos:
For images visit photo.greenpeace.org or contact the video desk hotline on: +31 (0) 20718 2472
Video will be made available from FTP:
FTP.greenpeacemedia.net
Username: dvin
Password 3nt3r
For a full briefing on Gazprom's safety record and the Prirazlomnaya platform:
https://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/briefings/...
Notes:
Nearly four million people have joined Greenpeace's Save the Arctic campaign since June 2012, including high profile figures like Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Sir Paul McCartney, and Penelope Cruz. One of the campaign's main goals - a sanctuary in the uninhabited area around the North Pole - was recently boosted after the Government of Finland announced its support for the concept.
(1) Melt season ending: https://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2013/09/4292/
(2) Oil spill scenario models show that a Prirazlomnaya oil spill threatens the Russian Arctic with irreparable damage:
https://www.greenpeace.org/russia/en/news/Prirazlomnaya-oil-spill-would-...
(3) In August last year five activists together with the executive director of Greenpeace International, Kumi Naidoo, protested the operation of the Prirazlomnaya for five days:
https://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/press/releases/Greenpeace-In...
Greenpeace is a global, independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.
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'Unhinged and Undemocratic': Florida Cops Question Abortion Petition Signers
"This is what state-authorized election interference looks like," said the ACLU of Florida.
Sep 06, 2024
Floridians and reproductive rights advocates responded with alarm on Friday to Tampa Bay Timesreporting that Florida law enforcement officers have been sent to the homes of multiple voters who signed a petition to get an abortion rights measure on the November ballot.
While Isaac Menasche told the newspaper that he isn't sure which agency the plainclothes officer who came to his home is with, fellow Lee County resident Becky Castellanos said Florida Department of Law Enforcement Officer Gary Negrinelli showed his badge and gave his card.
Both visits were about potential fraud related to the petition for Amendment 4, which would outlaw pre-viability abortion bans in Florida. Menasche was asked if he signed the petition, which he had. Negrinelli inquired about Castellanos' relative, who also signed the petition.
"This is pure voter intimidation, just like with the 'election police' in 2022. It's Gestapo tactics."
The officer inquiries appear "to be part of a broad—and unusual—effort by Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration to inspect thousands of already verified and validated petitions for Amendment 4 in the final two months before Election Day," the Times reported.
The Republican governor signed the state's six-week ban that would end if the ballot measure passes. He has also faced criticism for creating an Office of Election Crimes and Security, whose work has led to the arrest of Floridians who believed they were legally allowed to vote following the passage of a referendum that restored voting rights to many people with past felony convictions.
As the Times detailed Friday:
Since last week, DeSantis' secretary of state has ordered elections supervisors in at leastfour counties to send to Tallahassee at least 36,000 petition forms already deemed to have been signed by real people. Since the Timesfirst reported on this effort, Alachua and Broward counties have confirmed they also received requests from the state.
One 16-year supervisor said the request was unprecedented. The state did not ask for rejected petitions, which have been the basis for past fraud cases.
While Department of State spokesperson Ryan Ash said the agency has "uncovered evidence of illegal conduct with fraudulent petitions" and "we have a duty to seek justice for Florida citizens who were victimized," a representative for the coalition behind Amendment 4 criticized the state effort.
"This is very clearly a fishing expedition," ACLU of Florida spokesperson Keisha Mulfort, whose group is part of Floridians Protecting Freedom, told the Times. "It is more important than ever for Floridians to reject these authoritarian tactics and vote yes on Amendment 4 in November."
Promoting the report on social media, the ACLU of Florida added, "This is what state-authorized election interference looks like."
Democrats in the state were similarly critical. Florida state Rep. Anna V. Eskamani (D-42) shared a social media post in which Menasche described feeling "shaken" and "troubled" by the encounter with the officer.
"This is unhinged and undemocratic behavior being pushed by DeSantis and his cronies in an effort to continue our state's near total abortion ban," said Eskamani. "It's clear voter intimidation and plain corruption—continue to call it out and fight back. Vote @yes4florida and spread the word."
Responding to Eskamani, Pamela Castellana, chair of the Brevard Democratic Executive Committee, said: "This literally took my breath away. This is pure voter intimidation, just like with the 'election police' in 2022. It's Gestapo tactics. If you live in Florida you know. If you don't—please help me get the word out. Stop authoritarianism."
