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Shell's Arctic Drilling Plan Just Got Presidential Approval
This is outrageous. On Tuesday, the Obama administration announced a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and then followed that up by approving Shell's climate-killing plan to drill in the Arctic.
This is a setback, but we're not giving up. Right now, six volunteers aboard the Greenpeace ship Esperanza are tailing one of Shell's drilling rigs across the Pacific, and across the city of Seattle, where Shell's Arctic fleet is set to dock, concerned residents are mobilizing. And people all over the world are standing up against Shell.
Apr 01, 2015
This is outrageous. On Tuesday, the Obama administration announced a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and then followed that up by approving Shell's climate-killing plan to drill in the Arctic.
This is a setback, but we're not giving up. Right now, six volunteers aboard the Greenpeace ship Esperanza are tailing one of Shell's drilling rigs across the Pacific, and across the city of Seattle, where Shell's Arctic fleet is set to dock, concerned residents are mobilizing. And people all over the world are standing up against Shell.
Shell plans to begin exploratory drilling for oil in Arctic waters this summer. If drilling happens, oil will spill, contaminating waters that Arctic communities and wildlife depend on. Even worse, drilling also threatens the entire planet by fast-tracking catastrophic climate change. With sea ice at its lowest ever this year, it's time to take action.
Shell thinks it's won, but it hasn't accounted for pushback from the environmental community. Over half a million individuals petitioned President Obama and the U.S. government to stop Shell's plans and save the Arctic. Our politicians may have caved to the oil industry, but we know we're ready to take the next step.
Last time Shell was allowed in the Arctic, it ran the oil rig Kulluk aground off the coast of Alaska, a dangerous accident that put the lives of workers and the Alaskan ecosystem at risk. In a separate incident, a containment dome was "crushed like a beer can." There's no reason to expect that this effort will go any better, and it's only a matter of time before oil spills.
Any oil spilled in the Arctic will be nearly impossible to clean up. Worse, the scientific journal Nature's analysis of our climate says that if we're going to avert disaster, we need to keep the Arctic's oil reserves in the ground. But Shell and our government are willing to gamble away our children's future for oil.
Take action here.
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 |
© 2023 Greenpeace
Rachael Prokop
Rachael is an online campaigner at Greenpeace USA. She frequently writes about ocean issues and Arctic drilling.
This is outrageous. On Tuesday, the Obama administration announced a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and then followed that up by approving Shell's climate-killing plan to drill in the Arctic.
This is a setback, but we're not giving up. Right now, six volunteers aboard the Greenpeace ship Esperanza are tailing one of Shell's drilling rigs across the Pacific, and across the city of Seattle, where Shell's Arctic fleet is set to dock, concerned residents are mobilizing. And people all over the world are standing up against Shell.
Shell plans to begin exploratory drilling for oil in Arctic waters this summer. If drilling happens, oil will spill, contaminating waters that Arctic communities and wildlife depend on. Even worse, drilling also threatens the entire planet by fast-tracking catastrophic climate change. With sea ice at its lowest ever this year, it's time to take action.
Shell thinks it's won, but it hasn't accounted for pushback from the environmental community. Over half a million individuals petitioned President Obama and the U.S. government to stop Shell's plans and save the Arctic. Our politicians may have caved to the oil industry, but we know we're ready to take the next step.
Last time Shell was allowed in the Arctic, it ran the oil rig Kulluk aground off the coast of Alaska, a dangerous accident that put the lives of workers and the Alaskan ecosystem at risk. In a separate incident, a containment dome was "crushed like a beer can." There's no reason to expect that this effort will go any better, and it's only a matter of time before oil spills.
Any oil spilled in the Arctic will be nearly impossible to clean up. Worse, the scientific journal Nature's analysis of our climate says that if we're going to avert disaster, we need to keep the Arctic's oil reserves in the ground. But Shell and our government are willing to gamble away our children's future for oil.
Take action here.
Rachael Prokop
Rachael is an online campaigner at Greenpeace USA. She frequently writes about ocean issues and Arctic drilling.
This is outrageous. On Tuesday, the Obama administration announced a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and then followed that up by approving Shell's climate-killing plan to drill in the Arctic.
This is a setback, but we're not giving up. Right now, six volunteers aboard the Greenpeace ship Esperanza are tailing one of Shell's drilling rigs across the Pacific, and across the city of Seattle, where Shell's Arctic fleet is set to dock, concerned residents are mobilizing. And people all over the world are standing up against Shell.
Shell plans to begin exploratory drilling for oil in Arctic waters this summer. If drilling happens, oil will spill, contaminating waters that Arctic communities and wildlife depend on. Even worse, drilling also threatens the entire planet by fast-tracking catastrophic climate change. With sea ice at its lowest ever this year, it's time to take action.
Shell thinks it's won, but it hasn't accounted for pushback from the environmental community. Over half a million individuals petitioned President Obama and the U.S. government to stop Shell's plans and save the Arctic. Our politicians may have caved to the oil industry, but we know we're ready to take the next step.
Last time Shell was allowed in the Arctic, it ran the oil rig Kulluk aground off the coast of Alaska, a dangerous accident that put the lives of workers and the Alaskan ecosystem at risk. In a separate incident, a containment dome was "crushed like a beer can." There's no reason to expect that this effort will go any better, and it's only a matter of time before oil spills.
Any oil spilled in the Arctic will be nearly impossible to clean up. Worse, the scientific journal Nature's analysis of our climate says that if we're going to avert disaster, we need to keep the Arctic's oil reserves in the ground. But Shell and our government are willing to gamble away our children's future for oil.
Take action here.
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