July, 31 2015, 12:00pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
For media requests:
Cassady Sharp, Greenpeace US Communications, csharp@greenpeace.org, +1 828-817-3328
Joe Smyth, Greenpeace US Communications, jsmyth@greenpeace.org, +1 831-566-5647
David Barre, Greenpeace US Communications, dbarre@greenpeace.org, +1 202-256-4042
For photo & video requests:
Tim Aubry, Greenpeace US Communications, taubry@greenpeace.org, +1 703-835-6306
For 24-hour international media requests:
Greenpeace International press desk, pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org, +31 (0)20 718 2470
President Obama Urged to Cancel Arctic Drilling Plans as Standoff With Shell Vessel Ends
The 26 Greenpeace USA activists that formed the 40-hour blockade stopping Shell's icebreaker from leaving port have now come down from the St. Johns Bridge in Portland, Oregon.
The climbers caused Shell's Fennica icebreaker to turn around and return to port earlier this morning after a dramatic standoff which was reported on live TV and around the world.
PORTLAND, Ore.
The 26 Greenpeace USA activists that formed the 40-hour blockade stopping Shell's icebreaker from leaving port have now come down from the St. Johns Bridge in Portland, Oregon.
The climbers caused Shell's Fennica icebreaker to turn around and return to port earlier this morning after a dramatic standoff which was reported on live TV and around the world.
Greenpeace USA Executive Director Annie Leonard said:
"We are incredibly proud of these climbers and truly humbled by what they have achieved here in Portland.
"The last two days have been a very emotional experience for all of us at Greenpeace, as well as all those who supported this action around the country and the world. Between the kayativists, the streamers, and the blue sky we have seen something new emerge, a sign that we can stand up to one of the most powerful companies in the world if we work together.
"This was a historic achievement not just because it blocked Shell's icebreaker from reaching the Arctic, but because it helped spark an even bigger movement of people to raise their voices for something they believe in.
"Drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean would be a terrible mistake, and we call on President Obama to join the millions of people who are speaking with one voice to say it loud and clear: ShellNo."
Earlier today a federal judge in Alaska ordered Greenpeace USA to remove the climbers or face a series of escalating fines, starting at US$2500 per hour and reaching as high as US$10,000 per hour after a number of days. The activists stayed suspended for several more hours before authorities began approaching on the bridge.
Since Shell's drilling fleet arrived in the Seattle area and then began moving north to the drill site, a broad movement has emerged in the Pacific Northwest of the US and extending to Alaska. In June, activists in kayaks formed a blockade around Shell's drilling rig, the 40,000 ton Polar Pioneer, as it left Seattle for Alaska.
In May, the Obama administration approved Shell's plan to drill for oil in the Chukchi Sea in the Alaskan Arctic. Since that approval, both Shell's rigs, the Polar Pioneer and the Noble Discoverer have failed routine inspections.
The Fennica is one of two primary icebreakers in Shell's drilling fleet, and is equipped with a capping stack, which Shell is federally required to have on site in the Chukchi Sea. Until the MSV Fennica and the capping stack are on site in Alaska and Shell is granted federal drilling permits, the company can only drill top wells, thousands of feet above any projected oil.
Shell's contractors, including Noble Drilling, caused major accidents during its exploratory drilling season in 2012 including the wreck of its rig the Kulluk when it ran aground near Dutch Harbor.
Photos available here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/greenpeaceusa09/sets/72157654190738618
Photos and videos available for download at https://photo.greenpeace.org/collection/27MZIFJ6SYMV6
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.
+31 20 718 2000LATEST NEWS
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Reports released this week from two organizations that advocate for journalists underscore just how deadly Gaza has become for media workers.
Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) 2024 roundup, which was published Thursday, found that at least 54 journalists were killed on the job or in connection with their work this year, and 18 of them were killed by Israeli armed forces (16 in Palestine, and two in Lebanon).
The organization has also filed four complaints with the International Criminal Court "for war crimes committed by the Israeli army against journalists," according to the roundup, which includes stats from January 1 through December 1.
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Meanwhile, in a statement released Thursday, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) announced that at least 139 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed since the war in Gaza began in 2023, and in a statement released Wednesday, IFJ announced that 104 journalists had perished worldwide this year (which includes deaths from January 1 through December 10). IFJ's number for all of 2024 appears to be higher than RSF because RSF is only counting deaths that occurred "on the job or in connection with their work."
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According to the FTC:
Under the Robinson-Patman Act, it is generally illegal for sellers to engage in price discrimination that harms competition by charging higher prices to disfavored retailers that purchase similar goods. The FTC's case filed today seeks to ensure that businesses of all sizes compete on a level playing field with equivalent access to discounts and rebates, which means increased consumer choice and the ability to pass on lower prices to consumers shopping across independent retailers.
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CPC Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said following the passage of the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2025 (H.R. 5009) that "it should alarm every American taxpayer that we are nearing a trillion-dollar annual budget for an agency rampant with waste, fraud, and abuse."
Jayapal, who was one of 140 lawmakers to oppose the package, emphasized that the Pentagon has failed seven consecutive annual audits.
Despite being the only federal agency to never have passed a federal audit, said Jayapal, the Department of Defense "continues to receive huge boosts to funding every year. Our constituents deserve better."
As Common Dreams reported last month, more than half of the department's annual budget now goes to military contractors that consistently overcharge the government, contributing to the Pentagon's inability to fully account for trillions of taxpayer dollars.
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Jayapal noted that the legislation—which was passed with the support of 81 Democrats and 200 Republicans—also includes anti-transgender provisions, barring the children of military service members from receiving gender-affirming healthcare in "the first federal statute targeting LGBTQ people since the 1990s when Congress adopted 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and the Defense of Marriage Act."
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday that the legislation "has some very good things we Democrats wanted in it, it has some bad things we wouldn't have put in there, and some things that were left out," and indicated that he had filed cloture for the first procedural vote on the NDAA.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a longtime critic of exorbitant U.S. military spending, said in a floor speech on Wednesday that he plans to vote no on the budget.
"While middle-class and working-class families are struggling to survive, we supposedly just don't have the financial resources to help them," he said. "We just cannot afford to build more housing, we just cannot afford to provide quality childcare to our kids or to support public education, or to provide healthcare to all."
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