Journalist Jessica Valenti argued Friday that Republicans "don't care that voters want abortion rights restored—and if they need to dismantle democracy to keep it banned, so be it."
"We've seen lots of Republican attacks on pro-choice ballot measures—but what makes this one especially insidious is that it's trying to gaslight Americans into thinking that voters don't really want abortion rights restored, but that the overwhelming support is fabricated," she added.
In addition to raising concerns about the fraud allegations, Amendment 4 supporters are outraged over the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration on Thursday launching a webpage claiming that the ballot measure "threatens women's safety."
Florida Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book (D-35) pledged that she is looking into "appropriate legal action," while Bacardi Jackson, executive director of the ACLU of Florida, said in a statement that "this kind of propaganda issued by the state, using taxpayer money and operating outside of the political process, sets a dangerous precedent."
"This is what we would expect to see from an authoritarian regime," added Jackson, "not in the so-called 'Free State of Florida.'"
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Sanders Says Senate Hearing Will Put 'Greed on Display' With or Without Healthcare CEO
"Dr. de la Torre will be held accountable for his greed and the damage he has caused the American people and our nation's healthcare system."
Sep 06, 2024
Taking aim at Steward Health Care CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre's refusal to comply with a Senate subpoena, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday said the committee he chairs will still hold a hearing next week on the company's bankruptcy and healthcare industry greed.
"Working with private equity vultures, Steward Health Care CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre has made hundreds of millions of dollars ripping off patients and healthcare providers across the country," said Sanders, who heads the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP).
"This outrageous display of corporate greed has resulted in more than 30 Steward hospitals in eight states being forced to declare bankruptcy, putting patients and communities at risk," added the senator, who said the hearing is set to take place next Thursday at 10:00 am Eastern time.
"Ralph de la Torre has made hundreds of millions of dollars ripping off patients and health care providers across the country."
Steward is trying to auction off all 31 of its hospitals in order to pay down its debt. As Common Dreamsreported, the HELP committee—which includes 10 Republicans—voted 20-1 in July to investigate Steward Health Care's bankruptcy, and 16-4 to subpoena de la Torre.
"Dr. de la Torre will be held accountable for his greed and the damage he has caused the American people and our nation's healthcare system," Sanders said Friday. "Is it my hope that Dr. de la Torre will do the right thing, change his mind, and join our hearing to provide testimony? Yes. But let me be clear: With or without him, this hearing is going forward."
"We will expose his fraud, and put his greed on display," the senator added. "I look forward to hearing from patients, medical professionals, and community members whose lives have been upended by Dr. de la Torre and his private equity cronies."
Another HELP committee member, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who is a bankruptcy law expert, on Wednesday accused de la Torre of using Steward-owned hospitals "as his personal piggy bank."
De la Torre—who according to Steward's bankruptcy filing received more than $4 million in compensation between May 2023 and April 2024—has also come under fire for his 2021 purchase of a 190-foot megayacht believed to be worth around $40 million. That year, Steward's owners paid themselves millions of dollars in dividends.
On Thursday, CBS Newsreported that in 2017 Steward executives including de la Torre illegally conspired with Maltese officials in order to secure a hospital contract, according to a whistleblower.
While a spokesperson for the executive denied any wrongdoing, whistleblower Ram Tumuluri alleged in a complaint to the U.S. Congress that "in touting Steward's supposed competitive advantage in Malta... de la Torre boasted that he could issue 'brown bags' to government officials if necessary to close transactions."
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'Astonishing' Study Shows Infant Deaths Rise in US When Bat Populations Fall
Experts hailed the study as "groundbreaking" and "sobering" for the connections it draws between ecosystem and human health.
Sep 06, 2024
Bat die-offs in the U.S. led to increased use of insecticides, which in turn led to greater infant mortality, according to a "seminal" study published Thursday that shows the effects of biodiversity loss on human beings.
Eyal Frank, an environmental economist at the University of Chicago, authored the study, which was published by Science, a leading peer-reviewed journal.
Bats can eat thousands of insects per night and act as a natural pest control for farmers, so when a fungal disease began killing off bat populations in the U.S. after being introduced in 2006, farmers in affected counties used more insecticides, Frank found. Those same counties saw more infant deaths, which Frank linked to increased use of insecticide that is harmful to human health, especially for babies and fetuses.
The study was greeted by an outpouring of praise from unaffiliated scientists for its methodology and the important takeaways it offers.
"[Frank] uses simple statistical methods to the most cutting-edge techniques, and the takeaway is the same," Eli Fenichel, an environmental economist at Yale University, toldThe New York Times. "Fungal disease killed bats, bats stopped eating enough insects, farmers applied more pesticide to maximize profit and keep food plentiful and cheap, the extra pesticide use led to more babies dying. It is a sobering result."
Carmen Messerlian, an environmental epidemiologist at Harvard University, told the Times the study "seminal" and "groundbreaking."
The study shows the need for a broader understanding of human health that includes consideration of entire ecosystems, said Roel Vermeulen, an environmental epidemiologist at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. "It emphasizes the need to move from a human-centric health impact analysis, which only considers the direct effects of pollution on human health, to a planetary health impact assessment," he toldNew Scientist.
Reporter Benji Jones echoed that sentiment in Vox, calling Frank's findings "astonishing" and writing that such studies could help us fight chemical pollution by corporations.
"When the link between human and environmental health is overlooked, industries enabled by short-sighted policies can destroy wildlife habitats without a full understanding of what we lose in the process," Jones said. "This is precisely why studies like this are so critical: They reveal, in terms most people can relate to, how the ongoing destruction of biodiversity affects us all."
NEW: This is one of the more stunning (and sobering) studies I've covered in a while:
It found that a decline of bats in the U.S. had come at a deadly cost to human babieshttps://t.co/M82FXxBrtO
— Dino Grandoni (@dino_grandoni) September 5, 2024
Frank, who said he started the work after stumbling on an article about bat population loss while procrastinating, happened upon an excellent natural experiment. The spread of white-nose syndrome, the fungal disease, was well tracked on a county-by-county level, leaving him with high-quality data that is hard to find for researchers who study the intersection of human and animal life.
The benefits of biodiversity on humans, and the drawbacks to its loss, are normally very difficult to quantify.
"That's just quite rare—to get good, empirical, grounded estimates of how much value the species is providing," Charles Taylor, an environmental economist at Harvard Kennedy School, toldThe Guardian. "Putting actual numbers to it in a credible way is tough."
Taylor himself is the author of a somewhat similar study that showed that pesticide use and infant mortality rose during years in which cicadas appeared; the insects do so at 13-17 year intervals.
David Rosner, a historian based at Columbia University, said the new bat study joins a large body of evidence dating back to the 1960s that links pesticide use with negative human health outcomes. "We're dumping these synthetic materials into our environment, not knowing anything about what their impacts are going to be," he said. "It's not surprising—it's just kind of shocking that we discover it every year."
Frank's claim about the cause of increased infant mortality should be taken with some caution, said Vermeulen, the Dutch researcher. He said the loss of agricultural income caused by bat die-offs could be connected to the increased deaths in complex ways.
The exact causal mechanism isn't known, Frank told media outlets, but the data shows the rise of infant mortality didn't come from food contamination by insecticides—rather, it's more likely it came via the water supply or contact with the chemicals.
Frank's other research extends beyond pesticide use. He and another researcher recently estimated that hundreds of thousands of human beings have died in India due to the collapse of the country's vulture population, as rotting meat increased the spread of diseases such as rabies.
Frank is not the first to study the impacts of white-nose syndrome on humans. Other studies have shown a reduction in land rents in counties hit by the bat plague and documented the billions of dollars that farmers have lost as their natural pest control disappeared.
The syndrome attacks bats while they hibernate. It was first identified in New York in 2006 and has since spread to much of North America. It's believed to have been brought over from Europe. It doesn't affect all bat species, but it's killed more than 90% of three key species, and bats also face a myriad of other threats, including habitat loss, climate change, and the dangerous churn of wind turbines.
Frank's bracing study should be a call to arms, experts said.
"This study estimates just a few of the consequences we suffer from the disappearance of bats, and they are just one of the species we're losing," Felicia Keesing, a biologist at Bard College, told The Washington Post. "These results should motivate everyone, not just farmers and parents, to clamor for the protection and restoration of biodiversity."
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